Grand Finale of the SUPAM Season
Community Contributed by Clare Seeger Mawae
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Sports
1 CommentsMolokai Holokai 2011
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Ripping trade winds and large swells made for perfect conditions during the second Molokai Holokai Stand Up Paddle Race last Saturday. Thirty-nine local, off-island and mainland contestants sped along the 8.5 mile run from Kamalo to Hotel Molokai in under two hours. This year’s race featured a new category, Prone (lying on board and paddling with arms), in addition to the men’s, women’s, youth and open divisions. Groups of paddlers from both Oahu and Maui joined the race, as well as one contestant from California, who flew to Molokai just to participate. Second-time champion Jeremy Riggs of Maui won this year’s Molokai Holokai with a time of 1:07:00.
Molokai Wrestlers Strong in States
Community Contributed
By Randy Manley
On Saturday May 14, 58 wrestlers from the Molokai Wrestling Club participated in the Kid’s State Wrestling Championships at the Lahaina Civic Center on Maui. In all, 520 wrestlers representing 22 wrestling clubs from Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Hawaii Island and Lanai competed throughout the day.
Wrestlers from age four through adult were grouped in seven divisions and a variety of weight classes.
At the end of the day, 34 Molokai wrestlers finished in the top three in their respected divisions. As a team the Molokai Club finished the day in fourth place with 76 total team points, just behind third place Maui Central (77 pts.), second Napili Surf Riders (80 pts.), and first place Maui Razorbacks (89 pts.).
Nearly Pau With SUP Series
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Community Contributed
By Clare Seeger Mawae
Race five was held on April 30 and the forecast was calling for light and variable winds. How wrong that was, with steady trades hitting Kamalo during registration. Keala Freemon once again brought another victory to his name with a time of 1 hour, 40 minutes, leading the points in the long course. Raleigh Poepoe came in second, a minute behind Keala, and Jesseca Oswald took third place overall and women’s first place with a time of 1:49.
One hour later the kids and our off-island visitor Christian Isaacs and his son Noa started the short course. 11-year-old Kaydence Oswald shot off into the lead and took a convincing win in a time of 53:29. Christian and Noa Isaacs paddled in the tandem/family fun division with a time of 54:50, which has now become increasingly popular with parents and children. 11-year-old Luhi Pedro took second overall in a time of 57:35, and 8-year-old Alex Mawae took third place with 1:00.37.
As the short course was on its way, excitement was happening down the road with some new kids entering the race at Ali`i Fishpond. Slater Oswald chaperoned Reeve and Naavah Albino, and Reeve came in with a credible time of 21:37 for the one-mile course and sister Naavah in 21:57. Hats go off to Slater for being such a good chaperone since he was the second of the Youth in Motion kids to fracture his wrist this year, and could not race.
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This was another excellent day of the race series of Makani Ikaika O Molokai. Anything can happen at the grand finale with the Molokai Holokai on May 28, hosted by Molokai Ohana Surf Club. The short course (3.5 miles) is finished, and the unofficial results show Kaydence Oswald in the lead, Alex Mawae in second, and Kekai Adachi in third place.
This has been quite an incredible series for the kids and we encourage that more family and youth sign up for next year. From the beginning of the year, these kids were so scared to go out to the reef and as the season ends, their confidence levels have risen, and ready to take on the deep blue. We also found a new category and division, the tandem racing with one adult and one child, which has been a good way to encourage the younger ones to get out on the ocean.
For more information for next year’s race series, the youth training program, register with the organization, volunteer, or donate, please got to www.supmolokai.org or contact Clare Seeger Mawae at 336-0946, email clare@youthinmotion.org.
Molokai Holokai Round Two
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Every year, stand up paddle (SUP) races like the Battle of the Paddle in Honolulu and the Olukai on Maui attract hundreds of paddlers eager to vie against the sport’s most talented competitors in some of the best paddling conditions in the world.
Lucky for Molokai, local race directors have created what they say is a venue equal in quality to Hawaii’s best races. The second Molokai Holokai will take place on Saturday, May 28 at 1 p.m. Known as the Kamalo Run, the race begins at the old Kamalo Wharf and runs parallel to Molokai southern fringing reef, ending 8.5 miles later at Hotel Molokai.
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“When the trade-winds are blowing, this particular course is extraordinarily fun,” said race co-director Todd Yamashita. “The wind whips you along at a good rate and there is a lot of wave riding. I don’t think people realize just how fast our south shore conditions really are.”
