ISLE FILE
Tennant top finisher in Japan Triathlon

Advertiser Staff

Kailua's Deirdre Tennant won her first Ironman, winning the Ironman Japan Triathlon at Goto, Nagasaki, yesterday.

Tennant, 31, was the first woman to finish and 14th overall in 9 hours, 48 minutes, 24 seconds. She also was the first American to finish the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and 26.2-mile run.

Lothar Leder of Germany was the overall winner in 8:44:58. Leder's wife, Nicole, was the second woman finisher in 9:52:33.

Tennant led from the start, finishing the swim in 51:31, the bike ride in 5:40:17 and the run in 3:16:46.

"I was really happy with my race," Tennant told ironmanlive .com. "I started strong and my bike was pretty good for me but the course was tough. I tried to keep it steady."

Tennant's time was second to Paula Newby Fraser's record of 9:43:18, set last year.

A total of 825 finished yesterday's race.

BASEBALL

• Suzuki lifts Cal State Fullerton: Catcher Kurt Suzuki hit a three-run, walk-off homer with two outs in the ninth inning to lift Cal State Fullerton to a 9-7 victory over Long Beach State in a college baseball game yesterday at Fullerton's Goodwin Field.

Suzuki, a sophomore from Wailuku, Maui, capped a five-run inning against Long Beach relief pitcher Carlos Muniz. His homer came on a full-count and went over the left-field wall.

It was the second home run of the season for Suzuki, who is batting .366 in 37 games. He was 2-for-4 yesterday, including a single to left in the eighth inning.

The Titans, ranked No. 4 in the Sports Weekly/ESPN coaches poll, finished the regular season 43-13 and will take a week off before opening the NCAA Tournament.

Cal State Fullerton finished second in the Big West Conference, a game behind Long Beach State, which is ranked No. 3.

GOLF

• Brown champions: Gary Kong and Joey Tadeo defeated Tracy Shiroma and Robert Nam, 1-up, to win the Francis Brown Four-Ball Match Play Championship at Ala Wai Golf Course yesterday.