Warrior wahine 4th in state paddling

HONOLULU — Twelve seconds separated the Kapaa High School wahine paddlers from the state title during the First Hawaiian Bank Hawaii High School Athletic Association canoe paddling championships held Saturday at Keehi Lagoon, Oahu.

The Kapaa girls, earning the right to represent the Kauai Interscholastic Federation after winning the division title, finished the final run on a paddle of 4 minutes, 28.25 seconds, good for a fourth-place finish in the division.

The half-mile run in the finals was a mere .53 second faster than the Punahou girls who ended fifth. It was also 12 seconds behind Seabury Hall of Maui who captured the top spot on a 4:16.80 run, two seconds ahead of Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama wahine (4:18.96). Molokai finished third in the division at 4:24.89.

Kapaa opened in the middle of the pack, finishing their preliminary run on a 4:32.37 run, advancing to finish in the top spot of the second heat of the semifinals on a 4:32.59 paddle. Despite bettering both times in the finals, the Warrior girls settled at fourth.

The Waimea mixed crew, also winning the KIF division title, was edged out of the finals at the state races after finishing fifth in the semifinals on a 4:18.55 run, nearly three seconds back of Kailua (4:15.44), which finished fourth in the second heat of the semis.

During the opening preliminary run, Waimea logged a 4:13.87 run to advance to the semis.

Seabury Hall of Maui captured the varsity mixed title on a 3:48.99 paddle followed by Punahou (3:51.89), and Kamehameha Schools-Maui (3:59.74).

The Menehune boys team, also advancing to the states after capturing the KIF title, opened its preliminary run on a 3:52.17 paddle, advancing to the semifinals where the squad finished on a 3:58.04 run.

Punahou topped the boys division on a 3:31.08 final followed by Seabury Hall (3:40.32) and Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama (3:41.75).