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MPI Canoe Paddling Teams Top ILH

Varsity 1 crew members: Mallory Kurosumi, Ashlyn Young,
Jean Cullinan, Leigh Cullinan, Rhonda Aoki, Katherine Levins.

Varsity 1: Travis Niederhauser, Sammy Agsen, Ryan Harrison,
Jon-Michael Grindle, Kody Riehl and David Markle
ahead of Maryknoll and Kamehameha.

Congratulations to the MPI Boys and Girls paddling teams for taking ILH division 1 championships. This marks the first time in history that the MPI girls canoe paddling team has won the ILH racing series! This is the seventh ILH championship for the MPI boys.

Both the girl's and boy's teams will travel to Hilo March 2 to compete in the state championships.

"This was a very historic year for the girls paddling team," said MPI girls coach Gregg Kaneko. "The Varsity 1 team won the ILH Championship title for the first time in ILH paddling history. It was a nail-biting season as the championship title came down to the last race in which MPI dominated the competition. Overall, the girl's team did well making this the most successful season ever. It was also one that was enjoyed by everyone including the coaches."

Cumulative results for the boys included 13 firsts and 9 second-place finishes. "Overall, this was the greatest MPI team we have ever fielded," said coach Mark Hines. "All teams raced at the top of their division all season."

The MPI girls coach is Gregg Kaneko; assistant coaches are Keith Endow and Barry Ishida (all 1996 MPI grads). The MPI boys coaching staff includes Sara and Mark Hines; assistant coaches John Stasack and Jeremy Cole; JV coaches Luke Evslin and Kelly Foster.

Ryan Harrison, Sammy Agsen, Travis Niederhauser

MPI athletes cheering at this past Saturday's race.

Boys Season synopsis
MPI raced teams in 4 divisions: Varsity Division 1, Varsity Division 2, JV Div 1, JV Div 2.

Varsity Div. 1, JV Div. 1 and JV Div. 2 all won their division. Varsity Div. 2 was second in theirs. "It was very impressive that every athlete raced, and all either were on winning or second place finishes. Every athlete contributed to this season... that is what made it remarkable!"

ILH racing is open-ocean, long-distance format, from 25 to 60 minutes long. It is a challenging sport requiring focus, impeccable form and athleticism to race non-stop over 3-5 miles.

"We set a goal for the athletes back in November to commit to personal excellence," said Hines. "They responded by raising their effort and expectations all season. By the last race, they all raced their best race. Usually races are determined by gaps of 10 or 20 seconds - By our last race, varsity 1 won by a minute, the JV 1 squad by 2 minutes and JV 2 by over 3 minutes! We started each pre-race meeting by reminding the athletes that they were racing themselves - they were their own competition. We also reminded them that they represented MPI... the honor of my school is mine. They lived this commitment all season."

The MPI paddling motto: "No Subs, No Timeouts, No Water Breaks, No Wimps!"

Posted at March 1, 2007 10:15 AM | Permalink