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The state canoe paddling championships returned after a one-year hiatus following 2021’s cancellation due to COVID-19.
In stark contrast to 2020’s championships that saw three different schools winning titles, Punahou monopolized the top of the podium with a sweeping victory Saturday in the 2022 Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Canoe Paddling Championships.
“It’s hard for a team to sweep, because you have to balance the boys and girls and the mixed team,” Punahou senior Emma McDonald said. “But we put in a lot of effort this year, just the time and practice, so it feels really good to see that pay off.”
Punahou was the last school to sweep all three races, doing so in 2015.
The Buffanblu boys, girls and mixed crews cruised to victories in their finals, overtaking the rest of the field by sizable margins amid the left-to-right Kona wind at Keehi Lagoon.
“We knew we had put in the work,” McDonald said. “Once we got out to the start line, we just had to focus in on ourselves and believe that we could do it, and it got us all the way through the race.”
The Punahou boys won their preliminary heat by 13 seconds to punch their ticket straight to the final. The long break between their first and second races didn’t seem to faze them. Instead, it was more of the same as the Punahou boys were first to reach both the midway flag and the finish line to defend their 2020 title. Punahou finished with a final time of 3:34.56, ahead of ‘Iolani (3:42.80) and Seabury Hall (3:45.38).
“Most of it was mental, keeping in shape the whole time,” Punahou junior Merrick Hemmings said of the time between the first and second race. By keeping focus, the crew was able to find similar success in the second race. “We were the first ones there, first ones back,” Hemmings said. “We didn’t let it get out of our head. We stayed focused.”
The only second-place finish of the day for Punahou came in the girls’ first preliminary, as the girls finished just seconds behind reigning champion Kamehameha. But in the final, Punahou (4:13.79) took down Mid-Pacific (4:18.37) and Kamehameha (4:20.58).
“That was a crazy race. In the prelims we finished in second by barely two seconds,” McDonald said. “We had to switch up our race plan a little bit. I just trusted in the confidence that I have in our team, and the training that we’ve done. I’ve been on this team for four years now, and it’s just really amazing to see the way we rounded out. I’m so proud of all these girls.”
Rounding out the sweep was the mixed crew, which beat Kamehameha by a slim margin in the first mixed preliminary.
Punahou left nothing to chance in the final, finishing with a time of 3:44.22 to cruise to the finish ahead of Seabury Hall (3:50.94) and Kamehameha (3:54.24).
“We came into this knowing that it’s really hard for teams to sweep,” McDonald said. “Coming out of the ILH season, Punahou was top-seeded for the boys, girls and mixed teams. We had a hard season trying to figure out all of our crews and trying to balance who we put in the teams. But we definitely came in with the goal of breaking that (seven-year hiatus) of teams sweeping the championships.”
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HAWAIIAN AIRLINES HHSAA CANOE PADDLING STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Keehi Lagoon
Varsity Boys
1. Punahou 3:34.56
(Sebastian Ako, Merrick Hemmings, Cole Tiapkes, Stryker Scales, John “Jack” Kilpatrick, Aidan Cruise)
2. ‘Iolani 3:42.80
3. Seabury Hall 3:45.38
4. Kamehameha 3:47.51
5. Kealakehe 3:53.13
6. Kamehameha-Hawaii 3:53.34
7. Kalaheo 3:54.31
8. Radford 4:05.86
Varsity Girls
1. Punahou 4:13.79
(Phoenix Clarke, Emma McDonald, Shea Mauer, Kande Sills, Indigo Clarke, Hazel Campbell)
2. Mid-Pacific 4:18.37
3. Kamehameha 4:20.58
4. Seabury Hall 4:23.04
5. Keaau 4:24.02
6. Kalaheo 4:25.20
7. Kauai 4:26.55
8. Hawaii Prep 4:51.06
Varsity Mixed
1. Punahou 3:44.22
(Sebastian Ako, Stryker Scales, Merrick Hemmings, Phoenix Clarke, Emma McDonald, Indigo Clarke)
2. Seabury Hall 3:50.94
3. Kamehameha 3:54.24
4. King Kekaulike 3:59.39
5. Mililani 4:00.52
6. Hawaii Prep 4:02.44
7. Keaau 4:02.98
8. Island School 4:10.21
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