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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, August 3, 2003

Keiki power lifts Kane'ohe to AA championship

 •  Hawaiian Canoe Club paddles to three-peat

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

And they're off! Crews in the women's junior race sprint from the starting line at Ke'ehi Lagoon.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

The so-called "smaller" clubs came up big in yesterday's Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association State Championship Regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon.

Kane'ohe Canoe Club showed off the most impressive youth program in the state — topping even Hawaiian Canoe Club — to win the AA Division for medium-sized clubs.

Wailea from Maui relied on a strong core of adults to repeat as champion in the A Division for small clubs.

Kane'ohe, the Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a champion, scored a regatta-high 139 points in the 13 youth races.

"That's awesome, I don't know how else to put it," Kane'ohe head coach Clint Anderson said. "The kids in this club are real close — they're all like brothers and sisters, and that makes a big difference."

Kane'ohe won the girls 15 and boys 16 races, and finished in the top five in eight other races.

"We know we made it here the same way any other club did," said Titi Kawainui, who steered the winning girls 15s. "We know they were all strong clubs, but we feel like we're strong, too."

Crew-mate Precious Vincent added: "It's intimidating because everybody thinks the Hui Wa'a teams never come out on top. But we just went hard the whole way."

Making it more impressive, the Kane'ohe youths paddled in a koa canoe for the first time (fiberglass canoes are used in Hui Wa'a races).

"We put in double-shifts at practice all this week," said Kawika Kahiapo, who paddled in the winning boys 16 crew. "We just wanted it real bad."

Kane'ohe finished with 176 points, meaning the youths accounted for 79 percent. Another 15 points came from Kane'ohe's mixed novice B crew.

Kawaihae from the Big Island placed a distant second with 136 points, followed by Lokahi with 122.

The A Division featured the most clubs (37), making it arguably the toughest division to win. Teams in that division can only enter eight crews or fewer.

"It's really hard because every race counts so much," said Wailea head coach Mark Cluney. "But this club made some sacrifices to win this trophy."

The crew of Michelle Lussier, Kawena Cramer, Deborah Robinson, Malika Wiezbowski, Barbara Luerry and Sarah Van de Vanter compiled 30 points by winning the women's freshman and junior races.

The Wailea men also contributed with second-place showings in the men's sophomore and senior races, and a third in juniors.

Wailea finished with 105 points to top Keahiakahoe's 80.