ISLE FILE
Defensive back leaves Warriors
Advertiser Staff
Defensive back Andrew John "A.J." Martinez will not return to the University of Hawai'i football team because of undisclosed personal reasons.
UH coach June Jones declined to comment. Martinez, who is 6 feet and 180 pounds, could not be reached for comment at his grandparents' house in California.
As a senior at Edison High in Huntington Beach, Calif., Martinez was named the Los Angeles Times' Back of the Year for Orange County.
He also was selected as an All-California Interscholastic Federation Division I pick.
Martinez, who can run 40 yards in an electronically timed 4.4 seconds, was used as a running back, receiver, safety, kick returner, placekicker and punter at Edison.
Martinez signed with UH in February 2002 but delayed enrolling until August 2003 because of a glitch in the formula used to calculate his high school credits.
He redshirted last season, and was expected to challenge for playing time in the secondary this season.
GOLF
Chun tied for lead at Girls' Junior tourney
Pearl City's Mari Chun shot a 4-under-par 67 yesterday and was tied for the lead with three other golfers at the 56th U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at Mira Vista Golf Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Chun was tied with Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff of Toms River, N.J., Jennie Arsenealt of Grinnell, Iowa, and Julieta Granada of Parguay, three strokes ahead of five golfers, including Paula Creamer of Plesanton, Calif.
Hilo's Amanda Wilson shot a 72. Waipahu's Kayla Morinaga and Honolulu's Stephanie Kono shot 74s, Honolulu's Ayaka Kaneko shot 75 and Hilo's Kimberly Kim shot 79.
After today's second round of stroke play, the field of 156 players will be reduced to the top 64 for match play. An 18-hole final is scheduled for Saturday.
The tournament is open to female amateur players who will not reach 18 on or before July 24 and who have a USGA handicap index not exceeding 18.4.
Three advance to Club Pro nationals
Rodney Acia, Dennis Rose and Ron Kiaaina Jr. yesterday earned spots in the National Senior Club Professionals Championship.
Acia, a pro at Hilo Municipal, shot a second-round 1-under-par 71 and finished first at 144 in the Aloha Section Callaway Golf PGA Senior Club Professional Championship at Mauna Lani Resort's South Course on the Big Island.
Rose (71), Kiaaina (73) and Rich Fite (75) were tied at 148. Rose (Mauna Lani) birdied the third extra hole and Kiaaina (Ala Wai) parred the hole to earn berths.
The national tournament is Oct. 21 to 24, at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
A fourth Hawai'i spot will be awarded to the winner of the senior division of the Mauna Kea Resort Stroke Play Championship in August.
BASEBALL
Hilo advances to West regional in Big League
Matt Haasenritter hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning as Hilo defeated Washington, 10-3, in the championship game of the Little League Big League (ages 16-18) District 1 tournament at Poulsbo, Wash., yesterday.
Hilo advances to the Western Regional and will play Arizona on Friday. The winner of the regional advances to the Big League World Series in Easly, S.C.
Owen Otsuka and Avery Kagawa singled and Matt Patterson walked to load the bases with one out in the first. Haasenritter hit a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence for a 4-1 lead.
After Washington scored two runs in the second, Hilo scored five runs on six hits in the bottom of the inning.
TENNIS
Two Swedish players sign with HPU
The Hawaii Pacific women's tennis team has signed two Swedish players, Cecilia Lundberg and Josefine Paulie, for the upcoming 2004-05 season, according to coach Henry Somerville.
Lundberg, a right-handed player, from Goteborg, Sweden is a two-time winner of the city of Gothenburg tennis championships. She also was a semifinalist in the Swedish Championships and claimed 18 individual tournaments.
Paulie, also a right-handed player, from Nacka, Sweden, was the Rookie of the Year for Saltsjo-Duvnas TK and captured 13 individual titles.
HPU lost three seniors, Dora Holdarova, Hana Krivonozkova and Loni Matsunaga, to graduation last year.
SOCCER
Hilo AYSO girls win Under-16 title
The AYSO Hilo All-American Girls soccer team became the Under-16 National Champions on June 11 at California's Lancaster Soccer Complex.
Hilo defeated Valencia, Calif., 4-1, in the championship game. They won seven games in a row and shut out the first six teams en route to the title between July 5 and 11, while scoring 25 goals and giving up one.
Kainani Sharrett led the team with eight goals throughout the tournament. The team was coached by Troy Keolanui.
