WAILUA — A dropped stroke on the top end proved costly to the Kaua‘i High School varsity boys, Saturday. The miscue cost the Red Raiders the lead and Kapa‘a capitalized by gliding across the line on a 3:51.04 paddle over
WAILUA — A dropped stroke on the top end proved costly to the Kaua‘i High School varsity boys, Saturday.
The miscue cost the Red Raiders the lead and Kapa‘a capitalized by gliding across the line on a 3:51.04 paddle over a half-mile course for first place, Kaua‘i being relegated to third place on a 3:53.86 run. Waimea boys filled in second place on a 3:52.07 paddle, just about a minute back of the pace.
With the win, Kapa‘a High School takes the lead in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Paddling regatta which opened under warming conditions with a low tide at the Wailua River.
Kapa‘a won the varsity boys and the varsity mixed divisions followed by Kaua‘i taking the varsity girls, second in the varsity mixed and third in the varsity boys races. Waimea finished with a second in the varsity boys and third in both the varsity girls and varsity mixed.
With the sandbar settled following the recent runoffs from heavy rains, organizers said Lane 2 would be the fastest lane based on the low tide. All three first finishes in the varsity finals paddled in Lane 2.
During the preliminaries, the Kaua‘i varsity boys demonstrated a unique, paced deep power stroke and appeared to cruise to its first finish on a 3:46.33 run, almost seven minutes faster than its final run.
This compared with the Warrior men who worked short rapid strokes to finish the preliminary run on a 3:48.45 paddle, almost two minutes back of the Raiders.
In the finals of the varsity boys, Kaua‘i glided out on a strong start and was first in the turn. But all three teams were equal coming out of the turn, Kaua‘i battling to keep its scant lead before dropping the stroke close to the buoys.
Kapa‘a pushed to a strong start in the finals of the varsity mixed division and held on to the lead, taking the turn first and powering to a 4:03.01 first place finish, almost three minutes ahead of Kaua‘i’s 4:06.69 second place finish. Waimea crossed at 4:14.10 for third place.
Kaua‘i girls got a good start and with Carly Matsumoto at steer, controlled the outcome of the varsity girls final on a strong 4:08.25 paddle over Kapa‘a (4:31.51) and Waimea (4:33.05).
Kapa‘a swept the Junior Varsity series, taking all three divisions.
In the JV Girls, Kapa‘a stopped the clock on a 4:26.62 run over Kaua‘i’s 4:28.70 and Waimea’s 4:49.53. The Warriors’ JV Boys made the course in 3:58.05 followed by Kaua‘i (4:05.88) and a second Kaua‘i team (4:08.90).
Kapa‘a wrapped up the JV series by pulling out a tight race over Kaua‘i’s challenge, stopping the clock at 4:14.15 over Kaua‘i’s 4:15.04. Waimea rounded out that division on a 4:18.54 run.
The KIF paddling regatta continues with three schools on Saturday at the Wailua River starting at 10 a.m.
• Dennis Fujimoto can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
