With 32 individual titles at stake, there was plenty of drama despite the lopsided team standings at Saturday’s HHSAA/Island Movers State Track and Field Championships at Kamehameha.

The Seabury Hall girls and Kamehameha boys scored steadily and spectacularly, with each thrusting a coup de gras in the penultimate 3,000 meters.

Dakota Grossman’s gutsy come-from-behind win in high school track’s longest event locked up the first state championship for a girls track and field team from Maui.

A few minutes later, Warriors sophomore Kaeo Kruse and senior Davis Kaahanui went 1-2 in the boys 3,000, with Kruse blasting to a state meet record.

Those races highlighted two paradoxical coaching philosophies that both worked for the championship teams.

Grossman won the 1,500 and was third in the 800, which was contested under a scorching late-afternoon sun.

"She was exhausted after the 800," said Seabury coach Bobby Grossman, who is also Dakota’s father.

Dakota looked it in the middle of the grueling 3,000, and she fell to near the back of the pack. Late in the race she and another runner collided.

For most, that would be it. Done. In Grossman’s case, it fired her up. She passed everyone and won it going away.

"People were stepping on my feet all the way," she said.

"(The field) was much better than last year and I had to go hard all the way."

Including trials, Grossman ran more than 7 miles in two days. The other half of Seabury’s lethal 1-2 punch, Alyssa Bettendorf, competed in the trials and finals in five events over two days and tripled in the sprints and was third in the long jump.

Bobby Grossman said he did not worry about overworking the stars of his nine-member team, especially considering the Spartans were second by one point to Punahou last year and may have left some points on the bench.

"I always tell all of them whether we win or lose we’re going to be the toughest group. We’re not babies here," Grossman said.

Meanwhile, Kamehameha coach Harvey McInerney took the advice of distance assistant Steve Jenness to hold Kruse out of the 1,500 meters, keeping the young talent fresh for the 3,000.

"I came very close (to overruling Jenness)," the head coach said. "But we knew we’d get points from other places. And they all came through."

It turned out to be a great move, with Kamehameha’s depth proving decisive.

"I told the team that 21 went into battle on Friday (in the trials) and 14 were still standing for the finals," said McInerney. "And that our 14 are better than anyone in the state."

Kruse would have run more events if there were still a day off between trials and finals.

That is not economically feasible because schools competing off-island incur high travel costs. The only possibility is raising the meet standards, which would cut the number of participants.

Everyone wants to see the best at their best.

Then again, if you’re the Seabury girls, your reaction might be, "Who needs a day off?"

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.