KAHULUI — The Seabury Hall paddling team was back in its element on Saturday at Kahului Harbor. 

During Maui Interscholastic League regatta No. 1, the Spartan girls, boys and mixed varsity crews were victorious in each of their races to earn the powerhouse paddling squad a sweep.

“The team overall did great, we were loving every minute of it,” Seabury junior Max Moquin said after steering his team to a win in the varsity boys half-mile race in 4 minutes, 16.45 seconds.  “I mean, having people down yelling at the beach ‘Go Spartans’ and cheering on our team, we just have this great team spirit.”

The windy conditions were brutal in the harbor, but the Seabury boys crew that also included Cody Frampton, Jake Brocklehurst, Sig Konohia, Rhys Maier and Max Stone powered through the strong headwind on the homestretch as Kamehameha Maui trailed in second with a time of 4:41.03. Maui High was close behind the Warriors in 4:42.35. 

It was tough steering back-to-back races, Moquin said, not even having time to exit the canoe after the boys varsity B race, but he congratulated the effort of Stone, who did three races in a row that boosted their showing. 

Moquin has been stepping into a more of a leadership role now that Finn McAfee has graduated. 

“It’s definitely big shoes to fill,” he said. “He had big shoes to fill before him, so it’s like this big legacy that hopefully I’m carrying on well.” 

Just minutes later, teammate Lei’ohu Turley steered the mixed crew to a win in 4:40.84. Kamehameha Maui (4:50.98) and Lahainaluna (4:51.37) finished second and third, respectively. 

Turley was joined on the mixed crew by Frampton, Konohia, Maier, Rio Imperato, and Zella Kofron.

“It was amazing because we’ve really been amping up the training and going into the first race, we didn’t know who was going to be in the lead — we didn’t know who would be the fastest crew,” Turley said. “After today, it made me really see a state championship, like, that’s something we can reach.” 

Earlier, Turley steered her crew of Imperato, Kofron, Makalani Carey, Malia Cosare, and Makena Roegsegger to victory in the girls varsity race with a time of 4:52.19.

After making a clean turn at the quarter-mile mark, the Lady Spartans pulled away from Lahainaluna, which finished second with a time of 5:17.20, and King Kekaulike, which was third with 5:19.02. 

“We definitely gave it our all during that race,” Turley said of the girls race. “It was really good because it was the same amount of wind we get at practice, so we were used to turning down there in that wind. I like the wind, it helped us out down there.” 

Though the junior varsity and varsity Spartans dominated the first meet on Saturday that showed big potential for the crews moving forward, longtime coach Paul Lu’uwai said he keeps his team grounded and humble. 

“I honestly didn’t expect this. I wanted to do well. Who doesn’t want to do well? But for them to go out there and perform like that, wow,” Lu’uwai said. “I’m just kind of at a loss for words, it’s just kind of flabbergasting to see them do that in their race, race after race.

“I’m just really stoked for our seniors, our captain, our school and you know, our coaches have worked so hard.”

Last year was the first high school regatta season back since the COVID-19 pandemic hit nearly three years ago and paddlers didn’t start competing until late January. This year, the schedule is back to normal with two regattas before Christmas and a third early in the New Year.

The next regatta will be held on Saturday at Kahului Harbor, followed by Hanakao’o (Canoe) Beach Park in Lahaina. 

“Quiz number one is over and we have to study for quiz number two next week, so you know, back to the grind and back to work,” Lu’uwai said.

Early in the morning, the event began with a tribute to the late Na Kai Ewalu Canoe Club and Baldwin High School coach Kalani Tancayo, who passed away during a diving accident in September. Paddlers dropped flowers in the water from their canoes and a double rainbow shone brightly over the harbor, a “chicken skin” moment, regatta official Mahina Martin said.

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.