Punahou athletics
rated No. 4 in nation

Sports Illustrated names it
No. 1 for state medals

Most Punahou athletic teams aren't used to a ranking as low as No. 4. But the Buffanblu can be proud of this one.

Sports Illustrated magazine's current issue ranks the Honolulu private school's athletic program fourth among the more than 38,000 high schools in the United States. State championships and producing college athletes were among the criteria used in the rankings.

Punahou has won 318 state championships, according to the Sports Illustrated story. The total is reportedly more than any other school in the country. The Buffanblu state titles have come in 20 sports, and 67 were won from the 1994-95 through the 2003-04 school years.

Long Beach Polytechnic (Calif.), the alma mater of University of Hawaii offensive lineman Hercules Satele, tops the list. DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) and Saint Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) are second and third.

"It really is an honor," Punahou Athletic Director Tom Holden said. "Polls are subjective, and I don't know how you determine it. There are certainly other extremely deserving schools in Hawaii I would rank in that category, too."

Holden also credited Punahou's award-winning physical education department.

"It's a lot of things combined together," Holden said. "We want our kids to be competitive, but winning is just one of the goals. Life lessons and giving kids the tools and discipline to have a healthy lifestyle when they leave here is very important."

The Buffanblu will likely add to their crowded trophy case in the next couple of weeks. The 15th-in-the-nation-ranked Punahou baseball team and the girls basketball team both sit atop the Star-Bulletin's state polls. The water polo, tennis, girls track and field and boys golf teams are also poised for possible state championships.

Punahou's girls golf team would likely have been a favorite to win the state tournament that began yesterday, but it was one player short of qualifying for the team competition. Sophomore Michelle Wie could have been that player, but she does not play for the school team, opting for LPGA and PGA Tour events instead.

The Sports Illustrated report mentions Wie, as well as Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow, former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Mark Tuinei, and former New England Patriots running back Mosi Tatupu -- all Punahou alumni.

HHSAA Executive Director Keith Amemiya ran track and cross country at Punahou.

"I view this as not only a feather in Punahou's cap, but the rest of our high school athletic programs as well," Amemiya said. "Punahou has certainly excelled in athletics over the past 10 years, and several other programs have also done very well in state tournaments, such as Kamehameha, Iolani, Mililani, Kahuku and Baldwin."

"Maybe this explains why I was a third-stringer in every sport I played at Punahou."