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Trials winner Myles Padaca of Hawaii defeated Australia's Mick Lowe yesterday in the final of the Rip Curl Cup. Padaca takes Rip Curl Cup
The Sunset Beach native collected $30,000 in the final World Championship Tour (WCT) event of the 2001 season, and now leads the Van's Triple Crown of Surfing series ratings.
Padaca, 30, who eliminated CJ Hobgood on Thursday prior to the Floridian claiming the 2001 world championship crown, continued his roll today in 8-10-foot waves.
First he disposed of the tour newcomer, Trent Munro of Australia, and then Brazil's Renan Rocha during the quarterfinals. Against fellow Hawaii native Kalani Robb, he fought back to ultimately reach the final. He sealed the victory with his last wave on a double-barrel ride.
"This is the greatest moment of my professional surfing career," Padaca said. "It feels like a dream. Am I here? Pinch me.
"I just stuck to my same game plan as it's been working," he continued. " 'Lowey' is a great surfer. They (the judges) were scoring backsiders high throughout the whole event, and you can't underestimate anyone out at Sunset. It's so big and there's a lot of playing ground.
"It's all icing on the cake," he said of the money and Triple Crown lead. "I've been saying this all day, but I can't get over surfing Sunset with one other guy out. I love this wave ... I live for this wave."
Lowe, 24, posted the single best score of the event with a 9.85 in the quarterfinal, eliminated Peterson Rosa of Brazil in the semifinals before losing to Padaca.
Despite opening with the best score of the final, a 7.75, he still needed a ride worth 5.16 as time elapsed and took second place.
Coaches galore at Quarterback Club
Siuaki Livai, football coach of state champion Kahuku, will speak at the Honolulu Quarterback Club on Monday at noon.Wahine basketball coach Vince Goo and UH baseball coach Mike Trapasso are also scheduled to speak.
Hawaii quarterback Nick Rolovich is expected to be in attendance to receive his Sportsperson of the Month award from the club.
The meeting is held at the Pagoda International Ballroom and the public is invited.
Lunch is served at 11:30 and the program starts at noon.
Berg's college career ends with tourney loss
Lindsey Berg, senior setter for the University of Minnesota women's volleyball team, played her final collegiate match in a loss to 16th-seeded Northern Iowa in the NCAA championship round of 32.Berg graduated from Punahou in 1998 and led the Buffanblu to the state championship in 1997.
Madsen, Smith team up to win Diamond Head Duet
Hawaii Pacific's Christian Madsen and Hawaii's Cheryl Smith joined forces to win the Diamond Head Duet 5-kilometer race yesterday.Madsen ran the course in 15 minutes and 46.81 seconds, and Smith followed with a 17:02.14 for a total time of 32:48.95.
That beat second-place finishers John Mortimer and Karen Harvey by 45.81 seconds.
Hosaka Yoshihisa and HPU's Sayuri Kusutani took third. Madsen beat James Shermeta of La Jolla, Calif., by less than a minute for the individual title.
Smith was the fastest female, beating out the entire field except five men.
Chaminade water polo coach calls it quits
Bruce Black, Chaminade's water polo coach, announced his resignation earlier this week after guiding the Silversword program to a 15-17 record over the past two seasons.People interested in the part-time position should call the athletic department at 735-4790.