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Asao captures Hilo Invitational

Kellen-Floyd Asao birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Garrett Okamura and capture the 8th annual Hilo Invitational yesterday.

Asao fired a final-round 67 to force a playoff. He became the second amateur in as many years to win the tournament. Hawaii-Hilo golfer Nick Mason won the event a year ago.

Ivan Cunningham won the low professional title, defeating David Kim on the first playoff hole. David Ishii finished third.

Wichita State finishes off Hawaii-Hilo

Joe Muich went 3-for-5 with a home run as Wichita State had five players with two hits or more to help complete a five-game sweep of Hawaii-Hilo 6-1 yesterday at Wong Stadium.

Noah Booth gave up just one hit in relief to pick up the win for the Shockers, who are now 11-0 for the season. The Vulcans fell to 1-22.

Wahine finish fifth at Gaucho Invitational

The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine water polo team captured fifth place at the Gaucho Invitational yesterday by defeating UC Santa Barbara 11-10 in overtime at Santa Barbara, Calif.

Tied at nine heading into the extra period, the Wahine got goals from Beth Novick and Iefke Van Belkum to go up two before a late goal by the Gauchos finished the scoring.

Hawaii finished with a 4-1 record in the tournament and improved to 6-6 overall. The Rainbow Wahine play their home opener Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. against Michigan.

Smith makes national cross country team

Former Brigham Young-Hawaii women's cross country runner Chelsea Smith is part of the U.S. national team that will compete at the World Cross Country Championships in France on March 19.

Smith qualified for the U.S.'s 8-kilometer team because of her performance at the USA Track and Field national championships earlier this month in Vancouver, Wash. She placed ninth and qualified for the six-person 8K team when two of the top six finishers chose to compete for the 4K team and another runner opted to not compete in France.

Tanoue qualifies for NCAA rifle championships

Former Saint Louis rifle team standout Ryan Tanoue will represent Nevada in the individual and team portions of the NCAA Championships, March 11-12 at Colorado Springs, Colo.

Tanoue won the NCAA air rifle title in 2002 as a freshman. Competition is held in both air and smallbore.

The Wolf Pack were national runners-up a year ago.

Coaching workshops upcoming

Positive Coaching Alliance Big Island will host Wednesday night workshops March 2 and 16 at the Aupuni Center conference room in Hilo.

Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. on the days of the workshop. Registration can also be done by e-mailing pcabigisland@hotmail.com. A $5 materials fee will be collected.

For more information on PCA, go to www.positivecoach.org.