FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Dane Wayman of Iolani won the boys 100-yard butterfly and swam a leg for the 400 freestyle relay champions.

Iolani sweeps state
swim titles

It took a team effort and a group of underclassmen to carry the Raiders from one end of the pool to the other yesterday.

The Iolani boys and girls teams successfully defended their titles at the Local Motion State Swimming and Diving Championships at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex, with the girls totaling 63 points and the boys 60.

It was the boys team's fourth straight crown, while the girls took home their second straight.

"Winning championships are nice, but what is satisfying is you set a goal and you work hard to attain that goal," Iolani coach Brian Lee said after his team threw him into the pool. "The winning in itself is not it, but the coming together through the hard work is what's satisfying."

Punahou was second in the girls race with 57 points, while Kamehameha finished second in the boys race with 50.

The Iolani girls won behind a dominant performance by their underclassmen. Freshman Michelle Vawer won the 500-yard free, and freshman Jessica Lau anchored the winning 200 medley relay squad. Junior Mallorie Lim won Iolani's only other event in the 100 fly, but the Raiders picked up points in 11 of the 12 races with top-five finishes in each.

Six points were awarded to the top individual finisher, with the remaining four places receiving four, three, two and one point. In relay events, the top five teams received 12, eight, six, four and two points.

Both Iolani and Punahou were tied with 23 points halfway through the meet, but the Raiders picked up 10 points in the next event with Lim's win and sophomore Nikki Yamamoto finishing 0.06 seconds behind her. That lead was enough for the Raiders despite the Buffanblu winning the remaining two relay events.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Top: Punahou's girls 200 freestyle relay team celebrated after winning the event.

It took a team effort for the Iolani boys to win this year's title, after being led by standouts Hongzhe Sun and Mark Eckert during previous years. The Raiders won three events yesterday and placed in eight of them.

"This year, more than any year, it felt like the whole team had to pull their weight," senior Daniel Lim said. "It was truly a year that each person contributed to winning. It feels that much better knowing it was a team rather than a few."

"This year we didn't have Hong or Mark to pull us along," senior Dane Wayman added. "We've been here for four years now. It's our time to step up and everybody stepped up and that's all we had to do."

Five of the meet's six returning individual champions defended their titles, with St. Andrew's Priory junior Aleia Monden making it three straight in the girls 1-meter dive. Monden broke her own meet record for the second straight year with 475.20 points, surpassing her total of 471.65 from last season.

"I was a little nervous at the beginning, but I just had to pull it off," said Monden, whose victories have turned her into a celebrity at St. Andrew's, a small all-girls school located downtown. "I wanted to break my record from last year, so I had to concentrate when I had to. I had some flub-ups, but I made it up at the end. I beat the boys, too, so that was exciting."

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM After winning the 1-meter diving title yesterday morning, Punahou's Drew Wallace returned for a demonstration during a break in the swim competition.

Punahou senior Drew Wallace capped his career with his third straight 1-meter diving title with 465.90 points. Wallace was looking to break his record of 484.50 set at last year's state meet, but ran into trouble on a reverse two-tuck dive.

"It was my last year, so I would've liked to break the record, but I'm really happy that I won the meet and that I did well," said Wallace, who pulled off the reverse two-tuck earlier this season. "It was a fine way to finish."

Kapolei junior Meredith Egloria won her third straight title in the 50 free and also won the 100 free. King Kekaulike's Emalia Suehiro won the 200 individual medley again, while Gerald Bolson of Kamehameha defended his title in the 100 free. Bolson also won the 50 free and anchored the winning 200 free relay team.

Punahou freshman Michelle Yoshida won four events, including a two-second victory in the 200 free to prevent Lahainaluna's Laura Pope from defending her title.

"It feels really great because two of them (relay events) were with my best friends and it's really great to celebrate it with them," Yoshida said.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Andrew Lester, from Moanalua HS, on his way to winning the Boys 500 Yard Freestyle championship.

The Buffanblu squad is also dominated by freshmen, giving Lee the feeling that next year's race will be a battle.

"A lot of the schools have a lot of young talent coming up," the Iolani coach said. "A lot of freshmen aren't inexperienced because they have come up through age-group programs and been swimming since they were 8 or 9 years old. They're not inexperienced ninth-graders, but a lot of them are veteran and some are national-level swimmers already."

For April Woo, the Iolani girls team's only senior, this title meant the most. When the team received its trophy, Woo broke into tears and the entire team gave her a hug afterward.

"It means a lot to me because these girls have been there for me," Woo said. "This year, our team has been the closest it has ever been."

