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Hawaii Beat


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POSTED: Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Kono sixth at Public Links

Punahou graduate Stephanie Kono shot a 2-under-par 70 to lead a group of Hawaii golfers in yesterday's first round of stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in Devens, Mass.

Kono enters the second round tied for sixth place, two strokes behind leader Lizette Salas. The low 64 scorers after today advance to the match-play portion of the tournament, which begins tomorrow.

Moanalua's Kristina Merkle was tied for 13th at even par and Mari Chun of Pearl City was tied for 43rd at 3 over. Former Big Island resident Kimberly Kim and Lihue's Miki Ueoka tied for 61st at 5 over with Honolulu's Cyd Okino another stroke back and tied for 72nd. Reiko Fujii of Honolulu shot 12 over, just ahead of Wailuku's Shannon Abarra and Kalea Heu.

» Alika Bell shot 4-under-par 68 to lead the Junior Amateur Championship qualifier at Mauna Lani's North Course on the Big Island. Thomas Yamashita, Bradley Shigezawa and Lorens Chan shot 72 to tie for second. The top two scorers after today's final round qualify for the Junior Amateur.

» Lisa Okasaki took a five-point lead over Lily Yao in the first round of the Oahu Country Club Women's Invitational. Okasaki carded a 30 under the stableford scoring system. The tournament concludes today.

Oshiro earns all-America honor

Punahou wrestler Reid Oshiro has been named an honorable mention All-American by Wrestling USA Magazine. Oshiro was a three-time state champion for the Buffanblu and will attend Penn in the fall.

Waves rally past Surfers in HCBL

Case Miyahira's RBI single capped an eight-run rally in the bottom of the ninth and the Waimea Waves defeated the Waikiki Surfers 14-13 in a Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League game yesterday at Central Oahu Regional Park.

Chris Sandini had seven strikeouts to lead the Kauai Menehune to a 7-4 win over the Hawaii Alii.

Friesen to dive for Canada

University of Hawaii diver Emma Friesen will represent Canada at the FISU World University Games next month in Belgrade, Serbia.

The diving competition at the World University Games is scheduled for July 4-10.

Mixed doubles teams advance

Four Hawaii mixed doubles teams earned berths in the USTA League National Championships. Advancing at last weekend's Hawaii Pacific Section championship were Rubber Duckies (Level 6.0, captain Andrea Neal), Hui Holumua (7.0, Lyle Kauihou), Stay Broke (8.0, Benny Neumann) and Pot Luck (9.0, Lance Au).

Warriors line up another recruit

This Father's Day was especially memorable for Dominick Sierra.

Sierra added to the day's festivities by committing to join the Hawaii football team next year.

“;That was my present to him,”; Sierra said.

Sierra (6-foot-1, 207 pounds) accepted a scholarship offer from the Warriors and said he had also received interest from California, Vanderbilt and UNLV.

Sierra is a safety for La Habra (Calif.) High School but expects to move to linebacker in college. He attended UH's Skills Camp last week, the first time he'd visited the islands since playing a Pop Warner game in Hawaii a decade ago.

“;It was my dream school,”; Sierra said.

According to Scout.com, Kevin Spain, a quarterback at Paradise Valley (Ariz.) High School, has also committed to the Warriors.