NFL standouts Haloti Ngata and JuJu Smith-Schuster were named the honorary team captains for the upcoming Polynesian Bowl at Aloha Stadium.
Ngata, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, is a defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith-Schuster, the 2017 Polynesian Pro Player of the Year, is in his second year as a wide receiver with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Polynesian Bowl, scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 19, features 100 of the top high school players in the country.
Medals for Pflueger, Baxter in paddleboard
Honolulu’s Hunter Pflueger won a gold and a silver, and Maui’s Connor Baxter two silvers at the ISA SUP and Paddleboard World Championship that concluded Sunday in Wanning, China.
Pflueger and Baxter were part of Team USA in the 10-day international competition that included 26 countries off the Shenzhou Peninsula. Races were held in men’s and women’s adults and juniors in surfing, SUP and prone distance and technical, and sprint and relay.
Pflueger finished Saturday’s 18-kilometer distance race in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 10.6 seconds, besting a nine-man international field that included defending world champion Lachie Lansdown. The Australian was second in 2:11:20.29.
Pflueger was less than three seconds behind, finishing second to Lansdown in the earlier technical race.
“Losing to Lachie in the technical race really fueled my fire,” Pflueger said on the isasurf.org web site. “We all worked together through the first laps, but on the last lap, it was time to go and I went hard.”
Baxter (30:52:38) was second to Hungary’s Daniel Hasulyo (30:25:53) in the SUP event. Baxter (53:60) also finished second in the sprint race won by Brazil’s Arthur Carvalho (51:72). Baxter also entered the 18K distance race, placing sixth.
Australia won its sixth team title while the U.S. was second.
Vulcans take down Sunbirds
Denhym Brook scored 19 points and James Griffin added 18 as Hawaii Hilo won its first PacWest men’s basketball game, topping Fresno Pacific 72-57 on Monday at UHH Gym.
Cleo Cain came off the bench for 10 points for the Vulcans (3-3, 1-2). Toby Christensen had 19 points to lead the Sunbirds (2-4, 1-2)
>> In the earlier women’s game, Allie Navarette scored 27 points and Mandi Kawaha added 22, but it was not enough as Hawaii Hilo remained winless in PacWest, falling to Fresno Pacific 83-64.
Navarette added 12 rebounds for the Vulcans (2-3, 0-3). Bree Alvarez had 27 points, 15 on 3-pointers, for the Sunbirds (6-2, 2-1).
Weekly honor for Swords’ Dressler
Chaminade senior guard Grant Dressler was named the PacWest men’s basketball player of the week on Monday.
The Las Vegas native averaged 20.5 points, five rebounds, six assists and 2.5 steals to help the Silverswords open conference play with victories over Fresno Pacific and Hawaii Hilo last week. He was 3-for-5 in 3-pointers against the Vulcans en route to a career-high 21 points for Chaminade, 5-0 for the first time since the 1984-85 season.
UH baseball team hosts camp
The University of Hawaii baseball team hosts its winter camp Friday and Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium.
The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, is open to ages 6-12. The cost is $200 and includes instruction in pitching, catching, fielding and hitting.
For more information, go to hawaiiathletics.com or call (808) 956-6247. Online registration is due Thursday.
