Breaking News
Local Sports

Na Alii boys, Na Pueo girls nab top spots at Koki Beach

6 min read

Special to The Maui News

The King Kekaulike High School boys and Maui Prep girls took top honors at the Maui Interscholastic League surf contest No. 3 at Koki Beach on Saturday.

It was the second victory of the season for both teams. Na Alii also won at Kahului Harbor and Na Pueo took the opening event at D.T. Fleming Beach. All three MIL events have experienced overhead surf conditions.

The Kihei Charter boys had another strong showing in Hana as they placed second after finishing runner-up at Kahului Harbor. Baldwin placed third and is second in the season standings behind King Kekaulike.

"The boys did great today, the No. 1 through No. 5 all made the finals," Na Alii co-head coach Tom Rouse said. "I'm really proud of them, especially Otis Buckingham. He had a tough call last contest with a double interference, happy for him that he had a solid bounce back."

At Kahului Harbor, Buckingham and Keano Jardine of Maui Christian were given a double interference when both took off on the same wave. This time Buckingham left no doubt, producing the highest two-wave score of the finals.

But Buckingham, a senior, almost didn't make the No. 2 final. He was sitting in last place with almost no time left in his semifinal heat.

"I got a super good wave off the bat and then the ocean went flat. I was looking at my watch and 'Oh shoot' there's like 30 seconds left," Buckingham said. "I just scrapped to the inside and got a little wave and got the score."

Buckingham started off quickly in the final.

"It was more consistent at the beginning," Buckingham said. "I got two waves off the bat, and there was still 15 minutes left and I was like maybe I should just go out the back and wait for some better ones."

His first two waves put him out front, but his last two waves were even better and extended his lead. On one wave he did an air drop, followed by a self-described "bunny hop" over an exposed reef at low tide.

Buckingham's teammate, Teiva Keomaniboth, was the other Na Alii champion, taking the No. 4 division. The other King Kekaulike finalists were Chase Burnes (fifth at No. 1), Kainoa Kuailani (fourth at No. 3) and Jake Hunter (fifth at No. 5).

"We have a super stacker like team, it's just super fun," Buckingham said. "We have so many boys and we're always rotating boys. The energy is good, always pushing each other."

Like the Na Alii boys, the Maui Prep girls also had five in the finals led by wins from Imani Caserta at No. 3 and Naiya Eide at No. 5. The other Na Pueo finalists were Sloane Jucker (second at No. 1), Lily Buden (fourth at No. 2), and Scout Smith (second at No. 4). Baldwin was second with Kamehameha Maui third.

Maui Prep coach Lyndee Sprenger was ecstatic after her team's victory.

"Oh my gosh, they did so good, so proud of them," Sprenger said. "They made the long trip, spent the night in the gym, and they woke up early, 5 in the morning, came here warmed up and they stood by each other and cheered for each other, and put it together."

Eide, a junior, was competing in her first MIL contest.

"It was so much fun," Eide said. "I give it all to my coaches they make it so much fun, make you feel so good and confident, So supportive, they're awesome.

"The coaches were telling me to stay in front of the light (to lineup)," Eide said. "But I was seeing the peak coming, I would go out there and catch the wave. Once you figured it out, it was super easy."

Said Sprenger: "Naiya Eide is kind of like the West Maui hero, because of her injury. She had a heart surgery, she actually died and was brought back to life. She made a huge recovery, and for her to go ahead and win by a large margin, had everybody on their feet."

Eide went into cardiac arrest three years ago in the water near S Turns beach on Maui's west side. A friend pulled her out of the water. A bystander came and performed CPR but still she had no heartbeat. The ambulance arrived and EMTs were able to start her heart with a defibrillator.

"I have a pacemaker and a defibrillator now which will shock my heart if I go into cardiac arrest again," Eide said. "I can do everything, except intense contact sports. I played water polo with Lahainaluna last year. I just had to stop wrestling, I was bummed about that because I was super excited to start high school wrestling."

The King Kekaulike girls, who dominated the Kahului Harbor meet, fell to sixth as they had only two girls competing.

"We were hit with the junior prom this weekend, which we totally understand, a once in a lifetime for our girls," Rouse said. "I'm sure they'll be back strong next competition."

The next MIL surf contest will be April 13 at Hookipa Beach Park. That is the final event to determine the boys and girls team champions.

