KUAU - Baldwin High School used balanced scoring to win its second Maui Interscholastic Surf Championship title Saturday at Hookipa Beach Park.
The Bears earned 184 points - 104 in the boys events and 80 in the girls - to outscore Lahainaluna by 24. Baldwin won boys and girls bodyboard titles and had finalists in five of the six divisions.
It was the first championship for fourth-year Baldwin coach Keoki Pfaeltzer, a Maui County pool lifeguard. He succeeded Neal Norris, who coached the team for 14 years, guiding Baldwin to the 2007 crown.
Article Photos
Baldwin High School’s Tevin Roth competes at the Maui Interscholastic Surf Championship on Saturday at Hookipa Beach Park. Roth won the boys bodyboard title.
PAT DEVAULT photo
"I'm elated for the kids, we had a bunch of seniors," Pfaeltzer said. "I'm super happy, I can't wait to tell Neal."
One of the Baldwin seniors was bodyboard champion Tevin Roth, who was competing for the third time.
"The first year, I lost in my first heat. The second year, I didn't make the final," he said. "This year, I made the finals and won. I'm pretty stoked."
Roth's title continued Baldwin success in the boys bodyboard division.
"Our community is prone to bodyboard, it's kind of the area," Roth said. "Everyone, the role models all bodyboard and we're influenced by them."
Baldwin junior Ciarra Boggs claimed the girls bodyboard title. Last year, she was disqualified for catching more than the five-wave limit.
"I'm horrible at keeping track," Boggs said. "I messed up last year, so I had to make it right this year."
Boggs, whose other favorite sport is skateboarding, was relaxed in the final.
"I scream underwater so I don't get frustrated before my heat starts," she said. "Makes me feel calmer."
Sierra Lerback defended her titles in girls shortboard and longboard, making the Lahainaluna sophomore the first surfer in the event's 18 years to repeat in two divisions.
Lerback, the Lunas' water polo goalkeeper, said repeating was not easy.
"This year I had harder heats, a lot more girls this year," she said. "I usually don't do so well at Hookipa, but I finally found where to line up and how to get around."
The other boys winners were Lahainaluna senior Kaimana Kinimaka in shortboard and Kamehameha Maui freshman Imai Devault in longboard.
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MAUI INTERSCHOLASTIC SURF CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday's Results
At Hookipa Beach Park
Team
Baldwin 184, Lahainaluna 160, King Kekaulike 134, Kamehameha Maui 88, Maui High 36, Seabury Hall 13, Maui Prep 9.
Boys
Shortboard-1. Kaimana Kinimaka, Lahainaluna; 2. Chantz Beatty-Saffery, Baldwin; 3. Miles Serafica, King Kekaulike; 4. Justice Patao, Baldwin; 5. Tyler Larronde, King Kekaulike; 6. Imai Devault, Kamehameha Maui.
Longboard-1. Imai Devault, Kamehameha Maui; 2. Noah Yap, Baldwin; 3. Justice Patao, Baldwin; 4. Mack Crilley, Maui High; 5. Miles Serafica, King Kekaulike; 6. Kawika Kinimaka, Lahainaluna.
Bodyboard-1. Tevin Roth, Baldwin; 2. Keanu Gregory, Kamehameha Maui; 3. Noah Plaza-Forsythe, King Kekaulike; 4. Koa Takeo, Kamehameha Maui; 5. Pheril Amarillo, Maui High; 6. Noah Yap, Baldwin.
* * *
Girls
Shortboard-1. Sierra Lerback, Lahainaluna; 2. Serene Gunnison, King Kekaulike; 3. Candace Hanneman, Lahainaluna; 4. Tasha Jahrmarkt, King Kekaulike; 5. Leilani Miranda, Lahainaluna; 6. Kawaiola Wendt-Vogele, Maui Prep.
Longboard-1. Sierra Lerback, Lahainaluna; 2. Leilani Miranda, Lahainaluna; 3. Sophie Boggs, Baldwin; 4. Zoe Miller, Lahainaluna; 5. Hanna Cole, Baldwin; 6. Darcie Morondos, Baldwin.
Bodyboard-1. Ciarra Boggs, Baldwin; 2. Miranda Mazariegos, Baldwin; 3. Verna Luchuen, Baldwin; 4. Casey Egan, Lahainaluna; 5. Tasha Jahrmarkt, King Kekaulike; 6. Serene Gunnison, King Kekaulike.
