WAILUA — Kapa‘a High School won five of the six Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation paddling events and pocketed four titles, settling for a tie in one on Saturday at the Wailua River. With double points involved in the finishes, Kapa‘a teams
WAILUA — Kapa‘a High School won five of the six Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation paddling events and pocketed four titles, settling for a tie in one on Saturday at the Wailua River.
With double points involved in the finishes, Kapa‘a teams topped the Junior Varsity Boys, JV Mixed, Varsity Girls, Boys and Mixed divisions, with the Kaua‘i High School JV girls taking its only top finish.
Kapa‘a had the fastest run in the preliminaries of the varsity girls event, beating out the Red Raiders on a 3:58.39 run over the half-mile course while the Kaua‘i team followed at 4:02.56.
Kawaikini, running with Waimea’s A team in the preliminaries, advanced to the finals after Waimea was disqualified for burying the flag at the turn.
Kapa‘a went on to start the varsity sweep as the Warrior wahine stroked to a 3:59.35 run over Kaua‘i (4:04.88) and Kawaikini (4:14.14), the light blue-shirted strokers getting their share of fan encouragement as the Kapa‘a team, starting off in a measured gait, surged to the lead at the turn, pulling ahead
of Kaua‘i.
With the win, Kapa‘a’s girls finish the season with 18 points followed by Kaua‘i at 12 points, Waimea at nine points and Kawaikini with three points.
The Warrior men dominated the varsity boys race, handily stroking to a 3:40.43 run over Kaua‘i (3:44.81) and Waimea (3:52.78) in the finals.
Kapa‘a’s boys finished undefeated for 24 points followed by Kaua‘i at 12 points and Waimea with six points.
Kaua‘i High School had the better preliminary run in the varsity mixed race, finishing ahead of Kapa‘a on a 3:46.47 run over Kapa‘a’s 3:54.10.
But the order reversed in the finals as Kapa‘a surged into the lead, entering the turn just a hair ahead of Kaua‘i and pulling ahead on the home stretch to cross on a 3:45.24 run, less than a second ahead of Kaua‘i’s 3:46.03 and Waimea crossing at 4:33.55.
The Kapa‘a win pushes the Warriors to 18 points in a tie with Kaua‘i, which also finishes the season with 18 points. Waimea closes with six points.
Kaua‘i’s A junior varsity girls team finished with a 4:11.18 run over the half-mile course, ending the season undefeated over Kapa‘a (4:35.89) for 24 points.
Kapa‘a junior varsity boys moved to a 3:55.35 paddle over the Kaua‘i C team (4:13.92) to remain undefeated with 24 points.
The Kapa‘a C team posted the fastest run in the JV Mixed race, stopping the clock at 4:08.86 over Kaua‘i’s 4:13.50, ending its season undefeated with 24 points followed by Kaua‘i at 12 points and Waimea with a point.
Winning teams will advance to the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Canoe Paddling state championships on Feb. 3 in Hilo.
