Ching leads NCAA golf field

Punahou graduate Alex Ching topped the leaderboard at the NCAA men's golf championship when play was suspended by darkness yesterday at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

The San Diego freshman is at 6-under-par for the tournament through 11 holes in the second round. He was scheduled to finish his round this morning before playing the third round. The individual winner will be decided through 54 holes.

Ching shot 5-under on the front nine yesterday. He birdied the first and fourth holes and carded an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole. He then birdied No. 9 and parred the next two holes before play was halted.

Georgia's Russell Henley and North Carolina State's Matt Hill were the leaders in the clubhouse at 4-under 138 for the tournament.

Lerma signs with St. Mary's

Kamehameha-Hawaii senior Lordan Lerma has signed a letter of intent to join the Saint Mary's (Calif.) cross country team this fall.

Lerma placed seventh in the BIIF cross country championships last October and placed third in the boys 800-meter run at the HHSAA track and field championships on May 16.

PACWEST PLACE

Regents to consider UH-Hilo raises

A proposal to increase the salary ranges for three Hawaii-Hilo coaches will be presented to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents at its meeting tomorrow in Hilo.

The proposal would ammend the ranges for the men's basketball, softball and volleyball coaches. If approaved, it would increase the top end of the scale from $74,364 to $126,466 for the basketball coach, from $51,780 to $56,618 for the softball coach, and from $59,424 to $60,129 for the volleyball coach.

Those positions are held by Jeff Law (basketball), Callen Perreira (softball) and Bruce Atkinson (volleyball).