Nebraska's Ito fires her college-best 72

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Freshman Merynn Ito ('Aiea '01) shot par 72, her collegiate best, yesterday at the Suzie Maxwell Bierning Classic at Norman, Okla.

Ito was last year's Hawai'i high school girls champion and led O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls in the regular season with an average of 76.0 strokes per round.

Before yesterday, Ito had averaged 78.4 strokes for 10 rounds this spring with a best of 73 in the Central District Invitational at Parrish, Fla., and a worst of 82 at Athens, Ga. Her best previous finish was a tie for 35th at the Florida event.

INJURY UPDATES

• BYU: Brigham Young all-star third baseman Kainoa Obrey (Iolani '99) is lost for the season with herniated disks in his lower back and will seek a medical redshirt year.

Obrey was a preseason third-team All-America pick of Collegiate Baseball magazine.

He led the Cougars in batting last season at .381 and was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection. He hit .242 in 10 games this season, the last of which was at University of Hawai'i Feb. 23.

Obrey's teammate and classmate at Iolani and BYU, Doug Jackson of Kailua, has been moved from center field to left field but continues to be BYU's leadoff batter and is 9-for-9 in stolen bases.

Jackson is batting .303 (40-for-132) in 31 games. He hit .370 last season when he was also first-team All-Mountain West. Jackson and teammate Cameron Coughlan tied a school record with seven at-bats each in a 14-inning victory at Cal-Irvine.

• Azusa Pacific (Calif.): Decathlon champion Bryan Clay (Castle '98) underwent arthroscopic surgery Monday that showed thickening of the tendon in the back of his left knee.

The tendon was scraped and Clay is expected to compete in non-running events at the Golden State Conference Championships, April 26-27, and be ready to defend his NAIA decathlon championship, May 23-25, Azusa Pacific spokesman Gary Pine said.

Clay had the best decathlon score in the world last year before persistent pain in his knee began to hamper his performances.

BASEBALL

• Pacific (Ore.): Senior Kyle Ishimitsu ('Aiea) was chosen Northwest Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week.

Ishimitsu won two games last week — one in relief and one as a starter. He allowed two runs and six hits, while striking out six in nine innings as Pacific moved into first place in the conference with a 9-3 record.

Ishimitsu is 4-0 this season with a 5.58 ERA. His pitching teammate at 'Aiea and Pacific, Derek Akimoto, is 4-1 with a 3.56 ERA.

• Lewis and Clark (Ore.): The duty of a lead-off batter is to get on base, and sophomore Keala Fujimori (Kalani '00) mastered that challenge last week.

Fujimori got seven hits in 13 at-bats and walked four times in four games, for a batting average of .539 and an on-base average of .632 (he also had a sacrifice fly). His slugging average was .615 and he drove in six runs.

Fujimori is hitting .313 (25-for-80) for the season and leads Lewis & Clark in runs scored (another lead-off man's goal) with 26. His season on-base average is .451.

Fujimori has already caught 84 fly balls in center field in 23 games and is fielding 1.000.

"Our pitchers give up a lot of deep fly balls," explained Tom Galbraith, Lewis & Clark's sports information director. "He's about as solid a center fielder as I have seen and a great lead-off batter."

• Yakima Valley (Wash.) CC: Freshman right-hander Ikaika Hollinger (Kalaheo '01), whose arm and shoulder had been sore during a very cold spring in eastern Washington, pitched four scoreless innings in his first start Sunday.

Jacob Sur (Radford '00), coming back from a broken hand that forced him to redshirt last year, leads Yakima starters in batting at .411 (23-for-56) and is fielding .945 at second base.

Yakima is a half-game out of first place in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC).

"I want more of these Hawai'i guys," coach Bob Garretson said.

Dan Nyssen, an All-WAC outfielder for University of Hawai'i in 1985 and '87, is an assistant at Yakima.

• Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.): Sophomore shortstop Tyler Kimura (Iolani '00) of Kane'ohe is batting .302 with nine doubles, 15 runs and 19 RBIs.

Junior pitcher Erik Yamamoto, who was all-state for Iolani in 1999, is 5-2 with a 4.84 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 57á innings.

Sophomore Chad Sakumoto (Punahou '00) is the starting catcher and hitting .172.

GOLF

• Lewis and Clark (Ore.): Picking up where she left off last fall, freshman Mari Kotake (Punahou '01) won the Pacific University Women's Golf Invitational by three strokes with a two-day total of 80-84—164.

SOFTBALL

• Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.): Sophomore Kacy Nekoba (Iolani '00) of 'Aiea starts at shortstop and junior Saori Takahashi (Iolani '99) at third base for the Athenas, who are 6-0 in Southern California conference play. Nekoba is batting .250; Takahashi .148.

MEN'S WRESTLING

• San Francisco State: Sophomore Joey Bareng (Moanalua '00) reached the NCAA Division II Western Regionals at 125 pounds and had an 18-19 season record.