WAILUA — Kapa‘a High School will be sending three paddling teams to the First Hawaiian Bank Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association state paddling championships, Feb. 1 on O‘ahu.
Heading into the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Paddling championship regatta, Kapa‘a High School had already demonstrated its supremacy in the boys varsity and varsity mixed divisions, winning handily in the KIF regattas, both distance and sprints.
Kaua‘i varsity girls team held the top spot after fighting through the series with paddlers fighting not only the Wailua River, but flu bugs and off-island travels, dropping one regatta to Kawaikini.
“All we have to do is finish,” said Kaua‘i High School athletic director Ross Shimabukuro. “We don’t need a disqualification.”
The statement was easier said than done because during the finals of the Varsity girls, confusion at the start line drew the Red Raider girls the dreaded DQ, opening the door to the Kapa‘a Varsity girls.
The door was not wide open, though, because in order to qualify for the state regatta, the Warrior wahine had to beat Kawaikini, who had already shown its strength during previous regattas when it upset the Kaua‘i team.
Heading into the turn, Kaua‘i girls held the lead, unaware of its DQ, with the Warriors pushing hard and hitting the flag ahead of Kawaikini’s team.
The order of finish did not change at the top end, Kaua‘i girls crossing on a 4:51.13 paddle followed by Kapa‘a at 4:59.48 and Kawaikini crossing at 5:05.36 before the DQ decision.
With the decision, the Kapa‘a girls win the KIF championship with a 29-point cumulative total, just a point ahead of Kaua‘i who finished with 28 points, tying Kawaikini for the runner-up berth. Waimea finished with two points on the season.
Kapa‘a boys topped the final run on a 4:16.99 paddle followed by Waimea (4:25.14) and Kaua‘i (4:25.96). The Warrior men accumulated 42 points on the season for the KIF title followed by Waimea at 27 points and Kaua‘i at 23 points.
The Kapa‘a mixed team also emerged undefeated as KIF champions in the season, making the mixed varsity final run on a 4:36.96 paddle followed by Kaua‘i (4:43.02) and Waimea (4:52.31).
The Warrior mixed team amassed 42 points for its undefeated season followed by Kaua‘i at 27 points and Waimea with 23 points.
Kaua‘i’s only consolation in the season was capturing the junior varsity girls who finished the season on a 5:03.95 paddle over Kapa‘a (5:04.41) for 34 points on the season. Kapa‘a finished with 26 points followed by Waimea at six points.
The Kapa‘a JV boys and mixed teams also were undefeated in the season, the JV boys posting a 4:19.90 final paddle followed by Kaua‘i (4:44.18) for a cumulative 36 points followed by Kaua‘i at 24 points.
The Kapa‘a JV mixed closed its season undefeated with 36 points followed by Kaua‘i at 24 points.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
