UH swimming finishes strong at A3 meet

Jasmine Alkhaldi led the University of Hawaii women’s swimming team with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle at the A3 Invitational on Saturday at Monterey Park, Calif.

Alkhaldi recorded a time of 1:46.93 to clinch the final and help the Rainbow Wahine finish fourth in the 15-team meet, behind winner San Diego State, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. The senior swimmer also placed second in the 100-yard free (49.24) and third in the 50-yard free (22.96).

Freshman Kira Webster stepped up with a runner-up finish in the 1,650-yard free (16:45.31), and third in the 500 free with a time of 4:53.23.

On the men’s side, the Warriors finished in sixth place out of nine teams. UH placed fifth in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:06.41 and its strongest individual performance came from freshman Alex Straw, who finished eighth in the 100 breast with a time of 57.53.

HPU basketball team earns Challenge win

Luke Hager scored 25 points and Hawaii Pacific outscored Central Washington by 17 in the first half en route to a 74-62 victory in the PacWest GNAC Challenge men’s basketball tournament at Brigham Young-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center.

Darry Jones Jr. added 17 points and Justin Long 14 for the Sharks (2-1) against the Wildcats (2-2).

Seasiders’ women hit 14 3-pointers in win

Celest Claw scored a game-high 23 points and Brigham Young-Hawaii hit a program-record 14 3-pointers to defeat Oakland City (Ind.) 94-63 in a women’s nonconference basketball game at Cannon Activities Center.

Claw had five 3-pointers and Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo had six, finishing with 20 points for the Seasiders (1-1) against the Oaks (2-2).

HPU’s McKenna to cross country nationals

Hawaii Pacific’s Fiona McKenna placed fourth and the Sharks finished with a program-best seventh place at the NCAA Women’s Cross Country West Regional Meet on Saturday at Billings, Mont.

McKenna finished the 6K race in 21 minutes, 22 seconds, qualifying her as an individual at the NCAA D-II championships in Louisville, Ky., on Dec. 6. Katelyn Steen of Western Washington won the race in 21:06.

HPU scored 193 points and BYU-Hawaii had 559 points, finishing 19th.

In the men’s 10K race, HPU finished 16th in the 23-team field with 433 points and BYU-Hawaii 20th with 493.