Isle File
Hawai'i's Seki wins easily to advance in Public Links
Advertiser Staff
Jim Seki, a former Punahou School athlete now attending Stanford, advanced to today's second round of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at San Antonio, Texas.
Seki, who was the only Hawai'i golfer to qualify out of seven who competed, beat Stan Rawl of Gainesville, Ga., 6 and 5.
The second and third rounds will be played today, with the quarterfinals and semifinals scheduled for tomorrow. The championship round will tee off Saturday, with the winner getting a number of tournament exemptions, including an amateur spot in the 2002 Masters.
The two medalists in stroke play, James Vargas of Miami and Nick Cassini of Athens, Ga., advanced easily.
But the most compelling story occurred when disabled caddie Lee Penterman gave up his day off to carry the bag of his friend, Ben Flam, for the last two holes.
Penterman, whose right side is atrophied because of cerebral palsy, carried Flam's bag through two rounds of stroke play after the U.S. Golf Association denied his request for a cart.
Another caddy took over yesterday so the 38-year-old Penterman could recover. But with Flam, a sophomore at Arizona State, getting beaten badly by Alan Hill, Penterman returned for the 12th and 13th holes. The match ended when Hill was up six holes with five to play.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
• Hawai'i duo in Italy: Punahou graduates Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong will look to extend their winning ways tomorrow at the 32-team Main Draw Event of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Qualification Tournament in Lignano, Italy.
The duo joins the tournament on the third day of the play after being automatically advanced through the beginning rounds.
TENNIS
• Conroy to coach Chaminade: Dennis Conroy is the new head men's and women's tennis coach at Chaminade University.
Conroy has been the director of tennis at the Hale Koa Hotel in Honolulu since 1996 and was formerly the tennis professional at the Schofield Tennis Center from 1992 to 1996.
He replaces Brent Skillicorn, who resigned from the position last month.
VOLLEYBALL
• Junior boys finish third: The Hawai'i Warriors junior 17-under boys volleyball team finished third in the Gold Division at the USA Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships in Phoenix, Ariz., last weekend.
The Warriors cruised to an 8-0 pool play record last Friday in the first day of competition, winning by an average margin of 13 points.
They lost on Saturday to eventual silver medalists, Rennaissance Big Red-17 (Pennsylvania), 25-23, 25-21, but beat Addison (Texas), 25-22, 25-17, to advance.
On Sunday, the Warriors beat Ashland Revolution 17-1 (Virginia), 19-25, 25-17, 15-8 before falling to Arsel 17s of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, 17-25, 30-28, 9-15.
The next day in Gold Division quarterfinal, the Warriors defeated Lake Country (Wisconsin) 25-19, 26-24, but lost in the semifinals to eventual Junior National champion, Club Dinos, 22-25, 25-23, 12-15, to earn the bronze medal.
Four Warriors were honored on the 14-member All-Tournament team. Ricky Estrada (Kamehameha) and Bryson Metz (Kamehameha) earned first team All-America honors. Kui Tolentino (Damien) and Jacob Reis (Olympia, Wash.) were recognized as Honorable Mention selections.
