Navy football team returns to White House

WASHINGTON » President Barack Obama says Navy’s triumph in its annual football battle with Army and Air Force is getting to be a habit.

Presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy, Obama noted it’s the eighth time in 10 years they’ve come to the White House to claim it.

He says he and his wife are thinking of just “leaving the key under the rug.”

Navy beat Army 17-13 last December after earlier beating Air Force 28-21 in overtime.

Obama posed for pictures with the team in the East Room on Friday and was handed a Navy helmet — but he declined to put it on. He says it’s Politics 101: “You don’t put stuff on your head if you’re president … you never look good.”

Wahine heptathletes excel in Sacramento

University of Hawaii’s Samantha Balentine placed second in the heptathlon at the Mondo Multi-Events Friday at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium.

The senior from Lodi, Calif., scored 5,125 points in the seven disciplines and surpassed her previous personal best by 110 points. She started the day by jumping 17 feet, 7 1/2 inches (5.37 meters) in the long jump and throwing 97-8 (29.77m) in the javelin before concluding the event with a personal record in the 800 meters (2:23.00), chopping nearly five seconds off her previous lifetime best.

UH’s Amanda Alvarez took fifth with a personal-best 4,721 points, more than 400 points higher than her previous best, while Kaleigh Morrison placed sixth (4,648 points) and Zhane Santiago eighth (4,532) in her first heptathlon.

UHH sweeps BYUH in softball

Rebecca Lee had two hits and three runs batted in and Ashley Nelson pitched a complete-game 8-1 victory to help Hawaii Hilo sweep Brigham-Young-Hawaii at BYUH’s softball field on Friday.

In the first game, Vanessa Salinas pitched six innings of relief for her 19th victory and Lee had three hits and two runs batted in. Salinas is 19-5 for UHH, which is 35-15 and 21-5 in the PacWest. BYUH is 5-33, 2-10.

Acrobatics and tumbling, anyone?

Hawaii Pacific has announced that it will add acrobatics and tumbling as a varsity sport beginning in the 2013-14 school year. Acrobatics and tumbling is a blend of gymnastics, competitive cheerleading and acrobatics.

A&T is in its infancy as an NCAA sport, being added in 2010-11. Currently, Baylor, Fairmont State, Maryland, Quinnipiac, Oregon and PacWest rival Azusa Pacific sponsor A&T. Rather than have the schools compete in the traditional divisions (Division I, Division II, Division III), the schools will all compete against each other regardless of NCAA affiliation.

HPU will hold live tryouts on the third weekend of April at Moanalua High School. Video auditions will also be accepted.