Kaua‘i gets No. 5, No. 8 spots at states

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.