The only crew that could possibly stop the Kalaheo Mustangs was … the Kalaheo Mustangs.
The boys crew whizzed up and down a 5-mile course with a comfortable lead. Despite head winds of about 25 mph after the turn in Keehi Lagoon, Kalaheo completed the race with a time of 33 minutes and 10 seconds — only to learn that a slight mistake at the finish line could’ve disqualified them.
Because one of their paddlers had trouble breathing near the finish, the crew let up and did not clear out after crossing the finish line. That alone is enough for a DQ, according to Oahu Interscholastic Association paddling official Lapule Schultz.
Instead, however, Kalaheo — which had a 15-second lead over runner-up Castle — and three other crews that faced the same problem against stiff winds were granted a bit of leniency, along with a stern warning.
"Four canoes were in question. Next time, there will be no mercy," Schultz said.
The victory and resulting 11 points helped Kalaheo pad its lead in the OIA East standings after Friday’s race, the second of the season. Next week’s race will be longer, 5 miles, before the league goes to sprints in preparation for the state championships on Hawaii island.
That’s several weeks down the road, though. For now, the three-time defending OIA champion Mustangs were just glad to avoid a DQ.
"There’s a lot of good teams like Kailua that are improving. I expect them to be there at the end," junior Zac Vollert said.
"We’re mostly training for states," senior Rayson Doo added.
Assistant coach Brad Wong and the staff also coach at Kailua Canoe Club, where many of the Mustangs train. Wong filled in for head coach Julian Wicker, who was on a trip.
"They’ve had some success and, hopefully, they can keep it up," Wong said. "It’s a learning process for them and for us."
Wong pushes the paddlers as hard in high school season as he does in club season. In fact, they get more practice time during the school year.
"We put them through the same things. We practice four, five days a week," Wong added. "We’ve got about 14 boys on the varsity and pretty much all of them are solid, have a chance to make the top crew."
Four of the six Mustangs on the crew Friday didn’t paddle last week.
"It’s only fair that everyone gets to race," Wong said. "We like to give everyone a shot."
Only two of the usual three buoys were available because of the wind, which resulted in a delay of nearly an hour at mid-morning. That was enough to give Leilehua cause for concern. Last week at Keehi, the Mules’ canoe was hit by another canoe, costing them a chance to finish first.
This time, they edged out last week’s West winner, Waianae, by less than a half-second. Leilehua crossed the line in 33:41.58 to Waianae’s 33:41.9.
"Today, they were really good," Mules coach Randy Sanborn said.
"Last week, Waianae was flying," said paddler Cameron Dickens. Like his Leilehua teammates, he paddles for Sanborn at Manu O Ke Kai Canoe Club.
"We’ve got to practice. That’s all we need," Bryson Carreira-Bobadiuca said.
The Mules see Kalaheo as the team to beat in the OIA.
"They keep a nice pace," Kawika Pangelinan said.
In the OIA West, Kapolei’s girls won with a time of 40:46, 12 seconds quicker than Waianae. The Hurricanes paddle with a savvy sophomore steerswoman, Caitlyn Milare.
"We got DQ’d last week because we hit a boat on the outside," Milare said, noting that the ‘Canes avoided any possible contact with other canoes this time. "Today, we stayed first all the way down and all the way back. We train at Pualoa, Ewa Beach. We have huge winds and it’s windy. This is just wind. There’s no waves here."
Kailua paced the OIA East girls race with a time of 39:37, 36 seconds ahead of second-place Kalaheo.
