After falling to rival Punahou by a miniscule 0.13 seconds in last year’s state championship, the Kamehameha boys canoe paddling team vowed to send a message to competing crews this season that a similar result would not be tolerated.
Message received.
Kamehameha asserted its will on the water, and claimed the boys, girls and mixed (three boys, three girls) division titles at the Interscholastic League of Honolulu’s season-ending regatta Saturday morning in the waters fronting Ala Moana Beach Park.
The event marked the final of six regular-season races, which ranged in length from 3 to nearly 6 miles. Saturday’s grueling 51⁄2-mile course started at the channel marker just off Magic Island, ran toward Diamond Head fronting the Ala Moana Bowls surf break, shifted Ewa bound, where crews rounded a buoy near Kewalo Basin, headed back to Ala Moana and finished in the channel adjacent to the Ala Wai Boat Harbor.
The Warriors claimed the boys race in 44 minutes, 22 seconds and held off Mid-Pacific (45:44), Le Jardin (46:38) and Punahou (47:24). The victory marked the fifth win in six ILH competitions for the senior-laden crew.
Kamehameha’s mixed crew also won its fifth race in six tries, crossing the line in 46:27, while Punahou (47:01) and Le Jardin (49:22) rounded out the top three.
"After last year in states, we were very disappointed with our finish in the boys race," said Kamehameha’s Tyler Meditz, who paddled in the winning mixed crew and will likely race in both events at the state regatta. "Coach (Napali Woode) wouldn’t let us live (finishing second) down, and he pushed us harder this year, and it paid off."
Meditz was joined by Kaeo Lindsey, Hina Keala, Sage Prado, Puna Kalipi and Keolewa Puhi.
The Warrior girls also finished the season strong, winning their fifth consecutive race following a second-place finish to begin the year. Kamehameha completed the course in 50:40, and bested Pac Five (52:55) and Punahou (53:12) with a crew of Tressie Ostermiller, Alex Ho, Kahili Novikoff, Celine Chang, Brittney Saldania and Iisha Fu.
In addition to notching the league titles, all three Warrior squads earned berths — and likely No. 1 seeds — in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA state paddling championships slated for Feb. 1 at Keehi Lagoon. The second- and third-place finishers in the boys (Punahou and Mid-Pacific) and mixed (Punahou and Le Jardin) divisions based on the season’s cumulative point standings also secured berths in the state races, while the girls runner-up, Punahou, booked its ticket to the championships. Now, crews must re-tool their training as they transition from long-distance races to the half-mile sprint format at states.
The Warriors are no strangers to state championship competition, as Kamehameha’s mixed squad is the two-time defending champion, while its boys and girls crews have collected four and six state crowns, respectively, in the 11-year history of the championships.
"We stole one from them in the state final," Punahou skipper Rocky Higgins said of the boys finish in 2012. "Now, it’s just a matter of whether we can elevate our game to match them because (Kamehameha) is really paddling well. You can’t count anybody out because when you go to the half-mile (races), it’s a whole different ballgame."
Like their male counterparts, the Kamehameha girls are also looking to avenge last year’s excruciatingly close second-place finish to Pac Five in the state race held in Hilo Bay. The Warriors finished half a second behind the Wolf Pack in the stunning championship run.
"Last year was so close, nine out of 10 times you’ll win that (close of a) race," said Kamehameha girls coach Kehau Meyer. "We’re just focused on getting our fastest time, and we don’t know what’s coming at us from the outer islands or the OIA representation. I’m excited to see what we can do."
