Punahou Pulls off a Surprise Sweep at 2011 ILH Cross Country Championships

Punahou Pulls off a Surprise Sweep at the ILH Cross Country Championships

Punahou School, Honolulu, Oahu (10/22/2011) - According to League officials, it has never happened before – One school managed to win all six events at this Saturday’s ILH Cross Country Championships.

The Buff-N-Blue of Punahou won the Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity, Junior Varsity and Intermediate team races.  Some of the races were blowouts; however, some of the events were so close that it came down to just a few points.

In the final round of this season’s ILH four-school Boys Varsity dogfight, Punahou (43) squeaked out a five-point win over I‘olani (48), while Hawaii Baptist Academy (60) pulled off a minor upset over Kamehameha (70) for third.

Individual winner Troy Esaki (17:01.23) of I’olani opened up a mid-race fifteen-second lead only to have Punahou’s maturing Nikolai Scharer (17:07.43) surge to close the gap to six seconds in the last half-mile.  Kamehameha’s Charles Akiona finished third in 17:17.19 on the hilly and muddy course.

The outcome of the Varsity Girls 3-mile race was never in doubt as Punahou (18) finished their five scoring runners in the top seven.  The team race battleground was for second and third, with Kamehameha (67) beating out I’olani (74) by a slim 7 points.

Meanwhile, the dominant ILH runner, Punahou Junior Elli Brady (19:14.03), blew away the field by over 51 seconds to claim her third straight ILH individual title.  Again, the battle for second was a good one with Punahou Junior Mellissa Wong (20:05.69) surging in the final mile to finish ahead of I’olani Senior standout Bre Ball (20:15.07).

The JV Boys 3-mile team race mirrored the varsity competition in its closeness.  A razor thin nine points separated first from third as Punahou (60), Mid-Pacific Institute (64) and St. Louis (69) ran strategic team races against the clock and each other. Individual winner Kevin Marks (18:20.08) of St. Louis cruised in nine seconds ahead of the dueling chase group to win while Leo Screen (18:29.22) of Mid-Pac and Lewe Stanaland (18:33.60) of I’olani led in the pursuing pack.

In the Girls JV 3-mile race, the Buff-n-Blue women also dominated with a near-perfect 17-point result. Punahou finished their top five in the top six, as Kamehameha (55) finished a comfortable team-second with I’olani (71) in third.  Punahau’s top three were Nanea Tuttle (21:23.16), Raychel Justice (21:42.94) and Maiya Smith (22:41.27).

The future of ILH running looks bright after the middle-schoolers competed on the 2-mile version of the green, urban, campus course.  The Punahou Boys (32) took first, Kamehameha (54) finished second and I’olani (84) third. 

For the intermediate Girls, Punahou (38) held off Mid-Pac (48) and I’olani (68).  The ILH then crowned Intermediate Individual Champions Conner Lehl (12:09.89) of Punahou and Amanda Beaman (13:23.90) of I’olani.

This particularly exciting season culminates next Saturday at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association/Honolulu Marathon Cross Country 2011 State Championships at the Kapalua Village Golf Course on Maui.  Both the boys’ and the girls’ races are “must watch” as the ILH dogfight expands to include OIA powerhouse Leilehua, Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Champion Maui High and Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) Champion Honoka’a. 

Look for the frontrunner, Leilehua’s Elliot Estrada, to challenge I’olani’s Troy Esaki and Punahou’s Nikolai Scharer for the individual title. 

Meanwhile, Maui’s Seabury Hall, the Big Island’s Hawaii Preparatory Academy and Oahu’s Leilehua High will do their best to derail the Buff-n-Blu girls quest for an unprecedented seventh consecutive cross-country state team title. 

In the individual race, 2009 State Champion, Elli Brady of Punahou, will be welcomed by the  2010 State Champion, race-favorite Dakota Grossman of Seabury Hall, to Grossman’s home course for yet another inter-island showdown. 

The racing begins at 9:00 AM with the boys race, followed at 9:45 AM for the girls race.