The Kaua‘i High School girls paddling team made the strongest Kaua‘i showing at the First Hawaiian Bank Canoe Paddling championships, Saturday on Maui. After holding off a strong Kapa‘a girls team in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championships and earning the
The Kaua‘i High School girls paddling team made the strongest Kaua‘i showing at the First Hawaiian Bank Canoe Paddling championships, Saturday on Maui.
After holding off a strong Kapa‘a girls team in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championships and earning the state berth on a tie-breaker, the Raider ladies finished the two-heat semifinals with a solid No. 4 seeding following a 4:20.75 paddle at the Hanakao‘o Beach Park.
This was based on the strong pace set by Punahou girls who finished the semifinals witha 4:12.23 run.
In the finals, Punahou, capturing top honors in the Varsity mixed and Varsity girls and second in the Varsity boys by just .46 second, finished on top with a 4:23.56 run compared to Kaua‘i’s No. 5 finish at 4:44.77.
This was the best showing from the KIF as the Kaua‘i boys team, undefeated through the KIF season, barely squeaked into the finals on its semifinal run of 3:52.41 for the No. 8 spot.
In the semifinals, Kaua‘i edged out Kealakehe of the Big Island (3:56.63) and got the finals berth below McKinley (3:51.26) and Mid-Pacific (3:51.48).
That spot didn’t improve in the finals that was taken by Kamehameha-Maui (3:45.29) who squeaked past Punahou (3:45.74). Kaua‘i boys finished eighth on a 4:10.59 paddle.
The Kapa‘a High School varsity mixed team that had dominated the KIF through the season, was eliminated from the finals on a 4:12.14 paddle, good for No. 9 spot after being edged out by Kamehameha-Kapalama on a 4:11.75 run.
Punahou went on to top that class with a 3:57.54 showing followed by Kalaheo (4:01.00) and Kamehameha-Maui (4:02.70).
In the 2008 state regatta, Kapa‘a High School placed second in both the varsity girls and varsity boys division.
Kaua‘i High School placed a varsity mixed team in third place in 2002.