Former Anteater ends strong at Summer Games

UC Irvine graduate Lanee Butler-Beashel saved the best for last in

the women’s Olympic windsurfing competition Wednesday in Athens,

Greece. Butler-Beashel, a four-time Olympian, took fifth overall --

her best finish in an 11-race series -- on the final day of

competition and placed 16th overall with 126 points representing the

United States.

Butler-Beashel, UCI Class of 1993, also had a sixth-place finish

competing in the country where she debuted in the youth world

championships when she was 16. France’s Faustine Merret took the gold

with 31 points.

UCI alum and Newport Beach resident Peter Wells finished 31st on

the 11th and final day of racing in men’s windsurfing and placed 28th

overall with 241 points. Wells’ best finish in 11 races was 16th. Gal

Fridman claimed Israel’s first gold medal in the Summer Games with

his victory in the men’s competition, finishing with 42 points.

* In other Olympic news:

The U.S. men’s water polo team (2-3), which features five former

UCI players, will face Australia Friday in the consolation round,

needing two victories to secure seventh place. Australia defeated

Kazakhstan, 10-5, Wednesday, improving to 2-3-1 in these Games.

Jeff Powers leads the UCI contingent with three goals through the

team’s first five games while former Anteaters Ryan Bailey (two),

Omar Amr (one) and Dan Klatt (one) have also found the back of the

cage. UCI alum Genai Kerr is a goalkeeper on the team.

Team USA has fared well on 6-on-5 chances, scoring 22 goals --

tied for first with Croatia among all teams -- in 41 chances (53.7%).

The U.S. ranks 10th among 12 teams with 32 goals -- Tony Azevedo

leads Team USA with nine. Australia and Croatia have each scored 47

to lead all teams.

Team USA carries a three-game losing streak into Friday’s contest

after defeating Croatia and Kazakhstan in its first two duels.