ISLE FILE
Watabu's Public Links defense gets rained on
Advertiser Staff
Kapa'a's Casey Watabu began defense of his U.S. Amateur Public Links championship yesterday, opening with a par on the first hole, then the thunderstorms took over at Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill.
Play was suspended with 78 of the 156 players on the course. The first round of stroke play will resume today followed by the second round.
Clayton Rask of Otsego, Minn., and Mark Harrell of Hazlehurst, Ga., were tied for the clubhouse lead after 69s yesterday.
Sean Maekawa, of Pa'auilo, Hawai'i, shot an even-par 72 today. Max Bonk of Waimea, Hawai'i, was 2 over after eight holes. Samuel Cyr of Makawao, Maui, finished with a 78 and Layne Morita of Kapa'a, Kaua'i, shot an 84.
The low 64 scores after two round of stroke play advance to match play, starting tomorrow. The final is on Saturday.
Watabu defeated Anthony Kim of Traverse City, Mich., 4 and 3, to win the 36-hole championship match at the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Gold Mountain Golf Club. Kim is now a rookie on the PGA Tour.
Watabu became the fourth player from Hawai'i to win the APL and the first since Guy Yamamoto in 1994.
KOKX MEDALIST IN STATE MATCH PLAY QUALIFYING
Bobbi Kokx, looking for her third Hawai'i State Match Play Championship, earned medalist honors during yesterday morning's qualifying round at Oahu Country Club. Kokx, whose 1-under-par 72 earned a first-round bye in the afternoon, will face Kayla Morinaga in a quarterfinal this morning.
Morinaga, about to start her junior year at Portland State, ousted 1999 finalist Traci Kashiwabara-Ayabe, 2-1, in the first round. Morinaga is seeded eighth after shooting 81 in the qualifying round.
Rainbow Wahine senior Lisa Kajihara will face recent Punahou graduate Katie Sisler in another quarterfinal. Kajihara defeated Sara Koizumi, 4 and 2, while Sisler got by Lisa Okazaki, 5 and 4.
On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Erin Long plays Hawai'i sophomore Erin Matsuoka. Long also received a bye yesterday. Matsuoka beat Jaymie Nakama, 3 and 2.
Third-seeded Emily Lau, an 8-and-7 winner over Pat Raley in the first round, faces state stroke play champion Jaclyn Hilea in the last quarterfinal. Hilea beat Kathy Ordway, 5 and 4.
Quarterfinals start at 6:45 a.m. today, with semifinals scheduled for noon. The final, scheduled for 18 holes, starts at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
BASKETBALL
EX-'BOW ENGLISH IN NBA SUMMER LEAGUE
Former University of Hawai'i basketball star Carl English is one of 14 players on the summer league roster for the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets are scheduled to play their first game of the NBA Summer League today at Las Vegas. They will play five games in six days.
English, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference player for the 'Bows as a junior in the 2002-03 season. He left UH after that season to play professional basketball.
English played last season for KK Zadar, a pro team in Croatia. He led the team with 20.3 points per game.
Another former Hawai'i player, Matt Lojeski, is on the summer roster for the Utah Jazz. The Jazz will start playing summer league games on Friday at Salt Lake City.
Most of the players in the summer leagues are rookies, inexperienced players (three years or fewer in the NBA), or free-agent prospects.
HURRICANE SEASON TICKETS NOW ON SALE
Season tickets for the new Hawai'i Hurricanes professional basketball team went on sale yesterday.
Ticket prices for the season package are $306 for VIP floor/courtside seats, $216 for reserved mid-court seats, $180 for adult general admission seats, $126 for college students, military personnel and senior citizens, and $72 for children 4 to 18.
The season package includes 18 homes games, all at the Blaisdell Center Arena. Tentative home dates are Nov. 11 and 13, Dec. 3, 4, 10 and 11, Jan. 7, 8, 13 and 15, Feb. 3, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 26, March 2 and 4.
