Leben, Tavares victorious

Chris Leben, who runs the Ultimate Fight School in Manoa, defeated Aaron Simpson by TKO last night at the "Ultimate Fighter" finale at the Palms in Las Vegas.

Leben (20-6) handed Simpson (7-1) his first professional loss, dropping him with strikes in the final minute of the second round.

Earlier in the card, local product Brad Tavares, who now trains in Las Vegas, defeated Seth Baczynski by unanimous decision in a close fight.

All three judges scored the bout 29-28 for Tavares (5-0), who advanced to the semifinals of this season’s "Ultimate Fighter" reality show.

Scholarships handed out

Punahou’s Shayna Price, Maryknoll’s Jetson Yee and Mililani’s Melissa Monette were awarded distinguished scholarships valued at $3,000 apiece at the HMSA Kaimana Awards & Scholarship Program yesterday at the Hawaii Prince Hotel.

Eighteen other students were awarded $2,000 scholarships and 10 high schools received Kaimana Awards for achieving the highest program scores in their league and division.

Chiarealla is top qualifier

Alex Chiarealla carded an 8-under 64 to win the 16-18 boys division at Friday’s Optimist International Junior Golf Qualifier at the Turtle Bay Golf Resort’s Fazio Course.

Chiarealla, from Makawao, Maui, was one of 16 qualifiers to advance to the OIJG Championships later this summer at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Chiarealla, Scott Yamashita of Kapolei (68) and Kaneohe’s Alika Bell (70) all qualified out of their age group.

The two spots for the 16-18 girls went to Alice B. Kim and Cyd Okino, who carded identical 72s. Also qualifying among the 120 golfers were:

Richard Hattori (72) and John Oda (73), boys 14-15; Mariel Galdiano (75), girls 12-13; Eimi Koga (75) and Alexandra White (78), girls 14-15; Jino Sohn (76) and Kyle Suppa (79), boys 12-13; Shawn Buckman (73) and Kuosuke Dumo (81), boys 10-11; and Mari Nishiura (84) and Briana Finau (86), girls 10-11.

Garcia headlines speakers

New Punahou athletic director Jeaney Garcia will be the featured speaker at tomorrow’s Honolulu Quarterback Club luncheon at the Maple Garden resturaunt.

Author Michael Tymn, Aloha State Games race director Joan Davis and recent high school graduates Ashley Satterwhite and Taylor Crabb also will speak.

Lunch starts at 11:30 a.m. The program begins at noon.