BRIEFS

PEIRSOLS STAND OUT

VICTORIA, B.C. — Newport Harbor High product Aaron Peirsol won the 100-meter backstroke on Thursday at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, finishing the race in a Canadian-record time of 53.32 seconds.

Younger sister Hayley Peirsol was a strong second in the 1,500 freestyle on Thursday, finishing in 15 minutes, 57.36 seconds.

Aaron Peirsol, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and the reigning world champion in the 100 back, was ahead at the halfway point and finished well ahead of runner-up Ryan Lochte (54.02), also of the United States.

Peirsol, 23, narrowly missed breaking his world record (53.15), set in April, 2005 in Indianapolis.

Hayley Peirsol, 21, finished more than two seconds behind victorious Kate Ziegler of the United States.

Hayley Peirsol, also a Newport Harbor product, was nearly 14 seconds ahead of Ai Shibata of Japan.

Both Peirsols have more races this weekend.

Aaron Peirsol swims in the 200 back. Qualifying is today and the final is tonight. Peirsol is also the world-record holder in this event.

Hayley Peirsol will try to qualify in the 800 free on Sunday. The final is also scheduled for Sunday.

Peirsol’s qualifying time (8:26.45) is the fastest in the event, which she won at the USA Swimming National Championships in Irvine earlier this month.

TWO ANTEATERS LAUDED

UC Irvine baseball player Ollie Linton, who redshirted in 2006 after playing as a freshman in 2005, earned second-team All-Star honors in the summer New York Collegiate Baseball League.

Linton, a speedy outfielder, batted .336 for the Little Falls Diamond Miners to wind up sixth in the league.

He was second in the league with seven triples while recording 24 RBIs and 31 runs.

Linton topped the Diamond Miners with 13 stolen bases.

Fellow Anteater Kyle Gibson, competing for the league’s Bolivar A’s, was also a second-team All-Star.

Gibson, who redshirted last season after transferring from Oxnard Community College, was 4-2 with a 1.69 ERA. He struck out 31 in 37 1/3 innings, allowing just 28 hits (only two for extra bases) and walking seven. Opponents hit a mere .207 against Gibson, who will be a junior next season.

CHARITY TENNIS EVENT

The Newport Beach Breakers’ Pete Sampras, along with Andy Roddick and Anna Kournikova, will join Elton John and Billie Jean King for the 14th annual World Team Tennis Smash Hits, Sept. 14 at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center.

Proceeds will benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the AIDS Services Foundation Orange County.

The event, which is expected to raise more than $500,000 for the battle against HIV and AIDS, includes five sets of tennis, using the WTT format.

Roddick will play Sampras in the featured men’s singles set.

John and King plan to participate in a celebrity doubles event to open the evening.

Reserved tickets range from $45 to $110. For tickets, call the Bren Center box office at (949) 824-5000.