Kaua’i boys come back against Kapa’a

WAILUA — The Kaua’i High School varsity girls and the Kapa‘a High School mixed varsity teams picked up their second straight wins, Saturday at the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation paddling regatta at the Wailua River.

Both teams set the standard for their respective divisions, the Kaua‘i varsity girls dominating its preliminary run and the finals while Kapa‘a held off a strong Waimea challenge in both the preliminaries and the finals of the varsity mixed divisions.

In the varsity boys division, Kapa‘a edged out Kaua‘i in the preliminary run, but Kaua‘i came back to nip Kapa‘a in the finals to give Kaua‘i first-place finishes in both the varsity girls and varsity boys.

Coming out of the turn in the preliminary, Kaua‘i boys eked out first over Kapa‘a in Lane 3. Cheering from both camps stoked both teams and at the finish, the race was too close to call from the head-on view.

Officials logged Kapa‘a the winner on a 3:43.59 paddle over Kaua‘i’s 3:45.84 and Waimea, slingshoting off the start, in third at 3:54.00.

But during the break to the finals, Kaua‘i regrouped to edge out Kapa‘a on a 3:45.56 run, just a slight improvement over its preliminary run. Kapa‘a followed at 3:46.69 with Waimea rounding out the field at 3:55.33.

Kaua‘i varsity girls set the pace early, commanding the preliminaries on a 4:05.27 paddle over Kapa‘a (4:14.67) and Waimea (4:32.45). That pace continued in the finals where Kaua‘i topped the field on a 4:09.43 followed by Kapa‘a at 4:22.45. Waimea was disqualified after burying the flag at the turn.

Kapa‘a mixed varsity set the pace in the preliminaries on a 3:58.56 run, challenged by Waimea crossing at 3:59.08. This was in contrast to last week’s race where Waimea finished third in the prelims on a 4:12.69 run. Kaua‘i crossed third at 4:22.72, another contrast to its 3:58.73 performance at last week’s preliminaries.

In the finals of that division, Kapa‘a continued to set the pace on a 4:04.49 run challenged by Waimea (4:09.16) and Kaua‘i (4:17.99).

That sets the stage for this Saturday’s regatta where all three teams have a shot for the top spot in this division.

Kaua‘i High School also controlled two of the three divisions in the JV races, with Kapa‘a taking the JV Mixed.

Kaua‘i JV girls set the pace on a 4:22.63 paddle followed by Kapa‘a (4:33.06).

Kapa‘a JV boys picked up its second straight win, crossing at 3:58.51, just a tad off its 3:58.05 run from last week.

Kaua‘i’s JV teams controlled the top two runs, the B team crossing at 4:18.71 over its A team’s 4:22.30. Waimea followed on a 4:26.16 run, .30 second ahead of Kapa‘a’s 4:26.46  paddle.

The KIF regatta continues Saturday starting at 10 a.m. at the Wailua River.