Isle File
Hawai'i volleyball players rule at beach
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i was on top of the beach volleyball world yesterday with victories in two professional tournaments yesterday.
Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong of Hawaii upset the top two seeded teams to win the $180,000 men's Swiss Open on FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour at Gstaad, Switzerland.
At Muskegon, Mich., former Punahou School athlete Lee LeGrande and partner Brent Doble of St. Paul, Minn., won all six of their matches to claim the men's championship in the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour's Sunkist Open at Muskegon, Mich., yesterday.
Seventh-seeded Metzger and Wong, also Punahou graduates, defeated second-seeded brothers Martin and Paul Laciga of Switzerland 21-17, 22-20 in the final, and split the $27,000 first prize.
Metzger of Honolulu and Wong of Pearl City opened yesterday's play with a 22-20, 16-21 and 15-11 semifinal win over top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Tande Ramos of Brazil.
The Gstaad stop was the first of five combined men's and women's events on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour this season.
In four events this season, Metzger and Wong have shared $53,700 in earnings while posting a 23-6 match mark.
LeGrande and Doble, seeded fourth, beat second-seeded Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh 21-16 and 23-21 in 49 minutes for the championship and their second pro beach volleyball title. The winners split a $14,000 purse.
Another Punahou graduate, Sean Scott of Kailua, and partner Al Hannemann, finished third, beating Daniel Cardenas and Jim Nichols 21-17, 21-10, and earned $6,000.
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SURFING
• Hawai'i dominates: Hawai'i competitors won 13 individual titles and the overall team championship at the United States Surfing Federation (USSF) National Championships yesterday.
Finals of the week-long contest were completed yesterday in 2- to 4-foot waves at Oceanside, Calif.
Daniel Jones, a recent graduate of Hawaiian Mission Academy, led the Hawai'i contingent by winning the prestigious junior men's division. He beat Evan Valiere of Kaua'i in a one-on-one final. Many of the competitors in that division are considered the top future professionals.
More than 450 competitors from around the nation participated in the event. Hawai'i claimed the team trophy, with East Coast placing second, West Coast third and Gulf Coast fourth.
Other individual champions from Hawai'i:
Clay Marzo (menehune surfing), Hank Gaskell (boys surfing), Robert Howard (senior men's surfing), Miku Uemura (women's longboarding), Keegan Edwards (open longboarding), Tyler Ching-Johnson (junior bodyboarding), Jason Oh (men's bodyboarding), Kepa Kruse (launch bodyboarding), Alana Henline (women's bodyboarding), Nathan Rubio (drop-knee bodyboarding), Page Alms (girls surfing), Melody Haas (junior women's surfing).
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SOCCER
• Leahi champs: Leahi '87 (girls under-14) from Honolulu defeated AZFC '87 Hammers of Arizona 1-0 to win the All-American Girls Soccer Tournament Cup yesterday at Blaine, Minn.
Leahi, coached by Laurie Baker and Scott Keopuhiwa, went 6-0 in the tournament
Leahi beat Great Plains (S.D.) 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and Dakota Gold Inferno (S.D.) 3-1 in the semifinals.
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GOLF
• Hayashi leads: Kevin Hayashi of Hilo Municipal Golf Course shot a 69 (34-35) for a 1-stroke lead at the Aloha Section Club Professional Championship at Wailea Gold Course, Maui, yesterday.
Todd O'Neal, of Kapalua, and Tommy Hines, of Makaha Resort, shot 70s.
The second and final round begins at 7 a.m. today. The top seven qualify for the PGA Western Regional Club Professional Championship at the Southern California PGA Golf Club in Calimesa, Calif., on Oct. 11-14.
• Isobe third: Gerald Isobe finished third in the first United States Deaf Golf Championship July 10-13 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The four-day tournament was at the par 72, 6,700-yard Prairie Green Golf Course.
Isobe shot a 313 (75, 80, 79, and 79), which qualifies him for the United States team in the Fourth World Deaf Championship at Dublin, Ireland, July 29-Aug. 2, 2002.
