Warriors sweep regatta despite flood threat

WAILUA — The Kapa‘a Warriors did it again.

Overcoming the threat of flash floods, the three Warrior varsity teams swept the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Outrigger Canoe Paddling Regatta No. 3 in the rain-swollen waters of the Wailua River Saturday.

“They’ve been working really hard, and they keep telling me they really want this,” said Godwin Esaki, an instructor with the Lihu‘e Hongwanji Aikido Club who has been helping the Warrior team.

That statement proved out as the three teams not only won their respective divisions, they did it by bettering their last week’s paddle that took place against strong biting winds.

Of the three teams, the Varsity Boys fared the best, shaving off nearly four seconds on a 3:31.99 run, compared to 3:35.35 last week.

Throughout the season, the Warriors have set the pace for the field, improving on each race.

Following the varsity boys, the Varsity Mixed finished Saturday’s race at 3:50.05, an improvement over last week’s 3:53.03 paddle. The Warrior wahine topped the Varsity Girls division on a 4:01.72 run, improving over last week’s 4:03.70 race.

Prior to the start of the regatta, race officials were concerned with the high level of brown water in the river generated from overnight rains.

With the threat of a flash flood watch and advisories issued by the National Weather Service, officials decided to run the varsity races first to take advantage of crisp weather with no rain, but fairly dense cloud cover.

Varsity races have a bearing on the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association’s state championships, so if the weather took a turn for the worse, at least those races would be in the books, officials said.

However, unlike last week which ran against strong cold winds with no disqualifications, this week’s races were marred with four DQs, three coming from teams burying the flag, one from an overstart and one from a uniform violation.

One of those DQ victims was the Kaua‘i High School Mixed varsity squad which finished Saturday with a 3:54.64 paddle in the preliminary heat, an improvement over its 4:07.34 final last week.

But the DQ gave the berth in the finals to the Island School team who finished with a 4:15.43 paddle for third place.

Second place in that division went to the Waimea High School team whose craft was steered by Alyssa Nishihira.

“She’s still learning,” said Menehune coach Kane Turalde. “She’s doing real good, and she’ll do better next week.”

Nishihira said she only started learning the steersperson position last year.

“When I first started two years ago, they didn’t know what to do with me so they put me in No. 5 (seat),” the Waimea junior said. “But now, I know where I am, and I’m getting better.”

With just two more races remaining in the KIF season, Nishihira said the team is optimistic.

“We approach each race with the attitude that we can take it,” she said. “We change our practice routines from conditioning to sprints every week, so we know we’re in there.”

But win, or lose, Nishihira said everyone gets closer, even the new paddlers. That’s the beauty of being in the canoe.

“It’s hard in the beginning because it’s hard to learn,” she said. “But the most important thing is to stick with it and keep coming back.”

The DQ bug also hit the Menehune as its Varsity Girls team overstarted, opening another door for the Island School team.

When the spray settled in the finals, the Island School girls team chalked up a third finish at 4:15.57 below the Kaua‘i girls’ 4:08.30 second-place run.

The Red Raiders also took second place in the Varsity Boys division on a 3:40.55 run followed by Waimea in third at 3:48.03.

However, the Red Raiders’ JV boys team was another DQ victim as the team buried the buoy at the start, giving the race to Kapa‘a who finished at 3:46.04.

That was the only casualty for the Red Raiders who topped both the JV Girls and Mixed races.

In the JV Girls’ race, Kaua‘i soared to a 4:14.17 first finish followed by Waimea at 4:21.27 and Kapa‘a at 4:22.58.

The Red Raider JV Mixed finished at 4:04.95 for a first finish in that division followed by the Kaua‘i “B” team at 4:11.15 and Kapa‘a at 4:11.56. Island School finished that division at 4:11.88 as its No. 4 paddler flopped overboard to retrieve a dropped paddle in traffic as the craft crossed the finish line.

Saturday’s regatta will start at 1:30 p.m. at the Wailua River due to ACT testing. The KIF championships will take place on Feb. 16 at the Wailua River.

• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com