Saturday’s Queen Liliuokalani Races had a definite Big Island feel. Saturday’s Queen Liliuokalani Races had a definite Big Island feel. ADVERTISING The top two men’s crews and two of the top three women’s crews came from the host island. Team
Saturday’s Queen Liliuokalani Races had a definite Big Island feel.
The top two men’s crews and two of the top three women’s crews came from the host island.
Team Livestrong, from Kailua-Kona, won the men’s race, and Kai Opua Puni finished second.
On the women’s side, Oahu’s Hui Nalu won, but Kai Opua No. 1 and Kawaihae No. 4 took second and third, respectively.
The distance between first and second place in both races was significant. Neither race came down to the wire.
“We were out in front pretty early,” said Livestrong’s Mesepa Tanoai. “We weren’t really trying to win; we were going for the best time.”
Men’s race times were not available at press time. Final results were not submitted to West Hawaii Today by press time. They will be run when they are available.
The Livestrong team members are Jeff Silva, Daniel Chun, Earl Cox, Kua Nolan, Ikaika Hauanio and Tanaoai.
The women’s race starts at Kailua Pier and ends in Honaunau Bay. The men’s race returns to Kailua Pier. The races are 18 miles each way.
The Kai Opua crew that finished second decided to forgo the usual designation of a number, choosing instead to name itself after an injured teammate.
Puni Freitas, who had planned to be in that very crew, was seriously injured in a single-car accident a week ago and was unable to race. So, the crew dedicated the race to him.
“Whenever you race, you race for others,” said crew member and club men’s coach Eddie Hayward. “Today, we didn’t just paddle for the other six guys in the crew, but for the guy who wasn’t in the boat.
“Finishing second is just icing on the cake. We were paddling for Puni today.”
Paddlers in the Puni crew were Ina Ynigues, Keola Dudiot, Theron Ogata, Nate Grocholski, Kawika Leicher and Hayward.
Kai Opua was not the only crew paddling for a cause.
“Livestrong is all about cancer awareness,” Tanoai said. “So I paddled for my first long distance paddling coach, Clement ‘Junior’ Kanuha.”
Tanoai said Kanuha succombed to cancer about a year ago.
On the women’s side, the race was not much closer. Hui Nalu claimed the race in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 55 seconds, almost 4 minutes faster than Kai Opua’s 2:24:25.
But even though the winning club was from Oahu, it still had a Big Island feel to it. Steersman Dondi Dawson, who now lives on Oahu, used to paddle with Kai Opua.
“We pretty much had it from the start,” Dawson said. “When we started, though, the pack was kind of ahead of us. We started from the inside, but we had a pretty strong start. We were consistent throughout the race.
“Luckily we were able to pull it off. We had good teamwork today.”
In addition to Dawson, the other crew members were Cayte Brock, Jamie Kinard, Violet Carrillo, Donna Kahakui and Darcy Daniel.
Kai Opua’s Melanie Kelekolio was pleased with her crew’s effort. Despite having to work against the current, the crew managed to make good time in the race.
“We started to catch the leaders there for a little while,” Kelekolio said.
Kelekolio’s teammates in the boat were Tia Ulufaleilupe, Cheryl Villegas, Grace Emanuel, Maile Leslie and Nicki Lacey-Enos.
Toward the end of the race, Kelekolio heard some noise behind her and thought she might be missing a stroke call. Instead, she was hearing Kawaihae’s approach. Kawaihae finished 36 seconds behind Kai Opua in 2:25:11.
