After a poor showing at the previous Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association regatta, Kahana was able to bounce back yesterday, scoring 90 points in a runner-up finish at the Naleieha Regatta.

"(Two weeks ago) it was a complete meltdown,'' Kahana coach Kekai Keahi said to The Maui News. "This week, everything's operating the right way. We're firing on all pistons.''

Thanks to a fast start by its keiki crews, Kahana — which served as host of the regatta — had 46 points after 20 races at Hanakao'o (Canoe) Beach Park, and trailed six-time defending state champion Hawaiian Canoe Club by 10.

HCC, however, pulled away in the middle and late events, won a total of 18 races and finished with 139 points.

Kahana finished with eight wins and now has 435 points in the season standings, 32 more than Kihei, which finished third in yesterday's regatta with 71.

"Our kids came out really strong. They did real, real good,'' Keahi said. "Hawaiian is always strong. They have the best keiki division in the state for the last 10, 15 years. That's what we gauge ourselves on, Hawaiian. Not clubs from Oahu or Big Island, it's Hawaiian. They're the best.''

Kahana had five wins and two second-place finishes in the keiki divisions, while HCC won five races and took second in six.

"Our kids didn't do very well today,'' said Paul Lu'uwai, who coaches the keiki crews for HCC.

Kihei won six races, and was followed by Lae Ula O Kai (52), Napili (24), Na Kai 'Ewalu (18), Wailea (24), Hana (14) and Lahaina (three).

Two weeks ago, at the John M. and Kealoha Lake Regatta, Kahana scored 74 points and finished third behind Kihei.

With just two races left in the MCHCA season, crews are feeling the pressure to clinch one of two spots in each division at the state regatta, set for Aug. 4 at Kauai's Hanalei Bay.

"Are we doing well today? I don't know,'' HCC coach Diane Ho said at the halfway point of yesterday's regatta. "Are we winning the races we need to? Yes.''

With a second-place finish, HCC's golden masters men's crew fell out of the top two, leaving HCC with 31 state berths.

"We're just trying to hold on to the seeds we have and jockeying for position,'' Lu'uwai said. "It's like the quizzes before the final exam. The final exam is the state championship.''

Hawaiian finished behind Kahana in the golden masters men race — the win was Kahana's first in that division this year.

Lu'uwai said because Lanikai and Outrigger of the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association have qualified for more events than HCC, maintaining or adding to their number of state berths is particularly important this year.

"We haven't been in that position for about five years,'' Lu'uwai said. "Oh well, a little perseverance is in order here.''

Hawaiian won the women's novice A race and improved its season-best time by five seconds. The crew of Tiare Christopherson-Kinores, Kristen Handalian, Chilli-Rae Soon, Gabrielle Gibbins, Angela Dunbar and Kelsey Apo took first place in a time of 4 minutes, 31.5 seconds, just under 7 seconds ahead of second-place Kahana.

In addition to the golden master men's crew, Keahi said another that stood out to him was Kahana's freshman women. The crew of Jenna Holladay, Lani Kane, Tamara Paltin, Kelli Keahi, Denise Eaton and Dawnalyn Fujiwara took first place in a time of 8:34.5, edging Hawaiian by nine-tenths of a second.

"They started out the day four points from even qualifying for states,'' Kekai Keahi said. "But after the first place today, it put them in the running. Now they're only one point down.

"Our freshman women, they're really starting to come on right now.''

During the week with no race, Hawaiian conducted some team activities.

"It's always hard coming off a break,'' Ho said, adding that the keiki crews took a trip that included paddling around, and hiking on, Kaho'olawe. "So we were doing other things instead of just gearing up. It's like getting restarted again.''