Redemption for Kamehameha, historic day for Seabury Hall

Makua Perry entered the final race of his high school career with one mission: for him and his crewmates to avoid a second consecutive anguishing runner-up finish in the state paddling tournament.

The yearlong effort paid off for the Warriors boys and mixed (three boys, three girls) crews as the teams hoisted championship hardware. Seabury Hall kept it from being a clean sweep, pulling an upset over Kamehameha to claim the girls race at the 12th annual First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Canoe Paddling State Championships on Friday at Keehi Lagoon.

The Warriors won their third boys title in four years and fifth overall, while the mixed crew won a third straight state crown. The Spartans became the first squad in race history not from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu to claim the girls event.

"Last year, it was a humbling experience, and we knew that we had to come back a lot stronger this time around," said Perry, a senior who has been a part of three Kamehameha boys state championships in his four years paddling at the varsity level. "We kind of took it easy (down the stretch) last year, so this time around, there was no holding back. It didn’t matter who we beat, we were just happy to come out with the win."

Perry was referring to last year’s state final race in Hilo Bay, during which Kamehameha lost to ILH rival Punahou by 0.13 seconds. This time around, the Warriors jumped off at the start, and extended their lead throughout the last quarter-mile before crossing the line in 3 minutes, 41.67 seconds — nearly eight seconds ahead of the Buffanblu (3:49.55). Mid-Pacific (3:56.95), Kamehameha-Maui (3:59.61) and Kalaheo (4:00.27) rounded out the top five.

"Kamehameha has some great athletes in their crew. … You go to the half-mile, and it’s a whole different ballgame," said Punahou skipper Rocky Higgins of Perry and his fellow crewmates, which included Ruckus Lindsey, Beau Shishido, Tyler Meditz, Azariah Distajo and Kapono Fujitani.

Paddlers from 25 schools and five leagues representing Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island braved stiff trade winds and competed on a ½-mile course, which featured a turn at the ¼-mile point. The event was divided into preliminary and semifinal rounds with two heats apiece. The top two crews from both prelims advanced directly to the final round, while the top two finishers from each semifinal race also advanced to the championship races.

Kamehameha entered Friday’s regatta as ILH champions in each of the three divisions. The Warriors and their fellow ILH competitors needed to adjust to the ½-mile course in the sheltered lagoon after completing six regular-season long-distance races that ranged from 3 to nearly 6 miles in the open ocean.

Seabury Hall pulled off the upset of the day, and took gold in the girls race with a mark of 4 minutes, 24.37 seconds by fending off Kamehameha (4:26.40) — the victor in six of the previous 11 state races — as well as Waianae (4:39.40), Kalaheo (4:44.63) and Kamehameha-Maui (4:45.04). The Spartans crew included Hi‘ilei Aiwohi-Kolt, Bela Hamilton, Kaulu Lu‘uwai, Mikaela McDaniel, Alexis Smith and Kamaile Lee.

"It’s just incredible; these kids trained so hard," said an emotional Seabury Hall coach Paul Lu‘uwai as he realized the magnitude of his team’s accomplishment. "It’s such euphoria, just awesome for the girls. Our school only has 300 kids, so to compete against some of these bigger schools, I’m just so proud. This ranks as the highest of anything I’ve ever won as a coach."

Kamehameha notched the victory in the mixed race, claiming its third consecutive title in the event. The crew of Lindsey, Meditz, Distajo, Iisha Fu, Keolewa Puhi and Kekahiliokalani Novikoff completed the course in 3 minutes, 52.73 seconds. Punahou (3:55.42) eked out second place over Seabury Hall (3:55.92), while Kalaheo (4:07.18) and Nanakuli (4:11.27) rounded out the top five.

"It’s really special, especially with the crew I have, some of us have been in the winning canoe for three years in a row now," said Fu, a senior, following a long embrace with coach Kehau Meyer. "This sport represents our culture, and just being a part of that, it’s incredible."