ISLE FILE
Patacchia out-surfs Slater in Fiji
Advertiser Staff
Fred Patacchia Jr. of O'ahu's North Shore woke up just in time to upset six-time former world champion Kelly Slater yesterday in the third round of the Quiksilver Pro at Tavarua and Namotu Islands, Fiji.
The second and third rounds were completed yesterday in clean 5-foot waves.
Patacchia had to be awakened by friends moments before his heat against Slater, who is ranked No. 2 in the world. After rushing into the water, Patacchia beat Slater, 16.27-12.27.
"I kind of woke up late and was a bit rattled," Patacchia said. "I came here with the intention of doing good, and getting Kelly in a heat for the first time in my life is mind-boggling. I didn't really come here expecting to beat Slater. I came to fish."
Patacchia does not compete on the elite World Championship Tour. He qualified for the Quiksilver Pro through the wildcard rounds.
Fellow Hawai'i surfers Andy Irons and Sunny Garcia also advanced to the fourth round.
Irons, the two-time defending world champ and ranked No. 1, scored the only perfect 10 of the day in his third-round victory over Australian wildcard Tom Carroll.
ATHLETICS
• UH eighth in WAC Cup: Hawai'i scored 60 points to finish eighth out of 10 schools in the Western Athletic Conference's annual Commissioner's Cup standings.
Rice, which amassed 100.5 points, won the honor as the school that performed the best in each of the WAC's 18 men's and women's championships. Points were awarded in order of finish, equal to the number of teams that participate in each sport.
Regular-season standings are used for football, baseball and softball, while ties in tournaments are broken by using regular-season conference winning percentage, if applicable.
Hawai'i won its only WAC title in women's volleyball.
Southern Methodist (83.0) finished second, followed by Tulsa (80.5), Fresno State (77.0), Texas-El Paso (76.5), Nevada (76.0), Hawai'i, Louisiana Tech (53.5) and San Jose State (42.5).
GOLF
• Kim opens with 67: Hawai'i's Tommy Kim shot a 5-under-par 67 yesterday in the opening round of a Grey Goose Gateway Tour Desert Series tournament at Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix, Ariz.
Kim is tied for eighth, two strokes off the lead.
Another Hawai'i golfer, Norman-Ganin Asao, shot a 71 and is tied for 55th.
