Smith squeaks out win

John Smith of Honolulu edged Clint Iizuka-Sheely by 33 seconds to win the Kilauea Volcano Wilderness Marathon yesterday on the Big Island.

Smith finished in a personal-best 3 hours, 9 minutes, 14 seconds, some five minutes faster than last year's time. Iizuka-Sheely, also from Honolulu, was second at 3:09:47.

Tina Devine of Fairbanks, Ala., was the women's marathon winner in 3:55:36. Some 158 racers finished the 26.2-mile course that traversed the Ka'u Desert.

In the companion 10-mile Rim Run, Andrew Harris was the overall winner out of a field of 352 in 1:04:59. The first female finisher was Abby Hurst (1:17:34).

Leading the 216 runners in the 5-mile Kilauea Caldera Run was Alastair In of Kamuela (33:49). Eileen Morley of Port Orchard, Wash., was the first female finisher (43:02).

Complete results are available at www.jtltiming.com

Wong-Metzger advances to semifinals

ESPINHO, Portugal >> Punahou School alumni Kevin Wong and Stein Metzger defeated former Hawaii player Sean Scott and his partner Todd Rogers in yesterday's quarterfinals of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour at Praia da Baia.

Wong-Metzger won the 55-minute match, 21-15, 25-23, and will play the Brazilian team of Ricardo Santos-Jose Loiola, the defending champions, in one of today's semifinals.

In their final pool-play match earlier in the day, Rogers-Scott defeated former Hawaii player Nik Berger and Clemens Dopper of Austria, 21-17, 21-14. Rogers-Scott finished tied for fifth and will share $6,675.

U.S. volleyball loses to Japan

MIAO LI, Chinese Taipei >> The U.S. women's national volleyball team, with former Hawaii players Robyn Ah Mow and Heather Bown on the roster, fell to Japan 3-1 yesterday at the FIVB World Grand Prix.

The U.S. fell to 3-5 and saw its chances of advancing to the final round next weekend greatly diminished. The Americans play Russia, the world's No. 1 team, today.

"Losses are always hard to digest, more so when you know it is the end of a tournament that we had expected to finish better at," said Bown, who had 12 kills, one block and an ace. "Between the loss to Cuba (Friday) and again this evening to Japan, our chances to make the finals have pretty much gone out of our reach. So now we need to refocus and start preparing for the World Championships in Germany in a few weeks."

Nobriga moves into third round

Kalai Nobriga was the only contestant on the Hawaii team to advance to the third round of the National High School Rodeo Championships at the Farmington (NM) State Fairgrounds.

Nobriga, of Kealakekua, is sitting in second place of the cutting competition going into the final day, only two points behind the leader.

Nobriga scored an average of 220 points yesterday for a total of 437, the third best score of the day.

Should he take gold in the event, it would mark the first time a Hawaii competitor has placed first in the world's largest rodeo.

Chang, Morrison at QB Club lunch

Hawaii quarterback Tim Chang and his position coach Dan Morrison headline the list of speakers at tomorrow's Honolulu Quarterback Club meeting at the Pagoda Hotel.

Also speaking will be Madeline Dreith, USTA-Hawaii director of community development, and Hawaii Pacific tennis coach Henry Somerville.

Luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the speakers program at noon. Cost for lunch is $6.50 for HQC members, $7 for non-members.

Medals for isle wrestlers

FARGO, N.D. >> Hawaii wrestlers won two silver and two bronze medals in freestyle competition as the Asics/Vaughan Junior/Cadet National Championships concluded yesterday.

Leilehua's Bernadette Javier lost in the 95-pound title match to Minnesota's Rachel Holthaus by technical fall, 11-0. In the 165-pound division, recent Nanakuli graduate Ashley Gaspar lost in the final to Samantha Lang of Oregon by technical fall, 10-0.

Winning bronze medals were Tanya Miyasaki of Castle and Kailua's Danielle Hedin.

Savovic starts for Nuggets

SALT LAKE CITY >> In his first start for the Denver Nuggets, former Hawaii guard Predrag Savovic scored four points as the Nuggets finished undefeated in Rocky Mountain Revue summer league play yesterday.

Denver ended 6-0 after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies, 79-64, at Salt Lake Community College.