Sports in brief for July 21, 2023

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HIBT coming to Kona soon

The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament is scheduled for Aug. 7 at Kailua Pier.

HIBT teams from around the world will head out of the Kailua Pier aboard some of Kona’s top charter boats to experience the tradition of marlin fishing.

The tournament retail tent will be open at the pier from Aug. 5-11 at varying hours.

For any questions, email hibt@hawaii.rr.com.

BIIF air riflery schedule released

The BIIF has released its air riflery schedule for Fall of 2023.

The first meet is slated for 9 a.m. Sept. 2 at Hilo HS.

The remaining meets are as follows — Sept. 7-9 at TBD, Sept. 16 at Hilo HS, East schools at Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i and West schools at Konawaena HS on Sept. 23, Sept. 30 at Waiakea HS, Oct. 5-7 at TBD and Oct. 14 at KSH.

The BIIF Championship will be held Oct. 23 at Hilo HS, and the HHSAA Championship will take place Oct. 31 at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Center.

UH-Hilo men’s basketball earns academic excellence award

Three University of Hawai’i at Hilo men’s basketball student-athletes landed on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court as the Vulcans collectively earned a 2022-23 NABC Team Academic Excellence Award for outstanding achievement in the classroom.

Nadjrick Peat, Drew Yezbak and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones finished the school year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher while the men’s basketball team achieved a combined GPA of 3.30 for the 2022-23 school year.

Last month, nine Vulcans were named to the Academic All-PacWest Team for finishing with cumulative GPAs of at least 3.0.

The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes men’s basketball programs that completed the 2022-23 academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes juniors, seniors and graduate students who finished with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.

The NABC’s academic awards include over 1,800 players and over 300 programs from all levels of college basketball.

Jaguars associate strength coach Kevin Maxen comes out as gay

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength coach Kevin Maxen has come out as gay. His announcement is a first for a male coach in a major U.S.-based professional league. Maxen spoke about his sexual orientation in an interview published Thursday by Outsports. He said he didn’t want to lie about the way he lives his life or his boyfriend of two years. Maxen’s announcement is a first for a male coach.