WAILUA — Kapa‘a High School’s Warrior paddling team captured the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title yesterday by sweeping all their competitors in the major races to come out on top of the points ratings. The Warriors had been going strong all
WAILUA — Kapa‘a High School’s Warrior paddling team captured the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title yesterday by sweeping all their competitors in the major races to come out on top of the points ratings.
The Warriors had been going strong all season long, dominating the major categories for the past four weeks. Kapa‘a coach Kaulana Smith said that winning the championship was a great way to top off the season.
“It feels great,” she said. “The paddlers have been working all season for this. They set their goals and they achieved them. The goal really was going to go to states.”
For the First Hawaiian Canoe Paddling State Championships, scheduled for Feb. 29 at Ke‘ehi Lagoon on O‘ahu, there are no split divisions — Division 1 and 2 — like the other high school sports.
Because of this, Kapa‘a and the other KIF individual canoe teams will race against the bigger schools with bigger teams.
“They know what they have to do,” Smith said. “What they achieved here is only the beginning. This is our training ground.”
In the finals, Kapa‘a’s Varsity Girls, Varsity Boys and Varsity Mixed divisions beat their competitors by nearly three to four canoe lengths.
Kapa‘a’s Varsity Girls finished well ahead of their second-place finishers from Kaua‘i High School with a time of 3:58.23. The Red Raiders came paddling up with a time of 4:13.56, and Waimea rounded out the final with a time of 4:37.50.
In the boys final, Waimea High School was able to keep relatively close to Kapa‘a but lost time in the turn. Kapa‘a kept its pace heading into the final stretch and finished with a time of 3:39.59. Kaua‘i picked up its pace and finished second with a time of 3:45.84. Waimea finished at 3:47.37.
The day ended with the Kapa‘a taking the Mixed Varsity division by 10 seconds. They posted a time of 3:54.69, beating Kaua‘i whose time was 4:04.97. Waimea finished at 4:13.79.
Smith said that even though Kapa‘a had produced with fast times, the Warriors could not have competed the way they did if it weren’t for the other teams.
“A big ‘Mahalo’ to the other teams,” she said. “If it weren’t for them, they wouldn’t be there at all. They’ve made the competition so much greater.”
The junior varsity canoe teams also raced yesterday. Kaua‘i’s Girls A team took their division over Waimea with a time of 4:19.55.
Kapa‘a’s JV boys won their race, finishing at 3:53.04.
The JV Mixed race was the closest of the day with just little more than a second separating the two canoes. Kapa‘a edged Kaua‘i with a time of 4:02.31 over Kaua‘i’s 4:03.68.
Overall, the state tournament berths were broken down by points with the top two finishers in each division going to the state championships. The teams accumulate points throughout the season and double points for top finishers were awarded at the KIF championships yesterday.
Kapa‘a’s Girls, Boys and Mixed teams finished with 36 points each, sealing their state berths. Kaua‘i’s Varsity Girls and Boys teams finished second, with the girls earning 24 points and the boys earning 23. Waimea, however, took second in total points in the Varsity Mixed division with 21 points.
For more information on the HHSAA state championships, visit www.sportshigh.com
