Medina takes down Slater, gains quarters

Reigning World Surf League champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil secured a spot in the quarterfinal round of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, after taking down 11-time world champion Kelly Slater in the fifth round on Tuesday.

In one of the meet’s most-anticipated matchups, Slater was in control for the majority of the heat after posting two mid-range scores, but with less than five minutes remaining, Medina took off on a smaller inside wave and performed three nifty turns to land a heat-high mark of 7.17 to secure the win. Medina’s victory over Slater gives the Brazilian six total in the pair’s 11 Championship Tour matchups.

In the women’s draw, France’s Johanne Defay earned a spot in the quarterfinals after taking out Alessa Quizon of Hawaii with a 14.54 two-wave heat total. The result for Defay, the lone European surfer on the women’s championship tour, is an improvement on last year’s ninth-place finish at Bells Beach; she meets defending event winner Carissa Moore of Hawaii in the next round.

HPU takes double dip with Chaminade

The Hawaii Pacific softball team swept a doubleheader with PacWest rival Chaminade, 5-2 and 8-5, on Sunday at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

The Sharks (20-16, 10-10 PacWest) triumphed in three games to win the weekend series. Dorian Acierto and Kristen Caskey had four hits apiece for HPU in the doubleheader, and Caskey drove in three runs.

Coco Stewart went 3-for-6 at the plate for the Silverswords (8-34, 7-19) in the twinbill with three RBIs.

» Hawaii Pacific freshman pitcher Alexa McCoin earned PacWest Newcomer of the Week honors on Monday.

The right-handed hurler from Sacramento, Calif., earned her fourth career win in a triumph over Chaminade on Sunday. She threw four-plus shutout innings in relief, allowing just three hits and striking out two. Her performance helped HPU erase a five-run deficit en route to an 8-5 win.

Hawaii Hilo golfers tied for 13th

After combining to shoot 330 (42 over par), the Hawaii Hilo women’s golf team is tied for 13th place after the first round of the NCAA West Regional Spring Preview at Foxtail Golf Course in Rohnert Park, Calif., on Monday.

The Vulcans are 24 strokes behind leader Barry Newman (18 over) and are tied with Cal State East Bay.

UH Hilo freshmen Andi Igawa and Erin Costes are both tied for 39th place individually after firing identical rounds of 81 (9 over) and stand 10 strokes behind the tournament leader entering Tuesday’s final round.