Clare Mawae, Molokai Holokai co-director, was introduced to SUP last year and has since been inspired to host the Makani Ikaika race series on Molokai. The Molokai Holokai will serve as the fifth and final race of that series. Mawae, who is also head of Youth in Motion, a non-profit water-sports club for island youth, recently returned from volunteering over the weekend at Battle of the Paddle.
“Everyone is doing standup here (in Honolulu). It made me want to come back to Molokai and strengthen our events,” Mawae said. “We don’t have state of the art equipment but if we can keep our kids excited, everything else will follow.”
“The Molokai Holokai is designed, first and foremost, as a competitive venue for our Molokai SUP community.” Yamashita added. “Many Molokai paddlers often lack resources to attend off-island race events, so this one if for them.”
Race Day Schedule:
12-1 p.m. registration Kamalo Wharf (east Molokai near mile marker 10)
1 p.m. All divisions beach start Kamalo Wharf
3 p.m. Pupus, pa`ina and awards at Hotel Molokai – public is welcome
Please go to www.Molokai.spruz.com for more info.
Club Wrestling Battles at Home
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Eight wrestling clubs from around the state gathered last weekend at The Barn for a showdown of strength and agility. The Molokai Wrestling Club was represented at its only home tournament of the season by 70 of its 80-some athletes. With the state club wrestling tournament coming up next weekend, the stakes were high and a roaring crowd cheered on the battling keiki.
“The kids are showing a lot of heart and respect,” said coach Benny Venenciano. “We’re in a good position for states,” he said, adding that at the first tournament of the season two weeks ago, Molokai came home with 10 gold medals, 11 silver medals, and quite a few bronze.
Coach Randy Manley agreed. “We’re doing well,” he said. “We lost states last year by two points, and this year, we’re hoping to come out on top.”
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Molokai High Sports Finish for the Year
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Molokai High School spring sports have hit their final ball and run their final lap – and many made great strides in their sports.
Adolpho Jumps Highest at Track
Molokai High’s top athlete, Kalei Adolpho, has another gold medal. She jumped into the number one spot at last weekend’s state track and field championship, clearing 5’2.”
“I feel really happy,” Adolpho said. “I really wanted to [win]; I wouldn’t say I expected it, but I definitely tried for it.”
Coach Jessie Ford said Adolpho was “very calm and composed” during her jumps, and only faltered once.
“It was very exciting for a senior state meet, I felt like she earned [the gold],” Ford said.
Adolpho qualified for states in track and field for the past four years, coming in fifth as a freshman, and third the last two years, according to the Maui News.
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Volleyball Ends at MILs
The Molokai High boys’ volleyball team lost in their first game of the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) championship, against Hana.
The boys played three tough sets, 20-25, 20-25, 19-25.
Farmers Win One, Lose One
The Molokai High boys’ volleyball headed to Hana this past weekend for their last regular season games, where they won Friday’s sets but lost on Saturday. Friday night’s game ended with a sweeping score of 25-23, 29-27, 28-26.
“Friday night’s game was really close, but nobody lost control. They didn’t panic like they did in earlier matches,” said coach Bill Dudoit.
Paka Adolpho had 11 kills, two blocks and two aces on the evening, and Nainoa Langer had three kills, one block, two aces, and 45 assists.
“Friday night, we just came out firing,” Langer said. “And Saturday they just came back very hard. We were making most of the mistakes on our own.”
He believes the team has made strides since the start of the season.
Baseball Heads to States
Coach Mike McCutcheon has led the Molokai High baseball team to the Hawaii State Championships for the first time since 2008. Despite only playing six regular season games, he said that the team has made an incredible improvement since the preseason began.
“It’s been a long journey since pre-season when we committed 15 errors, and in our last game we only committed one,” McCutcheon said.
The fifth-seeded Farmers (5-3) will fly to Oahu to play against the fourth-seeded Radford Rams (10-3) at 1:30 p.m. this Thursday at Hans L’Orange Field. If they win, they will play on Friday at 7 p.m. If they lose, they will play at 10 a.m. on Friday morning. Championship games will be played Saturday.
Tennis Players Show Progress
The Molokai High tennis team only won one match at this year’s Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) tournament at the Wailea Tennis Club two weekends ago, but coach Catie Brind is proud of their improvements.
“They were all fresh, brand-new players to the sport,” she said. “I thought they progressed very well. The kids here are just so naturally athletic.”
Hope Will won against Kaliana Kaneyasu of Maui High, 6-2, 6-1, but no other single or doubles of the 12-member team won a match. Brind said it was a nice experience for all the players to see that level of tournament.
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