Thursday, April 2, 1998
Holden new
Punahou A.D.
The P.E. teacher succeeds
By Pat Bigold
Chris McLachlin and
Doug Bennett
Star-BulletinA new overseer for Hawaii's largest and most successful prep athletics program was named this morning.
Tom Holden, a physical education teacher for the past 12 years, will become director of athletics for Punahou School, the nation's largest independent school with a coeducational enrollment of 3,700.
Holden will succeed co-athletic directors Chris McLachlin and Doug Bennett, who plan to step down this summer.
McLachlin and Bennett, who have administered the program for eight years, announced their plans to resign last December.
Holden will be assisted by two associate directors: former National Football League player Kale Ane and Punahou swimming coach Jeff Meister. Meister has led Punahou to seven sweeps of the boys' and girls' state swimming championships since 1990.
"We are thrilled about the unique combination of professional experience and personal qualities these three individuals bring to a leadership team," said Punahou president Jim Scott.
Holden assumes control of a program that took 11 of 20 state titles and 20 of 33 Interscholastic League of Honolulu titles in the 1996-97 school year. This year, Punahou has already won four (boys' and girls' soccer, girls' cross country and boys' volleyball) of 12 state titles -- more than any other school in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
The program has 12 of 21 ILH titles that have been contested so far this year.
Punahou fields 108 teams and 58 percent of students in grades 7-12 (about 1,500) participate in at least one sport.
Holden has served as president of the Hawaii Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and was head coach of the Buffanblu varsity football team in 1992. Punahou finished fifth in the ILH that season with a 3-7 record and Holden gave way to current head coach Dan Morrison.
Holden, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in physical education from Ohio State University, has also coached the Punahou varsity softball and paddling teams.
He has been director of the Punahou Summer Sports School since 1991.
Ane, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers, is a 1971 Punahou graduate who has a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master's from the University of Hawaii.
He worked 10 years in the UH athletic department before becoming the Employees Benefits Administrator at the Liliha Healthcare Center.
Ane also does some scouting work for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Meister is a former UH scholarship swimmer who has coached at Kailua High as well as Punahou. He earned bachelor's degrees in both English and journalism from UH.
For the past 10 years, he has been the coordinator of the Adolescent Addiction Program and at Castle Medical Center.
The 51-year-old McLachlin, who does UH men's volleyball play-by-play for KFVE, will continue to teach at Punahou. Bennett, 54, is using an early retirement option.