• MIL SURF MEET NO. 3

Saturday's Results • At Koki Beach

Boys

Team--King Kekaulike 51, Kihei Charter 46, Baldwin 45, Maui Christian 45, Maui Prep 44, Seabury Hall 44, Hana 33, Kamehameha Maui 17, Kulanihako'i 10, Lahainaluna 10, Maui High 7.

No. 1--1. Zolten Poulsen, Maui Prep, 13.06; 2. Angel Jardine, Maui Christian, 13.00; 3. Avery Babybayan, Lahainaluna, 8.13; 4. Blake Gebb, Seabury Hall, 7.14; 5. Chase Burnes, King Kekaulike, 6.57.

No. 2--1. Otis Buckingham, King Kekaulike 15.00; 2. Miki Przeciiechowski, Kihei Charter, 11.63; 3. Kanoa Gaffney, Hana 9.17; 4. Noah Caiserman, Maui Prep, 8.20; 5. Huy Vu, Baldwin, 5.76.

No. 3--1. Noah Dvorak, Maui Christian, 13.33; 2. Jayden Craig, Kihei Charter, 12.83; 3. Duke Stanton, Baldwin, 9.40; 4. Kanoa Kuailani, King Kekaulike, 8.46; 5. Josey Romanchak, Seabury Hall, 6.92.

No. 4--1. Teiva Keomaniboth, King Kekaulike, 14.67; 2. Sage Ryden, Seabury Hall, 11.16; 3. Manaku Kaauamo, Kamehameha Maui, 8.80; 4. Jude Mathers, Maui Christian, 8.34; 5. Dylan Molina, Baldwin, 5.87.

No. 5--1. Ayden Truong, Baldwin, 10.17; 2. Dylan Powers, Kihei Charter, 10.16; 3. Jack Leone, Maui Prep, 8.33; 4. Liam Dunne, Seabury Hall, 7.90; 5. Jake Hunter, King Kekaulike, 7.67.

Girls

Team--Maui Prep 57, Baldwin 47, Kamehameha Maui 39, Kihei Charter 35, Lahainaluna 23, King Kekaulike 20, Maui Christian 19, Kulanihako'i 17, Seabury Hall 17, Haleakala Waldorf 13, Maui High 13, Hana 9.

No. 1--1. Lou Bouvet, Haleakala Waldorf, 11.77; 2. Sloane Jucker, Maui Prep, 11.20; 3. Graye Smith, Baldwin, 11.00; 4. Mahea Sanita, Hana, 8.44; 5. Thayanne Colpas, Maui Christian, 7.43.

No. 2--1. Maia West, King Kekaulike, 11.40; 2. Layla James, Kihei Charter, 8.76; 3. Maile Kaaihue, Baldwin, 7.70; 4. Lily Buden, Maui Prep, 7.14; 5. Mia Matsumoto, Kamehameha Maui, 3.00.

No. 3--1. Imani Caserta, Maui Prep, 9.46; 2. Sophia Bunch, Maui Christian, 9.00; 3. Nanea Haake, Seabury Hall, 5.00; 4. Napua Jost Ikeda, Kamehameha Maui, 4.46; 5. Fabiola Sofia Melendez, Kulanihako'i, 1.67.

No. 4--1. Kela DeCaro, Kihei Charter ,11.33; 2. Scout Smith, Maui Prep, 8.93; 3. Ava Herren, Baldwin, 4.50; 4. Aliyah Keeley, Kulanihako'i, 2.33; 5. Oliana Schur, Lahainaluna, 0.00.

No. 5--1. Naiya Eide, Maui Prep, 12.00; 2. Zenara Dattola, Kihei Charter, 6.20; 3. Marley-Shea Apolo, Baldwin, 5.50; 4. Faith Hubin, Kamehameha Maui, 3.93; 5. Lena Granillo, Lahainaluna, 0.00.

Season Standings

Boys--1. King Kekaulike 36, 2. Baldwin 33, 3. Kihei Charter 31, 4. Maui Prep 28, 5. Maui Christian 26, 6. Seabury Hall 24, 7. Hana 18, 8. Kamehameha Maui 15, 9. Lahainaluna 12, t10. Maui High 7, t10. Kulanihako'i 7, 12. Haleakala Waldorf 3.

Girls--1. Maui Prep 37, 2. King Kekaulike 31, 3. Baldwin 30, 4. Kamehameha Maui 26, 5. Maui Christian 25, 6. Lahainaluna 21, 7. Seabury Hall 16, 8. Haleakala Waldorf 14, 9. Kihei Charter 13, 10. Maui High 11, 11. Kulanihako'i 8, 12. Hana 5.

Starting at /week.