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UH gets commitment from top running back

The Hawaii football team could be getting a top-20 running back as early as today.

"I am ready to accept an offer," North Carolina running back Andrew Pearman said. "If the offer is there, I want to come to Hawaii."

Pearman, who prepped at Providence High in North Carolina, is ranked the 11th-best all-purpose running back by Rivals.com and is expected to be offered a scholarship when Hawaii coach June Jones meets with his staff today. Pearman, who reportedly runs a 4.3 40-yard dash, says he has been told that he will get an opportunity to play running back but will work out of the slot in his first year.

Pearman, who is 5-foot-9 and 163 pounds, is also being recruited by Virginia, South Carolina, Wake Forest and Army. He committed to Virginia but pulled back when running backs coach Kevin Ross followed his father, Bobby, to Army.

"I think Hawaii really fits my personality," Pearson said. "I've enjoyed everyone I've met here. The coaches, the atmosphere, everything has been fantastic."

Waikoloa finals set after Tursunov rolls

Top seed Dmitry Tursunov easily took care of Jan Frode Andersen to earn a spot in the men's final of the Waikoloa Challenger on the Kohala Coast yesterday.

Tursunov beat Andersen 6-2, 7-6(3) and will play Alejandro Falla of Colombia today.

Melinda Czink of Hungary and Italy's Maria Emilia Salerni will play for the women's championship. Czink, the top seed, beat Marissa Irvin 6-2, 6-3 while Salerni ousted Selima Sfar 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Rainbow Warriors drop to 1-8: Dalibor Ptak and Ryan Sceats won the first two matches for the Hawaii tennis team, but their teammates let them down in a 5-2 loss to Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, Calif., yesterday.

Ptak beat John Nguyen 6-2, 6-4 and Sceats took care of Nick Tracy 6-0, 6-3. Hawaii dropped to 1-8, 1-4 on their road trip.

Sea Warriors open with sweep of Hilo

David Zamarano allowed only three hits over six innings for a 5-1 win and Mike Pelsnik allowed only one earned run over five innings for a 5-4 victory as the Hawaii Pacific baseball team opened its season with a sweep of UH-Hilo on the Big Island.

The Vulcans (4-9) and Sea Warriors (2-0) will play a doubleheader at Simmons Field beginning at 10 a.m. today.

Hawaii ends regular season with split

The No. 25 Hawaii women's swimming and diving team wrapped up its dual-meet season with a 159-135 win over No. 23 Washington yesterday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex, but UH's men's team lost.

The Rainbow Warriors finished the year with a 149-145 loss to Washington. The Huskies are ranked No. 18 while Hawaii is at No. 19.

UH's QiongJie Huang set a school record in the 1-meter dive, scoring 301.73 points and hitting an NCAA Zone E qualifying mark. She hit her mark in winning the 3-meter event as well.

Monfort paces Hawaii track in Seattle

Ashley Monfort led Hawaii with top-20 finishes in two events at the Husky Invitational yesterday in Seattle.

Competing in only her second meet of the season, Monfort ran the 200-meter dash in 26.47 seconds -- trailing only Jennifer Ciovhetti among Hawaii runners -- for 14th place and ran the 400-meter dash in 58.28 seconds to finish eighth in that event.

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See line scores and results
in the [ Scoreboard ] section.