Punahou steps up at ILH regatta

Watch out for the Punahou varsity girls paddling team when it hits the halfway mark.

The Buffanblu won Tuesday’s Interscholastic League of Honolulu Regatta at Magic Island, taking advantage of a rare bad day for a Kamehameha squad that had won two straight.

Punahou won by 36 seconds over Mid-Pacific with a time of 24 minutes, 22 seconds. Pac-Five was third in 25:24 and Kamehameha (25:35) took fourth, with ‘Iolani (27:45) fifth and Maryknoll (28:42) sixth.

This was the third of six competitions during the ILH season. The Buffanblu finished fourth in the season opener and third in the second race.

“I told the girls we wanted to come up a couple of places today,” Punahou coach Marion Lyman-Mersereau said. “They had good technique and worked hard.”

The Punahou crew of Kelsi Cottrell, Ellen Ashford, Kylie Courtney, Ericka Saito, Emily Hamocon and Tori Rooks had never competed together before, but when it hit the water everything clicked. The crew sprinted out to the halfway mark, but couldn’t get any separation from its three main competitors and turned it on when it made the turn in front of Waikiki.

“We picked a really good combo,” Lyman-Mersereau said. “I hope we have this combo again. It depends on who shows up for practice.”

Punahou persevered through a windy day on the water, so windy that one of the buoys got loose, changing the course midway through.

With the wind at its back, Punahou cruised home to soak up congratulations from supporters lining the water’s edge. The Buffanblu hit the water to share hugs with their Kamehameha counterparts.

The Warriors had their own reason to celebrate, with their varsity II squad winning their race by 8 seconds over Punahou.

Punahou won the junior varsity I race and Sacred Hearts won the JV II.

“It was a very windy day. We were just lucky that no one got injured and all of the boats stayed upright,” Kamehameha coach Kehau Meyer said. “Every race is different and poses new challenges and we are very proud of all of the teams that won today and we hope that we continue to have a good season.”

The ILH boys compete in the third race of the season today at Magic Island at 4:30 p.m.