ISLE FILE
Wichmann wins WAC heptathlon
Advertiser Staff
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University of Hawai'i All-American Annett Wichmann won her third consecutive heptathlon title yesterday at the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Boise, Idaho.
Wichmann amassed 5,266 points to win by 315 points. Teammate Emily Sheppard, competing in just the second heptathlon of her career, finished seventh with a personal-best 4,471 points.
Wichmann and Sheppard lifted the Rainbow Wahine into second place in the team standings with 12 points.
"More important than individual accomplishments, this was a great win for the team to get those 10 points (for her first-place finish)," Wichmann said. "I was happy with my effort in the javelin and look forward to the open competition tomorrow. It's cool to represent UH and see your name on top of the leaderboard. Hopefully, we get many more first places tomorrow."
Idaho, which placed second, third, fourth and fifth in the heptathlon, leads with 22.5 points. The Vandals' Darcy Collins finished second with 4,951 points and Molly Burk was third with 4,842.
Wichmann placed eighth in the long jump (17-5.5), won the javelin with a UH heptathlon record (153-1) and finished seventh in the 800-meter run (2:32.54). Sheppard tied for fourth in the long jump (17-7), took ninth in the javelin (85-10) and was ninth in the 800 (2:39.44).
"I'm very pleased with Annett for defending her title for the third year in a row," UH head coach Carmyn James said. "She did it with minimal effort knowing that she has five individual events over the next two days. That was the plan, for her to coast through the hep and rest up to prepare for a grueling two days of competition. She didn't have to work too hard but she still threw three regional standard throws in the javelin. Emily was sick and I'm proud of her to be able to still post a personal best score."
Preliminary heats in all other events start today with most of the finals scheduled for tomorrow.
SURFING
IRONS BROTHERS LOSE
Kaua'i siblings Andy and Bruce Irons were both eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Billabong Pro Tahiti men's surfing contest yesterday.
The final day of the elite contest was run in 4- to 5-foot waves at Teahupoo, Tahiti. The fourth round, quarterfinals, semifinals and final were all run yesterday.
Andy Irons scored a perfect 10 in his fourth-round victory, and his two-wave score of 18.93 (out of 20) was the best heat of the entire day.
But he could not find any quality waves in his quarterfinal heat, and Australia's Joel Parkinson prevailed, 16.33-6.14.
Bruce Irons won his fourth-round heat over France's Mikael Picon, then lost in the quarterfinals to Florida's C.J. Hobgood.
Brazil's Bruno Santos won the contest, defeating Tahiti's Manoa Drollet in the final. Santos received $30,000 and Drollet $18,000. Both finalists got into the contest as wildcard entries.
The contest was the third of 11 stops on the 2008 World Championship Tour.
Florida's Kelly Slater is still ranked No. 1, despite getting eliminated in the third round.
Andy Irons is ranked No. 4, and Bruce Irons is No. 20.
The next event is the Globe Pro at Tavarua, Fiji, later this month.
TENNIS
BYUH WOMEN ADVANCE
The top-ranked Brigham Young-Hawai'i women's team won its quarterfinal match yesterday, but Hawai'i Pacific's women's and men's squads were eliminated at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Houston.
The Seasider women beat 15th-ranked West Florida, 5-1, to improve to 28-0 on the season.
The No. 1-ranked doubles team of Elwen Li and Maggie Deng avenged its only loss of the season by beating No. 2 Suzanna Cavalcante and Paola Arevalo, 8-6, as the Seasiders won all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead.
The sixth-ranked Cavalcante upset the top-ranked Li, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 1 singles but Deng and teammate Jenny Chin won their matches to clinch the victory.
BYUH meets second-ranked Armstrong Atlantic today in a semifinal of unbeaten teams.
On the other side of the women's bracket, Valdosta (Ga.) State swept 17th-ranked Hawai'i Pacific, 5-0, with Hollie Bees teaming with Natali Gumbrecht for a doubles victory, then clinching the match by beating Tinka Mihova, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 5 singles.
Meanwhile, West Florida won four of six singles matches to oust the 10th-ranked HPU men, 5-4. West Florida's Eduardo Cavasotti beat Hendrik Bode, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 1 singles and teamed with Luis Arboleda to beat Mark Mestan and Anton Samuilau, 8-3, at No. 1 doubles.
