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Hawaii boys battle in national semis

Two Hawaii boxers square off against each other today in the semifinals of the National Golden Gloves tournament after victories yesterday at Little Rock, Ark.

Samson Guillermo of Waianae and Brian Battease of Wahiawa go at it in the 125-pound class today in a bout that will be televised on ESPN Classic. The start time for a full schedule of bouts is 2 p.m. Hawaii time.

In yesterday's quarterfinals, Battease beat Wilton Hilario of St. Louis Park, Minn., 3-2, and Guillermo defeated Salvador Ruiz IV of Toledo, Ohio, 5-0.

Two Hawaii boxers were eliminated yesterday -- Kailua-Kona's Van Oscar Penovaroff lost 4-1 to Diego Magdelano of Las Vegas, and Wahiawa's John Phillips lost 3-2 to Jonathan Nelson of Little Rock.

Mason challenges for NCAA II championship

Hawaii-Hilo's Nick Mason shot a 4-under 67 yesterday and is challenging for medalist honors going into today's final round of the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships at Savannah, Ga.

Mason is in second place with a three-round total of 3-under 210, three behind leader Dane Burkhart of South Carolina-Aiken.

Hawaii-Hilo moved into a tie for third place in the team competition.

The Vulcans are at 27-over 879 along with St. Edward's (Texas). They're 14 strokes behind the leader, defending national champion South Carolina-Aiken and 10 behind second-place Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.).

» Jonathan Ota shot a 1-under 71 at the Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course to take medalist honors yesterday at a U.S. Open qualifier.

Ota and Michael Castillo, who shot a 73, advance to the sectional qualifier at Kaanapali's North Course on June 8.

Kellen Watabu, who was the medalist at the state high school tournament on Wednesday, is the first alternate after shooting 74. Teammate Cory French, who also helped the Red Raiders take the team title Wednesday, is the second alternate after shooting 75.

The U.S. Open is June 16-19 in Pinehurst, N.C.

» The 97th Manoa Cup is June 6-11 at Oahu Country Club.

The tournament, which is run by the Hawaii State Golf Association, is the state amateur match-play championship.

A first-round qualifier cuts the field to 64 for the match-play portion. A year ago, Ryan Perez defeated Shannon Tanoue in the final. This year, Perez is the top seed.

The Manoa Cup is the oldest continuous golf tournament in Hawaii.

For entry forms or more information, call 589-2909.

Harbert is first-team All-West in softball

University of Hawaii center fielder Tara Harbert made the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association's first-team All-West Region softball team yesterday.

Harbert was named to the All-WAC first team earlier this week. She led the league with a .486 batting average in conference games and was second in the WAC in stolen bases with seven on nine attempts.

Murray on Trackwire's Dandy Dozen

University of Hawaii track and field athlete Novelle Murray is on this week's Trackwire Dandy Dozen in the discus.

The Dandy Dozen is a power ranking of the top-12 athletes and relay squads in the country in each NCAA event. Trackwire projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions.

Murray's throw of 177 feet, 11 inches at the Triton Invitational in April ranks seventh in the West Region.

Murray and five Rainbow Wahine teammates are competing at the NCAA West Regionals, May 27-28, at the University of Oregon.

College coaches teach at baseball clinic

The Kalae Iki Youth Baseball Clinic will be held July 24-26 in Kailua-Kona.

The clinic is free and open to boys and girls ages 7-17.

The many college coaches serving as instructors are Mark Marques of Stanford, Sam Piraro of San Jose State, Ed Sprague of Pacific, Mark O'Brien of Santa Clara, Ritchie Price of Kansas, Gary Adams of UCLA, and Joey Estrella of Hawaii-Hilo.

A coaches clinic is also scheduled for July 23 at 10 a.m. at the Hapuna Prince Hotel.

For more information or to register for the clinics, call Joey Estrella at 974-7700.

Handy hosts hoops clinic and camps in Manoa

Former University of Hawaii basketball player Phil Handy is hosting the 2nd annual 94 Feet of Game and Inter-City Programs Basketball Camp at Manoa Valley Recreation Center.

A guard clinic is Aug. 4 and a post clinic is Aug. 5 from 1 to 4:30 p.m., and a camp is Aug. 8-11 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The camp is open to intermediate or advanced boys and girls in grades 7-12.

The clinic cost is $65, and the camp cost is $150.

For more information, call 988-4747.

McKinley High seeks assistant coaches

McKinley High School is seeking assistant coaches for varsity and junior varsity football.

Interested coaches can call Tigers athletic director Neal Takamori at 594-0418.

Cross-training clinic tomorrow

The Bone and Joint Center at Straub Clinic and Hospital is offering a free cross-training clinic tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon in the Straub Cafe on King Street.

Training techniques and injury prevention are among the topics to be discussed.