Local Motion State Swim and Dive Championships

Girls team standings
1. Iolani 63; 2. Punahou 57; 3. Kamehameha 25; 4. Kapolei 15; 5. Hawaii Preparatory Academy and Kealakehe 14; 7. King Kekaulike 10; 8. Mililani, Lahainaluna, Kalani and Hilo 8; 12. St. Andrew's Priory 6; 13. Mid- Pacific 2; 14. Pearl City and Maui 1.

girls individual results
50 yard freestyle--1. Meredith Egloria, Kapolei, 23.74. 2. April Woo, Iolani, 24.84. 3. Kelli Moy, Punahou, 25.07.
100 yard freestyle--1. Meredith Egloria, Kapolei, 51.96. 2. Laura Pope, Lahainaluna, 53.79. 3. Aja Kusao, Iolani, 54.53.
200 yard freestyle--1. Michelle Yoshida, Punahou, 1:54.55. 2. Laura Pope, Lahainaluna, 1:56.27. 3. Aja Kusao, Iolani, 2:00.03.
500 yard freestyle--1. Michelle Vawer, Iolani, 5:12.24. 2. Emalia Suehiro, King Kekaulike, 5:13.24. 3. Nicole Hagi, Kapolei, 5:17.25.
100 yard backstroke--1. Michelle Yoshida, Punahou, 59.04. 2. Lynnette Fukuda, Mililani, 1:00.54. 3. Amanda Hamilton-Cave, Kealakehe, 1:00.70.
100 yard breaststroke--1. Kim Kopra, Hawaii Prep, 1:06.39. 2. Ivy Yi, Kalani, 1:06.99. 3. Alicia Gerber, Hilo, 1:08.66.
100 yard butterfly--1. Mallorie Lim, Iolani, 59.76. 2. Nikki Yamamoto, Iolani, 59.82. 3. Elizabeth-Rose Hanohano-Hong, Kamehameha, 1:00.66.
200 yard IM--1. Emalia Suehiro, King Kekaulike, 2:09.87. 2. Ivy Yi, Kalani, 2:12.26. 3. Michelle Vawer, Iolani, 2:13.30.
1 meter diving--1. Aleia Monden, St. Andrew's, 475.20. 2. Claire Schiff, Punahou, 397.95. 3. Ronnie Oda, Kamehameha, 379.50.
200 yard freestyle relay--1. Punahou School (Michelle Yoshida, Rachel Cote, Kelli Moy, Natale Rigg), 1:38.82. 2. Iolani, 1:39.05. 3. Kamehameha 1:42.59.
400 yard freestyle relay--1. Punahou School (Rachel Cote, Michelle Yoshida, Kelli Moy, Natale Rigg), 3:38.08. 2. Iolani, 3:38.14. 3. Kamehameha 3:45.92.
200 yard medley relay--1. Iolani School (Kimi Ide-Foster, April Woo, Mallorie Lim, Jessica Lau), 1:50.57. 2. Punahou, 1:52.48. 3. Kamehameha, 1:55.06.

Boys team standings
1. Iolani 60; 2. Kamehameha 50; 3. Punahou 44; 4. Leilehua 16; 5. Moanalua 15; 6. King Kekaulike 12; 7. Mililani 11; 7. Kealakehe 11; 9. Kaiser and Kohala 6; 11. Baldwin 4; 12. Kahuku and Kamehameha-Maui 2; 14. Seabury Hall 1.

Boys individual results
50 yard freestyle--1. Gerald Bolson, Kamehameha, 21.45. 2. Daniel Coakley, Kohala, 21.53. 3. Dane Wayman, Iolani, 21.55.
100 yard freestyle--1. Gerald Bolson, Kamehameha, 47.10. 2. Daniel Lim, Iolani, 48.17. 3. Kyle Ota, Iolani, 48.31.
200 yard freestyle--1. Andrew Lester, Moanalua, 1:42.51. 2. Bryan Avery, Mililani, 1:44.34. 3. Kyle Ota, Iolani, 1:45.99.
500 yard freestyle--1. Andrew Lester, Moanalua, 4:39.41. 2. Dustin Fukuda, Mililani, 4:45.93. 3. Kalen Darling, Moanalua, 4:51.10.
100 yard backstroke--1. Hogan Orikasa, King Kekaulike, 53.53. 2. Mitchell Chong, Punahou, 55.01. 3. Kawai Smith, Kealakehe, 55.49.
100 yard breaststroke--1. Jack Sauve, Leilehua, 59.14. 2. Davis Kane, Kamehameha, 1:01.76. 3. Kekoa Taparra, Kamehameha, 1:02.16.
100 yard butterfly--1. Dane Wayman, Iolani, 51.43. 2. Ike Yato, Iolani, 53.23. 3. Bryan Avery, Mililani, 53.31.
200 yard IM--1. Hogan Orikasa, King Kekaulike, 2:00.32. 2. Yusuke Kobayashi, Kaiser, 2:00.71. 3. Sean Campbell, Iolani, 2:02.78.
1 meter diving--1. Drew Wallace, Punahou, 465.90. 2. Michael Ono, Punahou, 436.55. 3. Dylan Jude, Punahou, 319.45.
200 yard freestyle relay--1. Kamehameha Schools (Ilia Reyes, Davis Kane, Cameron Grimm, Gerald Bolson), 1:26.17. 2. Iolani, 1:28.38. 3. Punahou, 1:30.15.
400 yard freestyle relay--1. Iolani School (Dane Wayman, Daniel Lim, Michael Lim, Kyle Ota), 3:14.41. 2. Kamehameha, 3:15.00. 3. Punahou, 3:20.44
200 yard medley relay--1. Iolani School (Dane Wayman, Victor Wong, Ike Yato, Alex Price), 1:38.89. 2. Punahou, 1:39.31. 3. Kamehameha, 1:42.93.