ISLE FILE
4 Hawai'i surfers win in California

Advertiser Staff

Four Hawai'i surfers won national titles at the United States Surfing Federation Championships last weekend at Oceanside, Calif.

Finals in seven youth divisions were completed in 1- to 3-foot waves at Oceanside Pier on Sunday, with Hawai'i competitors winning four: Kekoa Cazimero of Waimanalo won menehune surfing; Dusty Payne of Maui won boys surfing; Kekoa Enriquez of the Big Island won menehune longboarding; and Miku Uemura of Wai'anae won junior women longboarding.

Hawai'i surfers qualified for 15 of the 26 available spots in the finals of the seven youth divisions.

Second-place finishers from Hawai'i were: Tyler Newton (menehune surfing), Torrey Meister (boys surfing), Nathan Carroll (junior men surfing), Ashley Fagerstedt (girls surfing), and Ben Kealoha Jr. (menehune longboarding).

BASEBALL

St. Louis coach quits: Dean Sato, head baseball coach at St. Louis School the past two seasons, has resigned, citing the failure of Crusader athletic director Cal Lee to act on renewing his contract.

In a letter to Lee dated Friday, Sato wrote, "... not knowing whether I will be given a contract for the 2003 season, it is virtually impossible to properly prepare our Crusaders during the fall for the forthcoming spring season."

Sato, a 1977 St. Louis graduate, said Lee had told him he would be notified by June 30 whether his contract was to be renewed.

"His contract expired when the season ended," Lee said. "All of our coaches get one-season contracts. ... He's not coming back next year and that's enough to say. We've got to move on."

In two seasons, Sato's teams had a record of 20-14 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu games.

Sato said he will be in charge of conditioning for the Hawai'i Pacific University baseball team, and will pursue scientific baseball research on hitting. His younger brother, Allan, is head coach at HPU.

Lee said he had no particular new coach in mind, but said it would not be former coach Vince Passas, who resigned in 1998. Passas is an assistant on the Crusader football staff.