Seabury girls take MIL title - Maui News
Article courtesy The Maui News
Sunday, February 22, 2004
By RODNEY S. YAP, Staff Writer
KAHULUI - There will be an asterisk next to the girls varsity I championship results for the 2004 Maui Interscholastic League outrigger paddling season.
That's because on Saturday at Kahului Harbor, 10 minutes after the biggest race of the season, officials disqualified the apparent winner, King Kekaulike, for a wide turn.
Na Alii, the defending girls champion, seemed to have edged Seabury Hall by about 2 seconds, but it didn't hold up.
The call was made by an official monitoring the race from atop an escort boat.
"It was a water call and it was from the vantage point of the officials,'' MIL race director Mahina Martin said. "We later verified the call. The crew made a wide turn that went over the imaginary 50 percent line.
"It was definitely a difficult call to make. Because it was definitely the race to watch and everything was compounded as a result of the ruling. Š It was a difficult call, as all disqualifications are, but we are diligent about running a fair and consistent race.''
Martin said water officials have consistently blown the whistle on crews crossing over into the opposing team's lane all year.
The Spartans' winning time was 4 minutes and 43 seconds flat.
The Seabury Hall and Kekaulike girls split the first four regattas to set up Saturday's winner-take-all finale. In the first meet of the season, Seabury Hall nosed out Kekaulike by 18 hundredths of a second. The following week, Seabury Hall was disqualified for burying the flag and Kekaulike won. Seabury returned in meet three to set a new MIL record in 4:21.0 and Kekaulike answered with a first-place finish last week.
The Seabury Hall crew included Bonnie Blair, Erica Zolezzi, Brianna Stice, Colette Rixey, Ashley Baird and Sanoe Elf. Paddling in the Kekaulike boat were Liann Marks, Marci Ono, Kanoe Barcai, Mystie Sparks, Michelle Marks and Nohelani U'u.
The other MIL championships - varsity boys I and varsity mixed I - were already decided going into Saturday's races. The Kekaulike varsity boys clinched its title in the third meet and added the mixed title last week.
The state regatta is set for Friday at Keehi Lagoon on Oahu.
Seabury's victory gave the Spartans the league's top seed.
The cheers and celebration in the Kekaulike camp came to an abrupt halt when Na Alii coach Paul Luuwai was asked to report to the officials' tent.
"They said we were disqualified because we interfered with Lanai High School,'' Luuwai said. "That was a really, really phantom call.
"The Lanai girls said we didn't interfere with them. But, officials in the boat said we made a wide turn. Š In paddling, I always thought if there is no harm to another canoe, then there's no foul.
"But that's the call they made and as a coach I have to live with it. The girls are devastated. For the officials to take away that from the girls is hard to swallow for me. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But what can I do? I love our officials and we have to continue to put our faith in our officials. They do a great job. I respect the Seabury girls, but our girls have trained hard for this and, for it to end on a disqualification is very unfortunate.''
Seabury Hall coach J.B. Guard, a teammate of Luuwai's with Hawaiian Canoe Club and a former pupil in his high school days at Seabury, agreed the disqualification put a damper on the meet.
"It does take away from the whole thing a little,'' he said.
The King Kekaulike champion varsity boys crew gave its gold medals to the girls team.
"Can you believe that?'' Luuwai said. "That is just awesome.''
The Kekaulike coach put a positive spin on the disqualification.
"The positive side is, it's going to make my girls that much more hungry to win a state championship,'' Luuwai said.
FINAL MIL VARSITY STANDINGS
Girls - 1. Seabury Hall, 2. King Kekaulike, 3. Kamehameha, 4. St. Anthony.
Boys - 1. King Kekaulike, 2. Baldwin, 3. St. Anthony, 4. Maui High.
Mixed - 1. King Kekaulike, 2. Seabury Hall, 3. Baldwin, 4. Kamehameha.
FINAL MIL JV STANDINGS
Girls-King Kekaulike
Boys-Maui High
Mixed-King Kekaulike
Posted by keizo on Sun, 02/22/2004 - 5:50pm