LIHU‘E — It turned out to be the best race of the day and the only one with two state qualifiers, as Kaua‘i High School’s Aaron Ramelb (59.83) inched past Island School’s Ben Baldwin (59.93) in the boys 100 yard
LIHU‘E — It turned out to be the best race of the day and the only one with two state qualifiers, as Kaua‘i High School’s Aaron Ramelb (59.83) inched past Island School’s Ben Baldwin (59.93) in the boys 100 yard fly.
After the race, Baldwin noted that it was a great race for the two swimmers.
“I don’t think I would’ve gotten a state time if it wasn’t for Aaron pushing me,” Baldwin said.
The former Mission Viejo Matador swimmer added another state qualifier to credit with a win in the boys 500 free (5:16.28).
Baldwin was also able to shatter Keenan Anaya’s pool record in the 500 free by over a second.
Anaya in the meantime, got ahold of three more state times, which included the boys 200 yard IM (2:11.23), the boys 100 yard free (51.29), and the boys 400 yard free relay (3:34.09) along with teammates Ramelb, Kelsey Tanaka, and Jarred Perry.
The Red Raider group managed to eclipse a pool record held by the 2003 Kapa‘a squad of Jeremy Albano, Michael Maddock, Andrew Salvador, and Keli‘i AkanaKa‘aihu‘e (3:40.16).
Teamwise, the Kapa‘a girls (81) finished first, followed by Kaua‘i (59), Waimea (40), Island (27), and Kula (17). The Kaua‘i boys took the stop spot (120), followed by Waimea (39), Kapa‘a (27), Kula (17), and Island (13).
The KIF has yet to see a girls swimmer to qualify for states. So far, Kaua‘i’s Keenan Anaya, Jarred Perry, Aaron Ramelb, Kelsey Tanaka, Nick Murray, Cory Riley, along with Island School’s Ben Baldwin and Waimea’s Randy Umetsu have qualified for the boys.
The last KIF qualifying meet is this week Saturday, Feb. 5 at Kaua‘i High School’s pool, with a 10 a.m. start. The KIF championship meet happens on Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. at Kaua‘i’s pool.
