WAILUA — Would the Warriors varsity mixed outrigger canoe paddling team have made it to the state races?
After strong showings in the preliminary heats leading to the final race on Saturday during the Central Pacific Bank Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation paddling championships, the Kapa‘a mixed team buried the flag midway through the final race.
The mishap resulted in a disqualification of the Warrior team and giving the victory to the Waimea High School mixed team who crossed the line on a 3-minute, 55.04-second paddle and gained eligibility to advance to the 2024 Hawaiian Airlines Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association canoe paddling championships at Hilo Bay on the Big Island on Feb. 10.
Kapa‘a will settle on sending the varsity boys crew to the state championships after winning the division in the final race by less than 0.5 seconds over Kaua‘i High School. The Warriors stroked to a 3:58.20 run over the Red Raiders, who were a consistent 3:58.68, a .48 second slower than Kapa‘a.
Waimea settled the season-long seesaw battle in the varsity girls division with a convincing 4:19.41 paddle in the finals over the 4:33.65 that the Voyager girls pulled. During the cumulative points check, Waimea finished the season with 28/40 points.
Traditionally, the CPB KIF champion in each of the three varsity divisions earns the right to advance to the state championships.
During the junior varsity races, the titles were distributed as Kaua‘i High School captured the JV boys on 12 points, Kapa‘a earned the JV mixed with 12 points, and Island School pocketed the JV girls races on 12 points.
Results (Lanes)
• Junior Varsity Girls: Kaua‘i (4:36.27), Island (4:27.06), Kapa‘a (4:30.19)
• B crews: Kaua‘i (5:08.20), Island (4:46.40), Kapa‘a (4:36.96)
• Junior Varsity Boys: Kaua‘i (3:57.84), Kapa‘a (4:10.38)
• B crews: Kapa‘a (4:15.45)
• Varsity Girls: Kaua‘i (4:27.61), Island (4:22.54)
• Heat 2: Waimea (4:16.38), Kapa‘a (4:26.32)
• Heat 3: Waimea (4:49.80), Kaua‘i (4:34.48)
• Finals: Kapa‘a (4:46.42), Waimea (4:19.41), Island (4:33.65)
• Varsity Boys: Waimea (4:01.47 ), Island (4:09.31)
• Heat 2: Kaua‘i (3:53.95), Kapa‘a (3:47.04)
• Heat 3: Kapa‘a (4:0u0.25), Kaua‘i (3:57.58)
• Finals: Waimea (4:10.35), Kapa‘a (3:58.20), Kaua‘i (3:58.68)
• Junior Varsity Mixed: Waimea (4:23.30), Island (4:25.77)
• Heat 2: Kaua‘i (4:08.20), Kapa‘a (4:07.86)
• Heat 3: Kaua‘i (4:34.12), Kapa‘a (4:27.34)
• Varsity Mixed: Waimea (3:58.82), Kaua‘i (4:03.13)
• Heat 2: Island (3:56.73), Kapa‘a (3:55.13)
• Heat 3: Island (4:10.02), Kapa‘a (4:10.49), Kaua‘i (4:31.75)
• Finals: Waimea (3:55.04), Kapa‘a (DQ 4:03.98), Island (3:58.00)
