With a second consecutive team championship in hand, ‘Iolani senior Stone Miller had one final goal to meet to end his high school career.
Miller and teammates Finn Arrillaga, Evan Wong and LT Stancil broke the state record in the 400-yard freestyle relay to finish off the K. Mark Takai/HHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships in style Saturday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
Miller won gold in the 100 freestyle and added another two golds in relays that ‘Iolani swept to repeat as team champs.
Punahou had won seven consecutive boys team titles until the Raiders broke through last season.
“When I was a freshman, ‘Iolani wasn’t even a top-five team,” Miller said. “Now we’re winning states two years in a row. We’ve got a lot of fast guys on our team.”
Wong, a junior, was one of three boys to win multiple individual events, claiming both the 200 and 500 freestyle events for the second year in a row.
Arrillaga, a sophomore, swam on all three winning relay teams.
“We don’t come out here to win. That’s not the goal,” Arrillaga said. “At the end of the day it’s just to see how good we can do. We’re the hardest workers. Every day we push each other to the max. We know that the results will come and I’m just happy to see us all succeed together.”
The final event was the 400 freestyle relay, which ‘Iolani was disqualified in last year after posting the top preliminary time.
This year, with the same four swimmers in the same spots, the Raiders celebrated when their time of 3 minutes, 5.04 seconds broke the record of 3:06.01 set by Punahou in 2018.
“It feels good, especially with the record,” Miller said. “We all had to go really fast to get there and everyone showed up and did it.”
The Punahou girls team won its seventh consecutive state championship and 14th in the last 17 tries.
Senior Kai Flanagan repeated in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events and added a relay win to give her eight gold medals in her career.
Junior Sophia Hurd led two sophomores and a freshman to a win in the 200 freestyle relay and teamed with Flanagan and freshmen Kiani Morikami and Journei Webster to win the 400 freestyle relay event.
“We’ve been through the thick and thin this season and I’m just so proud of the girls. We’ve worked really hard,” Hurd said. “It’s so amazing. I’ve been at Punahou since I was 5. I’ve dreamed about swimming here forever. I’ve made it a big thing in my life to just swim. Being a part of this program that is so well recognized everywhere is really incredible.”
Kealakehe junior Michelle Axelson won gold in both the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke to join Flanagan as the only girls to win multiple individual events.
Kamehameha junior Connor Seminavage won the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly and Kealakehe sophomore X X Rose won the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.
The finals began in the early afternoon with an improbable tie in the girls 200 medley relay.
Kealakehe held the early lead when Kamehameha junior Melia Lee closed the gap in the final 25 yards swimming freestyle and touched the wall at the exact same time of 1:47.84 as Kealakehe’s Bella Shurley.
“The whole time I was just thinking I have to push, I have to go,” Lee said. “I honestly thought we didn’t win because I heard the announcer announce the other team first and then I was so shocked to look over at the board and see that we tied. It’s crazy. Didn’t expect it.”
Hilo’s Kai Hayashida became the first Big Island boys swimmer to win the 200 individual medley since Hilo’s Roy Tanabe won in the first state tournament held in 1958.
He entered with the third-fastest preliminary time and was in a close race the entire way with ‘Iolani’s Stancil before extending for the wall to touch first by .05 seconds.
“When I made my breaststroke to freestyle turn I was looking at him and I saw him make the turn at the same time to me so I was like, ‘oh boy, I better buckle up and get ready to go here,’” Hayashida said. “That freestyle leg was crazy. At that point you’re not thinking too much.”
Punahou (61 points) held off Kamehameha (46) and Kealakehe (33) in the final girls team standings.
The ‘Iolani boys (71 points) more than doubled the total of second-place Punahou (33).
HHSAA swimming championships by Honolulu Star-Advertiser