KAILUA-KONA — Cloudy skies and sprinkling rain welcomed west side schools to the waters of Kailua Bay for the first BIIF regatta of the season on Saturday.
But for Kealakehe — which won two of the three varsity half-mile races and swept the JV quarter-milers — the competition has been heated for weeks now, and could likely be attributed as the catalyst for the early success of the Waverider crews.
“The biggest difference for us are the numbers this year,” Kealakehe coach Mike Atwood said. “We have 56 kids and everybody on our list is academically eligible. Not only does that give us a bigger pool to pull from as coaches, but the kids are competing for spots. It’s a real good problem to have.”
That depth will become especially important later in the year, when heats become a regularity and more strategy comes into play. But for now, each varsity race only has six seats available in the canoe, so the Waveriders who get the chance to paddle have already earned the confidence of Atwood and co-coach Bo Campos.
For the first regatta, the winning girls crew was made up of Trinity Ballesteros, Abcde Tan, Kamomi Villaverde-Joaquin, Darby Muromoto, Kylie Pilanca-Russell and Olivia McClure. They finished in 4 minutes and 34 seconds, almost 30 seconds better than the second place Parker crew (5:03).
Ballesteros, Tan and Muromoto pulled double-duty on the winning mixed crew, accompanied by Channing Fujihara-Kaai, Jared Saribay and Hanalei Akazawa. The Waveriders edged Hawaii Preparatory Academy by four seconds.
It was a nice initial haul for the Waveriders, but Atwood knows the squads that lurk on the east side will probably provide a stiffer test for his program’s BIIF title aspirations.
Keaau is the defending mixed champs, and the Waiakea boys and Kamehameha girls took home gold last year. The hierarchy of BIIF crews will become clearer next week at the first all-schools meet at Kailua Bay.
“We can feel good about what we did today, but you never know how things are going to go until you see the other schools,” Atwood said.
Hawaii Prep took the boys race with a speedy time of 3:55, outrunning Kealakehe (4:04) and Parker (4:07). Jake Honl-Deguair, Daniel Groves, Hunter Ellis, Sheldon Aribal, John Farrell and Etera Teururai made up the Ka Makani crew.
“It’s a good start and a great way to set the tone for the year,” Hawaii Prep head coach Mesapa Tanoai said. “All these kids really enjoy paddling. I can see that they have a passion for the sport.”
Hawaii Prep won the mixed and boys BIIF titles back in 2011, but haven’t provided too many memorable moments since. The opening victory was a nice change of pace for Ka Makani.
“It was nice to get a win,” said Teururai, a senior steersman for Hawaii Prep. “But it was kind of stressful. We were concerned about Kealakehe, but we got to the turn and were able to come away with the win.”
Teururai — who calls Tahiti home — won’t be around for next week’s regatta. Like many students, he will be out of town for the holiday break. That is something Tanoi sees as a hurdle in hanging on to the early season momentum.
“We hope we can keep everyone together this season, but it will be tough with the break coming up,” Tanoi said. “We will do what we can”