LAKE QUINAULT — Taholah’s J.R. Capoeman returned from a five-year retirement to win two of the three days of canoe racing on Lake Quinault during the Chief Taholah Days on July 2-4.

Capoeman, piloting the Valerie Lee, won one of the heat races and the championship final on July 4 in the lap racing championship. The day before, Capoeman did the same thing during the preliminary lap races.

On July 2, Taholah’s Todd Pickernell won the 8-mile Chow Chow River Race.

The canoe races are a traditional event during the Chief Taholah Days. Divers pilot outboard motorized canoes in distance and lap races throughout the three-day event.

Here are the results from the three days of racing:

July 2

Chow Chow River Race

Todd Pickernell (Valerie Lee), Taholah; Dean Jonstone (Dus-Kia), Hoh River; Archie Howard (Bullet II), Moclips; J.R. Capoeman (Norman Sr.), Taholah; Darren Sansom (Ste’Wetan), Queets.

July 3

Lap Racing Preliminary Day

Heat 1 — J.R. Capoeman (Valerie Lee), Taholah; Dean Johnstone (Mad Season), Hoh River; Todd Pickernell (Norman Sr.), Taholah.

Heat 2 — Darren Sansom (Ste’Wetan), Queets; Archie Howard (Skookum Creek), Moclips.

Heat 3 — Pickernell, Johnstone, Howard.

Final — Capoeman, Johnstone, Pickernell, Sansom.

July 4

Lap Racing Championship Day

Heat 1 — Johnstone, Capoeman, Howard.

Heat 2 — Sansom, Kalama.

Heat 3 — Capoeman, Howard.

Final — Capoeman, Sansom, Howard, Johnstone (DNF-capsized), Kalama (DNF-motor).