Competing in his first contest of the year, Andy Irons of Kaua'i advanced to the third round of the Billabong Pro Tahiti men's surfing contest yesterday.

The second round of the event was run in 3- to 4-foot waves at Teahupoo, Tahiti.

Irons defeated Australia's Bede Durbidge, 13.16-12.0. Irons is on a sabbatical from the ASP World Tour in 2009, but he accepted a sponsor's invitation for this contest.

"Competing again is a bit like riding a bike, but it's a little scary," Irons said. "It's unfortunate that there was a bit of a lull during that heat, but I was able to get a couple of waves and I'm stoked to get through."

Irons is the only Hawai'i surfer remaining in the contest. Fellow Kaua'i surfer Dustin Barca was eliminated yesterday.

Defending world champion Kelly Slater of Florida was also eliminated in the second round.

TRIATHLON

EILER, TRANCHINA WIN MODIFIED RACE

Alexander Eiler won a modified Honolulu Triathlon Sunday after the swim portion of the race was canceled because of the threat of box jellyfish off Ala Moana.

The swim was replaced by a 5-kilometer run to start the race, followed by the 40k bike and a 10k run.

Eiler finished in 1 hour, 44 minutes, 8 seconds, followed by Richard Cochrane in 1:47:35 and Mike Ferreira in 1:48:03.

Jessica Tranchina won the women's race in 1:59:11, followed by Cynthia Anderson (2:00:46) and Sandra Ferreira (2:01:18).

TENNIS

THREE HPU PLAYERS HONORED BY ITA

Three Hawai'i Pacific tennis players yesterday earned postseason honors from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Anastasyia Ageychik and Hendrik Bode were named senior female and senior male players of the year, respectively. Sebastian Bader was named rookie of the year.

HPU reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Tennis Championships, while the men's team reached the semifinals.