•   News  
• Business
• Entertainment
• Pics
• Blogs
• Sports
• Obits
• Redskins
• Real Estate
• Classifieds
• Jobs
• Search Local
• Shop
• Bride & Groom

Barrel straight ahead, or use a cautious approach to avoid pratfalls wherever possible?

Both strategies were evidenced in the first round of the American Canoe Association's collegiate canoe and kayak whitewater championships yesterday.

Twenty-nine paddlers representing five colleges and universities competed in the open canoe and kayak classes, which were followed by nine teams entered in the mixed canoe class.

The First Drop portion of the John Warner Rapids proved particularly challenging for the less experienced paddlers as they struggled to avoid getting snared on the rocks and maneuvered to avoid colliding with other entries.

"Not only did they have to paddle fast, but they had to be able to read the water and use more skills to effectively navigate versus just paddling straight through and hoping for the best," race official Chris Stec surmised.

Although defending champion Albion (Mich.) had a sizable lead over second-place Brevard (N.C.) in the team standings, ASA president Kirk Havens noted that today's team relay competition has the same level of scoring, and the overall title was still up for grabs should the Britons run into trouble.

Not hearing his uncle's comments, paddler Zane Havens indicated his team would hold nothing back today.

"We have two entries [six people per canoe]. We're going to go for it," the Albion freshman said. "For a lot of people, this was their first time on a whitewater river.

"There is a little bit of nerves going on, but we talked about strategy [on the 11-hour ride here], what we thought about the other teams. Mostly, we had a good time."

First-time entry Brevard did not arrive in town until midnight the night before, but neither the nine-hour trip nor lack of sleep had any ill effect on the Tornadoes' effort.

"This is our first competition, but Brevard is a paddling community and we get together and go out on the water whenever it rains," team captain Brian Randall said.

"We're going to use the event to launch our paddling club and get it out there," he added. "This is a big event. We're going to bring back that we have a national champion [in Rob Hurst]."