Thanking his competition “for pushing me” to a second consecutive Championship Tour world championship, John John Florence took home two of the eight awards across 12 categories bestowed on Hawaii surfers at the annual World Surf League Awards on Thursday.
Also honored for leading 2017 performances in ceremonies at Coolangatta, Australia, were Paige Alms and Billy Kemper as Big Wave Tour champions, Honolua Blomfield as the longboard champion and Finn McGill as junior champion.
Carissa Moore and Florence received move-of-the-year awards, Moore for her performance at Trestles in San Clemente, Calif., in September and Florence at Margaret River in Western Australia in April.
Moore was also honored with Lakey Peterson for heat of the year in the quarterfinals at Trestles.
“It’s so cool to see where surfing is going. I’d like to thank all of my fellow competitors for pushing me. I couldn’t do this without that inspiration,” Florence said at the banquet.
The 2018 Championship Tour opens this weekend in Australia with the men’s Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast event and the women’s Roxy Pro Gold Coast.
Hawaii softball drops close one to BYU
The University of Hawaii softball team had only four hits in a 2-1 loss to BYU on Thursday at the Outrigger Resorts Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Dana Thomsen (6-5) pitched a three-hitter and Britnee Rossi had two hits for the Rainbow Wahine (11-9). Hawaii scored in the fifth on a double-play grounder hit by Danielle Garcielita.
Aris Paulson (7-6) worked four innings and Kerisa Viramontes pitched the final three for her first save of the season. Rylee Jensen homered for the Cougars (10-12).
Hawaii Hilo softball sweeps Azusa Pacific
Bailey Gaspar hit a two-run, game-winning homer in the eighth inning to help host Hawaii Hilo beat Azusa Pacific 8-6 and complete a sweep of a doubleheader Thursday.
In the Vulcans’ eighth, Kiarra Lincoln singled with two outs and Gaspar followed with the home run.
Cyanne Fernandez pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for the victory.
In the first game, Fernandez pitched a three-hitter with two strikeouts and the Vulcans scored all their runs in the fifth inning of a 4-0 victory. Brinell Kaleikini had a two-run triple for Hilo.
The Vulcans improved to 13-4, 4-0 PacWest, while the Cougars fell to 5-14, 1-7.
>> Hawaii Pacific dropped a pair of one-run, extra-inning games to No. 19 Concordia at Howard A. Okita Field.
In the first game, the Sharks managed only two hits and the Eagles scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the eighth inning for a 1-0 victory. Jordan Curry pitched a six-hitter for HPU.
In the second game, Sierra Dias and Sienna Santiago each had two hits for the Sharks in a 3-2 loss in nine innings. Concordia’s Mckinsey Thorpe singled in Heather Nonora with the go-ahead run in the ninth.
The Sharks fell to 6-6, 3-5 PacWest, while the Eagles improved to 12-6, 5-3.
No. 5 UH water polo falls to No. 3 USC
The No. 5 University of Hawaii water polo team lost to No. 3 Southern Cal 12-7 on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Maartje Keuning scored three goals and Chloe Barr added two for the Rainbow Wahine (12-3). Hawaii’s Ymane Hage made 11 saves.
Paige Hauschild scored four goals for the Trojans (12-1).
