WAILUA — The Kaua‘i High School paddling teams increased their lead in the standings by winning two of the three varsity events and two of the three junior varsity events, Saturday at the Wailua River. Heading into the Kaua‘i Interscholastic
WAILUA — The Kaua‘i High School paddling teams increased their lead in the standings by winning two of the three varsity events and two of the three junior varsity events, Saturday at the Wailua River.
Heading into the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation paddling championships this Saturday, the Red Raider paddlers control the varsity girls and varsity boys standings while Kapa‘a remains undefeated in the varsity mixed standings.
Working under near ideal conditions with just a slight breeze blowing from the northeast, Kaua‘i girls’ team found a capable substitute for its steersperson who was unable to participate in the regatta, Saturday.
Lori Parraga, the Kaua‘i girls coach, said Carly Matsumoto was scheduled for an off-island trip on regatta day during a stop at the KIF girls basketball game, Tuesday night.
However, with several capable substitute steerspeople, Parraga’s team continued its undefeated streak by topping that division on a 4:14.57 paddle over the 1/2-mile course, holding off a strong Kapa‘a challenge by a mere three seconds.
Kapa‘a finished second in the division at 4:17.20 followed by Waimea (4:55.92). During the preliminary heat, the Warriors set the pace for the day with a strong 4:12.69 run over Kaua‘i’s 4:14.41.
Kapa‘a, similarly, beat Kaua‘i in the preliminary runs of the varsity boys division, but dropped in the finals when Kaua‘i pulled sharp out of the turn en route to its first finish, stopping the clocks at 3:45.64 over Kapa‘a’s 3:50.15. Waimea rounded out the leaderboard at 3:54.84.
In the preliminary runs, Kapa‘a stopped the clock at 3:45.14 over Kaua‘i’s 3:46.09.
Excitement enveloped the varsity mixed division when Kapa‘a, clearly in the lead at the turn, ran into problems resulting in its canoe running into Kaua‘i’s boat making the turn in Lane 3 during the preliminaries.
That disqualified the Warrior team for the heat, giving Waimea top finish at 4:22.95 and Kaua‘i following at 4:49.43 after its steersperson recovered from the bump and steered the crew home.
But Kapa‘a came back strong in the finals with a 4:04.32 run, just a tad slower than its 3:59.72 showing in the preliminaries, to take the division over Waimea (4:07.37) and Kaua‘i (4:17.08).
The Kaua‘i JV girls finished almost eight seconds ahead of Kapa‘a in that division races, the Red Raider wahine stopping the clocks at 4:22.54 over Kapa‘a (4:30.33) and Waimea (4:56.00).
Kapa‘a closed the gap for the JV boys races, finishing first on a 4:00.29 crossing over Kaua‘i’s 4:05.71 paddle.
Kaua‘i finished by taking the JV mixed division on a 4:14.73 paddle over Kapa‘a (4:17.05) and Waimea (4:22.25).
The KIF paddling championships will start at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Wailua River with the champions of the varsity boys, varsity girls, and varsity mixed teams scheduled to paddle in the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association state championships on O‘ahu, Feb. 5.
