NAWILIWILI — Keanu Brown, Henry Sherer and Dutch Fairbanks led the competition on the “big boys” side, or the boys 15-17 age group, and Juliana Tampus shared the arena with Malia Splittstosser, Alana Cayabyab and Waileia Edwards on the “big girls, the queens of Kalapaki,” or the girls 15-17 age group, on Saturday.
The powerhouse athletes headlined the Kauai Junior Lifeguard island finals that wrapped up the county’s successful Junior Lifeguard program. That program started June 4 at different beach sites throughout the island.
“The results are in, and it doesn’t matter who is on top,” said Eugene Ancheta, one of the Kauai Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau instructors for the course that saw at least 600 of Kauai’s youth work hard. “Everyone here is advancing to the state finals, which will be here on Aug. 4. We’re the host island so all of our athletes at the island finals are advancing to the state competition.”
Mahina Dameron topped the keiki division events, taking first place in two of the three events — the 500-yard run and the keiki run-swim-run, an abbreviated version of the Junior Lifeguard event that included a 100-meter run, 100-meter swim, then another 100-meter run.
“When the Keiki Lifeguard program started, they never had the competition,” said Dave Duncan, the OSB keiki instructor. “But this time we thought it would be nice to have the keiki share the excitement of competition. This is it for them. They won’t be heading to the state competition.”
Ancheta said practice for the state competition starts Tuesday, following the same Kauai Junior Lifeguard hours.
“It’s not about being first, second or third,” he said. “It’s about being able to compete and finish. This is our island and everyone else is going to be gunning. We need to be ready.”
The Aug. 4 state finals is part of a weeklong conference on water safety that is being hosted at the Kauai Marriott Resort &Beach Club.
“We’ll be having the finals right here,” Duncan said. “This year, this is the final event. We don’t have any plans on participating in the nationals.”
Results
Keiki 500-yard run:
Boys/Girls 8-11: Mahina Dameron, Selah Johnson, Pulama Kaeo, Juliette O’Shaughnessy, Maiha Kjeldsen, Koi Pope
Keiki run-swim-run:
Boys/Girls 8-11: Mahina Dameron, Pulama Kaeo, Juliette O’Shanghnessy, Maiha Kjeldsen, Selah Johnson, Koi Pope
Keiki beach flags:
Girls 8-11: Koi Pope, Selah Johnson, Coco (last name unavailable)
Boys 8-11: Bodin Schael, Kapono Pavao, Hunter (last name unavailable)
Run-swim-run:
Girls 12-14: Kamaira Silva, Leilani Weber, Katy Hoesel, Alexis Chatfield, Kiani Ortiz
Boys 12-14: Kai Norman, Max Johnson, Kai Mottley, Kaiea Pa, Nahoa Davis, Damon Johnson
Girls 15-17: Malia Splittstosser, Juliana Tampus, Moddie Hoesel, Jordan Flemming, Julia Safford, Sammy Stokes
Boys 15-17: Keanu Brown, Henry Sherer, Dutch Fairbanks, Jeremy Herr, Kawai Beeby, Kelika Pa
Paddleboard relay:
12-14: Team 1, Team 3, Team 2, Team 4
15-17: Team 4, Team 2, Team 1, Team 3
1.2-mile run:
Boys 12-14: Damon Johnson, Brennen Corregedore, Max Jonah, Nahoa Davis, Kai Mottley, Kaulia Shiroma
Girls 12-14: Kali Brigante, Alexis Chatfield, Melia Chatfield, Emma McCarthy
Girls 15-17: Juliana Tampus, Tori (last name unavailable), Nahe (last name unavailable), Olivia Lutkenco, Kaya (last name unavailable)
Boys 15-17: Dutch Fairbanks, Henry Sherer, Jeremy Herr, James, Alex (last name unavailable)
Ironguard:
Boys 12-14: Kai Norman, Max Jonah, Kai Mottley, Damon Johnson, Kaiea Pa, Braden Chang
Girls 15-17: Malia Splittstosser, Maddie Hoesel, Juliana Tampus, Julia Safford, Olivia Lutkenco
Boys 15-17: Dutch Fairbanks, Keanu Brown, Kawai Beeby, Henry Sherer, Jeremy Herr, James Pratt
Beach flags:
Girls 12-14: Tavehi Dubocage, Leilani Weber, Liliwai Keahiolalo, Sailor Keahiolalo, Alexis Chatfield, Melia Chatfield
Boys 12-14: Max Jonah, Kai Norman, Brennen Corregedore, Kenneth Ruiz, Kaiea Pa, Maluhia Hayward
Girls 15-17: Waileia Edwards, Alana Cayabyab, Juliana Tampus, Lani Alo, Kelsey, Nahe Edwards
Boys 15-17: Keanu Brown, Dutch Fairbanks, Kaliko Pa, Jeremy Herr, Logan, Henry Sherer
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
