UH's Wichmann, Sheppard start well

Hawaii's Annett Wichmann and Emily Sheppard hold the top two spots after the first day of the Western Athletic Conference heptathlon yesterday at Logan, Utah.

Wichmann leads the field of 14 athletes with 3,233 points, followed by Sheppard with 3,073.

Wichmann won the shot put (44 feet, 2 3/4 inches) and placed second in the 100-meter hurdles (14.99 seconds), second in the high jump (5-8) and ninth in the 200-meter dash (26.67).

Sheppard won the 200 meters (25.24) and the high jump (5-9 1/4), and placed fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.66) and sixth in the shot put (32-6 1/4).

The heptathlon concludes today.

Patacchia, Powers ousted in Tahiti

Hawaii's Roy Powers and Fred Patacchia lost and were eliminated from the Billabong Pro Tahiti at Teahupoo yesterday.

Powers lost to Australia's Mick Campbell in the first round of the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour event. Patacchia lost to Australia's Josh Kerr in the second round.

Andy Irons and Dustin Barca, who previously won in the first round on Saturday, await their second-round heats.

Hawaii wrestler Lee forfeits title

U.S. wrestler Stephany Lee forfeited her national championship after testing positive for marijuana at the April meet in Las Vegas.

Lee, 24, a Moanalua grad who wrestles in the 158.5-pound weight class, tested positive for carboxy THC, a marijuana metabolite, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said in a news release.

Lee's three-month suspension was reduced to time served after she completed a USADA anti-doping educational program May 9.

She also lost her No. 1 seed for the May 30-31 World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Rather than being an automatic finalist by virtue of winning the nationals, she'll have to qualify.

PACWEST PLACE

BYUH, HPU women in tennis quarters

Top-ranked Brigham Young-Hawaii and 14th-ranked Hawaii Pacific advanced to today's quarterfinals at the NCAA Division II women's tennis championships at Altamonte Springs, Fla., yesterday.

BYUH defeated No. 7 Francis Marion (South Carolina) 5-1, while HPU shut out Montana State-Billings 5-0 in yesterday's first round.

The Seasiders (27-0) swept all three doubles matches and then picked up wins in Nos. 4 and 6 singles. Elwen Li and Yuan Ji picked up a win in No.1 doubles, while Jenny Chin and Wen-Ling Wang were victorious in No. 2 doubles.

In addition to the doubles win, Wang also defeated FMU's Valeska Ibscher in No. 4 singles, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

The Sea Warriors (17-7) advanced to quarterfinals for the third straight year.

Aleksandr Stankovic and Sandra Wikstrom won singles matches for HPU and teamed up for one of three Sea Warriors doubles victories.

HPU men advance at NCAA tennis

One Hawaii team advanced yesterday at the NCAA Division II men's tennis championships in Altamonte, Fla., while the other saw its season end.

No. 6 HPU defeated Saint Edward's (Texas) 5-1 to move on to the quarterfinals.

Nikola Petrov, Daniel Luedi and Sebastian Bader won in singles and doubles matches to lead the Sea Warriors (15-4).

Meanwhile, Brigham Young-Hawaii (16-5) finished its season with a 5-0 loss to No. 2 Barry (Fla.) in the first round. The Seasiders lost all three doubles matches and also lost at fourth and sixth singles.

Plunkett is PWC player of the year

Hawaii Pacific shortstop Krystal Plunkett was picked as the PacWest softball player of the year yesterday for the second time.

Plunkett led the PacWest in batting average (.477) and slugging percentage (.761). She was also third in the conference with nine home runs.

Sea Warriors coach Bryan Nakasone earned coach of the year honors in his first season.

HPU pitchers Sherise Musquiz and Courtney Kessell and catcher Kozy Toriano and designated player Maile Kim were also first-team selections. Kim won newcomer of the year and freshman of the year honors, and Toriano was also picked as a second-team utility.