UH’s Barton wins BWC water polo honor
Hawaii freshman Julia Barton was named the Big West Women’s Water Polo Player of the Week on Wednesday after scoring 12 goals at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invitational last weekend.
Barton scored in all six matches over the three-day tournament to help the Rainbow Wahine to a 5-1 start to the season
Barton opened her UH career by scoring three goals in UH’s 11-10 upset of No. 4 California last Friday. She scored twice in a 7-5 win over No. 8 San Jose State and closed the tournament with four goals in a 12-3 rout of CSU Bakersfield. She scored one goal in wins over No. 12 Michigan and No. 20 Wagner and a loss to No. 2 UCLA.
The Wahine jumped three spots to No. 4 in this week’s Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, trailing top-ranked Stanford, UCLA and USC. They travel to the east coast next week to compete in the Brown Invitational in Providence, RI.
UH tennis team enters ITA poll
The University of Hawaii women’s tennis team entered the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings at No. 67 on Wednesday.
The Rainbow Wahine (2-3) made their season debut in the poll after knocking off No. 64 Arizona on Sunday. UH was ranked for 13 weeks last season, peaking at No. 48. The Wahine next face Cal Poly on Feb. 6 at the UH Tennis Complex.
HPU Baseball No. 7 in preseason poll
The Hawaii Pacific baseball team was selected to finish seventh in the 10-team PacWest Conference by the league coaches on Wednesday.
Sharks senior pitcher Rico Garcia earned a spot on the Preseason All-PacWest team. Earlier in the week, Garcia was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America Preseason All-West Region First Team. A graduate of Saint Louis School, Garcia led the Sharks with a 6-4 record and a 2.18 earned run average. He also led the staff with a school-record 87 strikeouts.
Last season, the Sharks went 27-20 overall and 17-15 in the PacWest. HPU opens on February 10 against Saint Leo University (Fla.), 6 p.m. at Hans L’Orange Park.
Top women’s seed advances on Maui
Top-seeded Christina McHale advanced to the second round of the SportMaster Tennis Championships of Maui with a 6-0, 7-6 (5) win over Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic on Wednesday at the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch in Kaanapali.
McHale next faces American Danielle Lao, who defeated Sabrina Santamaria 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
In the men’s main draw, third seeded James Duckworth of Australia moved on with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over American teenager Taylor Fritz. Frances Tiafoe upset eighth seeded Dennis Novikov 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3.
The tournament, the only professional event in the state, runs through Sunday.
3 on Pac-12 all-century volleyball team
Three Hawaii prep products have been named to the Pac-12’s all-century men’s volleyball team.
Selected to the 16-player team were setter Stein Metzger, libero Erik Shoji and outside hitter Mike Lambert, all three Punahou alums and all NCAA champions. Metzger played for UCLA (1993-96) while Lambert (1993-95, ’97) and Shoji (2009-12) both played for Stanford.
UCLA swept the top honors with Karch Kiraly (1979-82) named Player of the Century and Al Scates (1963-2012) the Coach of the Century.
Amateur boxing card at Palolo
Skyler Reyes of Pearlside takes on Lydon Patricio Jr. from Aiwohi Athletics/Five-0 Boxing in Saturday’s main event of an amateur boxing card at Palolo Distict Park gym.
Nearly a dozen fights will be contested beginning at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $12.
For more information, contact Bruce Kawano at bkawano@aol.com.
KIRA season continues Saturday
The Kanaka Ikaika Racing Association holds its third race of the season Saturday, the Outrigger Zone-Kai Wa’a Kualoa Challenge.
The 12-mile long-course race is from Kailua Beach to Kualoa Beach while the 6-mile short course is from Heeia Pier to Kualoa Beach. Both begin at 10 a.m.
Divisions to be contested are OC-1, OC-2, OC-3, OC-6, V-1, surfski, and prone and stand-up paddleboard. Online registration is available until midnight Thursday at flpregistration.com.
Race-day registration is from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. at Kailua Beach Park.
>> kanakaikaika.com.
Sharon’s Ride, Run and Walk event Sunday
The annual Sharon’s Ride, Run and Walk, a fundraising and educational event for the Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii, is Sunday, beginning and ending at Kapiolani Community College.
Runs of 5K and 10K begin at 7:30 a.m. with both courses going in and out of Diamond Head Crater. There is also a 1-mile walk starting at 8:30 a.m.
Bike rides of 35-, 75- and 100-kilometers start at 7 a.m. There also is a keiki bike safety obstacle course at 10:30 a.m.
Race-day registration is available 30 minutes prior to each event.
For more information, call 528-3058.
>> epilepsyhawaii.org.