FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Iolani steersman Ian Smith got a hug from assistant coach Brian Yee after winning their race yesterday. Mike Self looked on.

ILH rules state
canoe championships

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

It was a typical day of paddling at Keehi Lagoon.

The winds came up in the afternoon, making the turns on the quarter-mile flags a little tricky.

The inside lanes were running, giving a big advantage to those in Lanes 1 and 2.

And there was a little controversy, with the girls varsity final decided via a replay on the officials' monitor.

The First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Canoe Paddling Championships had it all. And very few surprises.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu continued its domination for a second straight year, taking the top three places in the boys and girls varsity races. Favored Iolani edged defending boys champion Punahou by less than one second, while defending girls champion Kamehameha saw tears of disappointment turn into tears of joy when a review of the finish gave the Warriors the trophy over Punahou by .023 seconds.

The decision prevented a double win for the Van Lier Ribbink family. Junior Peter Van Lier Ribbink, the ILH kayak champion, stroked Iolani to its first state title; his sister Halli, the Punahou stroke, ended up with a second-place medal after the officials' review.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Kamehameha's Lori Nakamura, Makana Bruhn, Kanani Souza, Shawna Ferreira, Makana Reua and Elena Bryant won the state girls paddling title after the finish was reviewed.

The only real upset came in the mixed race, where Oahu Interscholastic Association fourth seed McKinley pulled away from Kauai to win by nearly eight seconds. OIA champion Nanakuli, stalling in the quarter-mile turn, finished third.

The Tigers' victory in the last race of the day made it a sweep for Oahu teams. It also made it a sweep for crews paddling in Lane 1.

"We were glad to be in Lane 1 today," said Iolani steersman Ian Smith, who has competed at Keehi numerous times during summer regattas for Lanikai Canoe Club. "It helps when you know how the turns are and the lanes run.

"We had to come from behind all day, having to have a super hard kick at the end. It could have gone either way."

The Raiders won their opening heat in 3:59.60, the only sub-four-minute time all day. They were also only one of two crews to take a race when not paddling in Lane 1; the other was King Kekaulike from Maui in the second girls heat.

Darragh O'Carroll was in seat five when Punahou won the inaugural boys title last season. Yesterday, he steered the Buffanblu into a position to repeat.

"We were ahead at the turn by a boat-length maybe," said O'Carroll, who is a regatta season teammate of Van Lier Ribbink for Outrigger Canoe Club. "They caught us with about 100 yards to go. I'm kind of mad right now, but congratulations to them, they're a good crew."

The Buffanblu girls were also gracious in defeat, after spending the first few minutes after the race celebrating an apparent victory.

"You win some and lose some," said coach Becky Fardal. "I paddle and I've been in races like that where you're neck and neck. It comes down to the officials, that's why they have cameras and timers. With computers these days, you have to trust the result.

"Sometimes it's just a matter of a surge. It was definitely a great race. The girls should be proud. We're a young team (one senior). There's always next year."

For the second year in a row, the Warrior girls went home with the trophy. For the second year, Lori Nakamura was the winning steersman.

"We were told Punahou had won and we were all crying," said the junior. "We were shocked when they told us we had won. It was a hard race. After the turn, Punahou just shot ahead. At the end, we picked it up. I guess we wanted it too much to let it go."

For McKinley, the season came together during this past week's practice.

"We just wanted it," said senior steersman Veronique Nguyen. "We didn't win a race, played second mostly. This past week at practice, we got it together."

It wasn't even close. The Tigers finished some four boat-lengths ahead of Kauai and Nanakuli.

Note: The ILH coaches will discuss adding a mixed division next year at their meeting on Wednesday. The league is the only one with single-gender schools, which has raised the issue of combining schools in order to compete in the co-ed races.