The Kamehameha girls canoe paddling crew is so good even when there’s a mistake it’s nothing but small potatoes.
The Warriors led from start to finish and blitzed the field to repeat in the half-mile event at the BIIF championships on Saturday at Hilo Bay.
Kamehameha finished in 4:24.63 and fellow eastside schools followed with Waiakea in 4:31.93 and Keaau in 4:32.37.
In the last race of the day, Keaau won its first BIIF mixed title in 4:06.71, using the disappointment of being runner-up in the boys race as an incentive.
The top three crews in each race earn lanes to the HHSAA state championships, which will be held Saturday, Feb. 6 at Keehi Lagoon on Oahu.
After smoking everyone off the starting lane, the Warriors decided to make things interesting with a wide turn.
It was a door opening for anyone but particularly for the crews in the inside lanes, where the current from the Wailoa River can turn into a best friend.
Kamehameha was in lane 1, Kealakehe in lane 2, Waiakea in 3, and Keaau in lane 4. Good fortune was found there. Good luck to anyone on the outside.
The funny thing about the Warriors is that most of them are not club paddlers. Hopoe Sipinga is the only one; she’s with Keaukaha Canoe Club. Kaiao Shine didn’t even paddle last season.
But put juniors Sipinga, Kaimi Kipapa, and Wai Wichimai, and sophomores Shine, Lahela Rosario, and Leila Kaupu together in a canoe and they’re an unbeatable force in the BIIF.
Think Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker rolled into one.
The race wasn’t that close, and the Warriors, sort of, had a bad day and still absolutely dominated.
If there was a bummer to the day, it’s that there were no heats for the varsity races. More than anything that tests a team’s depth.
If the Warriors are well rested, like Jedi masters after a good breakfast and a nice nap, they’ll put up a tenacious fight and laser beam off any suspense early.
The other bummer was Konawaena didn’t field any crews for the varsity races. The Wildcats were the defending mixed champion.
Longtime Konawaena coach Paul Daugherty didn’t return and Jerome Kanuha took over.
The Wildcats were once the power of BIIF canoe paddling, winning at least one title at the league championships for eight straight years. That run was snapped in 2010.
Under Daugherty, the Wildcats won the league’s only state championship in 2008 with the mixed crew.
So how is it that coach Keahi Warfield’s Warriors win so handily?
It’s not like they’re soaked in experience. No one is 6 feet tall. Returning starters Sipinga and Wichimai look like every other paddler on the beach.
Sipinga, Wichimai, Shine and Rosario are teammates on Kamehameha’s water polo team, too.
“We work well together and have good communication,” Sipinga said.
Warfield’s coaching philosophy is based on five C’s: competence, commitment, character, courage and compatibility.
His Warriors are supposed to know that by heart. He preaches it at every practice. Shine has her favorites.
“It’s competence and character,” she said. “We hear that the most. Our character lets us work together.”
Maybe the relatively young Warriors can pull a threepeat next year and start a dynasty. The Keaau boy’s three-year run just ended.
Wichimai is level-headed and threw cold water on that sort of talk.
“I would have been proud of the girls even if we didn’t win, but if we did our best and even if we had a huli (canoe flip) or buried the flag (for a disqualification). It’s not necessarily about winning, but about having fun and being together,” she said.
Mixed feeling
Here’s the good news for Keaau: A first BIIF mixed title and all three crews advancing to the state championships.
The bad news: The Cougar boys couldn’t pull off a fourth consecutive title, despite taking an early, sizable lead.
“Last year, we buried the flag (in the mixed race),” Keaau coach Grant Kaaua said. “I’m happy for this group. We have kids who come to practice every day and are good people.”
With there are no heats, sometimes it’s the toughest call for a coach to determine the six paddlers.
Do you start your best six or the ones who may be a bit behind them but come to practice every day?
Kaaua went with seniors Kenny Simons, Temaurai Border and Michael Manuel, junior Shayna Picanco and sophomores Kiana King and Mary Ann Tadeo.
To add credibility to the inside line theory at Hilo Bay, Keaau was in lane 1, Kealakehe in lane 2 and Waiakea in lane 3. That was their order of finish.
‘Riders rise?
One reason canoe paddling and girls basketball have diminishing numbers is because of the popularity of soccer.
Soccer is an on-site sport. Players finish school, do their homework and hop over to a campus field. It’s convenient for players and their parents, who can do an evening pickup.
And what’s more fun than kicking a ball and running after it with a bunch of friends?
The ocean is far away for most schools. Most require their paddlers to find their own transportation.
“We get a lot of family support and help from the Keaau staff. They’ll bring kids down,” Kaaua said. “One of the teachers, Russell Rapozo, will bring kids even if it’s out of his way.”
Next season, Kealakehe is planning to bus paddlers to Kailua pier for practice. That should bring a smile from coaches Mike Atwood and Bo Campos.
And if practice doesn’t make perfect, at least things may be a lot more interesting next season.
