Hennessy, Mamiya break through in surfing
Hawaii surfers Brisa Hennessy and Barron Mamiya emerged victorious at the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach on Friday, giving them the coveted yellow leader’s jerseys as the tour heads to Portugal.
Hennessy, who represented Costa Rica in the Olympics but is a veteran of the Sunset Beach surf, beat Hawaii’s Malia Manuel 12.83-7.46. Manuel jumped out to the lead with a 6.33 on the first set of waves but fell flat after that as Hennessy compiled scores of 5.83 and 7.00 on her last effort. Manuel beat fellow Hawaii surfer Gabriela Bryan 12.66-10.23 to reach her seventh career final. Hennessy topped Hawaii’s Bettylou Sakura Johnson 15.17-8.23.
“I have no words. I’ve dreamed about this moment, but I never thought it was possible,” Hennessy said on worldsurfleague.com. “To all those people that supported me, I did it.”
Mamiya was hot throughout the final day, beating Brazil’s Caio Ibelli 10.37-9.80 with a 3.87 on his final wave of the semifinals and then beat Kanoa Igarashi of Japan 17.00-12.33 in the final.
Mamiya led the entire way and needed only four waves to clinch the victory, earning scores of 6.83, 8.17, 0.47 and 8.83.
“I can’t believe it, I literally can’t believe it. I thought Pipe was the event I was going to do good in,” said Mamiya.
Borges pitches, hits Wahine to win
The Hawaii (1-4) softball team made its home debut with two exhibition wins over Chaminade — a 4-0 shutout in the first game, followed by a 12-2, five-inning victory — at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on Friday.
The Rainbow Wahine scored all four runs in the bottom of the first inning in the first game and Chloe Borges struck out four batters on the mound while going 1-for-3 at the plate and drove in two runs for Hawaii.
Casey Beaulac went 3-for-3 at bat with a double and four RBIs and scored two runs for Hawaii in the second game.
Vulcans split softball twinbill
Hawaii Hilo’s softball team (1-1) split a doubleheader, winning the first game 8-4 and losing 9-0 against Western Oregon (8-4) in Kaneohe on Friday.
Sara Bhatt threw a complete game for the Vulcans, allowing only five hits.
UH Hilo tops Fresno Pacific in 2 OTs
Hawaii Hilo’s men’s basketball team outlasted Fresno Pacific 92-87 in a double-overtime victory in Fresno, Calif.
The Vulcans started off slow, missing six of their first seven shots but were able to seal the deal in overtime by knocking down their free throws.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led UHH with 26 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
UHH is 13-11 overall and 9-8 in the Pacific West, while Fresno Pacific is 16-8 and 10-7.
Vulcans women rally for hoops win
Hawaii Hilo’s women’s basketball team rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit to beat Fresno Pacific 56-45.
Mandi Kawaha scored 21 points for the Vulcans (12-8 overall, 9-7 PacWest). The Sunbirds are 7-12 and 4-10.
