Jim Seki Jr., who had to compete in a 16-way playoff to qualify, was the only Hawaii survivor after the first round of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship yesterday in San Diego. Seki lone isle golfer to win Publinx match
Seki, who will be a senior at Punahou this fall, ousted last year's runner-up, Ryuji Imada of Tampa, Fla., 1-up, at the Torrey Pines South Course.
Guy Yamamoto, the 1994 publinx champion, lost his first-round match to Guy Faulkner of Louisville, Ky., 1-up.
Regan Lee, the other Hawaii qualifier, was eliminated, 3 and 2, by Larry Correa of San Diego.
Seki will meet Adrian Quintela of El Paso, Texas, in today's second round. The match-play tournament ends with a 36-hole final Saturday.
QUINAJON JUNIOR MEDALIST: Cecily Quinajon of Hilo led four Hawaii qualifiers for the 50th United States Golf Association Girls' Junior Championship when she shot a 3-over-par 75 yesterday at Ko Olina.
Also advancing to the national championship event at Philadelphia were Shayna Miyajima of Wailuku, Merynn Ito of Aiea and Whitney-Reigh Asao of Pearl City.
Miyajima shot a 76 and Ito had a 77. Asao won a playoff for the final spot on the second extra hole after she and two other girls -- Bridget Dwyer of Kailua and Dawn Miyashiro of Hilo -- tied at 80.
HAWAII HOOP TEAMS SPLIT: Walt Johnson's 3-point shot with two seconds left last night gave Kentucky Pump 'n Run a 78-77 victory over Fila Hawaii Select in the Adidas Big Time National Championship boys' basketball tournament at Las Vegas, where the Fila Hawaii Select girls defeated the Washington State Eclipse, 65-60, in their Blue Star U.S. Junior National Championship opener.
The Hawaii boys' team led for the entire game before losing on the last shot. Julian Sensley of Kalaheo scored 32 points, hitting on four of five 3-pointers.
Sheila Azevedo of Waiakea led the Hawaii girls with 25 points.
IKF MARTIAL ARTISTS EXCEL: Defending kumite grand champions George Kotaka and Barbara Chinen of the International Karate Foundation successfully defended their titles in the recent AAU/USA National Championships at Orlando, Fla., where IKF Hawaii won 122 medals, including 70 gold.
Shannon Nishi took the gold and IKF teammate Rina Ito the silver in the age 13 female advanced division. IKF's Kris Yamamoto captured gold in the 13 male advanced division.
KAWANANAKOA HORSE WINS: Royal Peepers, a 4-year-old gray gelding owned by Abigail K. Kawananakoa of Honolulu, won the recent MBNA America Northwest Quarter Horse Challenge in Boise, Idaho.
Royal Peepers earned $26,325 with his first-place finish.
The MBNA Challenge is a series of 40 regional races run in 10 regions throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The regional winners will run for the Challenge Championship Nov. 1 at Los Alamitos Race Course in Orange County, Calif.
BIG ISLAND BASKETBALL: Former University of Hawaii at Hilo basketball star Mark Lovelace is coaching the Big Island team in this week's Hoopsmart USA Classic, which brings more than 200 high school players from 45 states to Hilo for the 24-team tournament.
Members of the Big Island team are Kenneth Shim and Tony Rocha from Kapa'au; Myron Yoshizumi, Joseph Nicolas and Dave Hotnianski from Hilo; Leo Agonias, Jason Mandaquit and Eric Dunlap from Pahoa; Kimo Keiter-Charles from Mountain View, and Wesley Martinez from Pahala.
The tournament began today and runs through July 21.
KAISER'S RANKIN TO VMI: Lance Rankin, a catcher for Kaiser High School who batted .433 and hit six home runs in his senior OIA season, has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the Virginia Military Institute.
Rankin, who also lettered three years at cornerback for the Cougars' football team, is the son of Richard and Cynthia Rankin of Honolulu. Richard Rankin, a retired U.S. Army colonel, was a 1968 VMI grad.
PAC RIM JR. VOLLEYBALL: The men and women of Team Hawaii will compete against teams from the mainland, Canada, Taiwan and Samoa in the Pac Rim Junior Volleyball Tournament July 22-25 at Klum Gym on the University of Hawaii campus.
Scott Wong, Clay Stanley and Adam Black are on the Hawaii men's team. Among the Hawaii women are Heather Bowen, Tehani Miyashiro, Lindsey Berg and Justine Kamelamela.
Matches will be at 2, 4, 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. each day. Admission is $5 at the door or $15 for a tournament pass.
For more information, log on to the Pac Rim website at www.pacrimvolleyball.com.
DRAGON BOAT RACES: The third annual AT&T Dragon Boat Festival, featuring races among multi-colored wooden boats decorated with dragon heads, scaly bodies and tails, will be held at Ala Moana Beach Park on July 25 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There will be races in junior (age 13-17), novice, open, military, women, masters (40-plus) and international divisions. There also will be entertainment, food and craft booths.
Applications will be accepted through July 23.
For more information, call 532-7300.