Girls Paddling Places at States

The girls’ paddling team beat every other qualified public school in the state, when they raced into third place at last weekend’s state championship meet on Oahu.

Molokai came in third at 4:12.12, behind Kamehameha Oahu (4:06.40) and Pac-Five (4:08.32) – two private schools on Oahu.

“After winning MIL and winning that, everything after that was just icing on the cake,” said coach Tania Kaholoa`a. “They did really, really awesome.”

The Lady Farmers placed second in their preliminary heat on Friday, with the second-fastest time going into the final race. Kaholoa`a also mixed up her crew, so her seven top paddlers could fill out the six seats both days: Kailana Ritte-Camara, Natalia Levi, Leenell Hernandez, Crystal Puaoi-Kawai, Keaka Kaiama, Jasmine Borden and Kawena Puhi.

“It’s never been done before,” Kaholoa`a said of qualifying for states. “To see that happen, pull that off, is a great joy to me and my assistant coaches.”