Fans purchasing a season package will also receive a team basketball.
The Hurricanes will compete in the American Basketball Association, which features more than 60 teams across the United States.
Former University of Hawai'i standout player and assistant coach Alika Smith was hired as head coach of the Hurricanes last month.
To order tickets, call the Hurricanes office at 585-0222.
VOLLEYBALL
BRAZIL KNOCKS OFF U.S. AT JUNIOR WORLD EVENT
Brazil handed the U.S. Junior National volleyball team, captained by Honolulu's Kawika Shoji and Spencer McLachlin, its first defeat yesterday, winning 25-22, 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, in pool play yesterday at the FIVB Men's Junior World Championships in Rabat, Morocco.
McLachlin had eight kills and one block for nine points for the U.S., while Shoji started all four games at libero.
The United States is tied with Russia and Brazil atop the Pool B standings at 2-1.
ALLEN CAMP AT KING INTERMEDIATE JULY 25
Former University of Hawai'i All-American and Castle High graduate Allen Allen is in the midst of a 12-city tour of Volleyball Skills Camps. The tour began last month in American Samoa, was on Maui and Lana'i this week and will be at King Intermediate later this month after stops in Seattle and Chicago.
The fourth annual Skills Camp at King Intermediate will be July 25 and 26. Girls and boys sixth grade and younger go from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and those seventh grade and older from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $50 per person, or $75 after July 14. Camps are limited to 45.
For more information, contact Allen at (619) 507-0525 or allen2x@hotmail.com, or Grant Tolentino at 247-3531. Information and registration forms are at www.allenallenvolleyball.com.
The final camp is Nov. 23 and 24 at Kohala on the Big Island. Information for that is available locally by calling 808-217-2791.
TRACK AND FIELD
UH'S SHEPPARD FIFTH AT PAN-AM JR. HIGH JUMP
Emily Sheppard, who will be a junior at the University of Hawai'i next month, finished fifth in the high jump at the Pan American Junior Championships last weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Sheppard's jump of 5 feet, 8 inches (1.73 meters) was a little more than an inch below what she jumped at the NCAA West Regionals in May. Her career best is 6 feet.
Sheppard, from Vancouver, Canada, won the Western Athletic Conference Indoor and Outdoor high jump championships this past season. Last week she was named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-academic team.
YOUTH BASEBALL
'AIEA TOPS MILILANI FOR PONY BRONCO CROWN
'Aiea rallied from a one-run deficit, scoring six runs in the fifth inning, to top Mililani, 8-3, to capture the state PONY Bronco baseball title for 11- and 12-year-olds yesterday at Hanapepe Stadium on Kaua'i.
'Aiea advances to the Western Zone Tournament, July 26 to 29 in Olympia, Wash.
'Aiea team members: Blaise DeSa, Tyler Fujimoto, Travis Garcia-Perreira, Nathan Higa, Brock Honda, Keenan Lum, Tyler Meditz, Cody Miyasato, Austyn Nagamine, DJ Racuya, Blaze Saito, Brent Sakurai, TroyBarboza Scanlan and Kyle Tom. Coaches: Ray Sakurai (head), Ross Shimabuku, Regan Honda (assistants).
KARATE
ALOHA STATE TRADITIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AUG. 5
The 25th Annual Aloha State Traditional Karate Championships will be held Aug. 5, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Radford High's James Alegre Gymnasium.
Competition will be held in kata (form), kumite (sparring) and kobudo (weapons), and is open to karate or martial arts students of all ages and ranks.
Awards will be presented to first-, second- and third-place finishers, with 6-foot trophies awarded to kata, kumite and kobudo grand champions.
Entry fee is $15 per event in advance, or $20 at the door.
Entry forms are available by calling Linda Bunch at 488-6372. They should be mailed to: Hawaii Okinawa Karate-Do Shudokan 98-406 Kaonohi Street #1. 'Aiea, Hawai'i 96701. Make checks payable to: HOKK Inc.
