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Bobby Grossman made his daughter a vow early in her high school career.
"My freshman year he said, ‘D, we’re going to win this before you leave,’ " Dakota Grossman recalled. "No matter how hard it is, we’re going to do it."
Their combined efforts helped deliver that promise on Saturday when Seabury Hall broke away to win the girls title at the Island Movers/HHSAA Track and Field Championships at Kamehameha’s Kunuiakea Stadium.
The Spartans came close a couple of times in Dakota Grossman’s first three years on the team, finishing a point short of the title last year. This time, they left no doubt, as Grossman won two distance events and fellow senior Alyssa Bettendorf captured three sprints to lead Seabury Hall to its first title.
"Two of the last three years were so close and we knew this had to be our year," Bobby Grossman said. "From (that day after last year’s meet) we did every thing we could to get to this moment so we could celebrate the way we are now."
Seabury Hall amassed 73 points, well ahead of runner-up Hilo’s 38. Punahou, the five-time defending champion, placed third with 34 points.
Punahou’s 69-68 victory in 2013 at Mililani stuck in the minds of the Spartans for the past year.
"We worked every day with the standard of ‘We gotta win, we have to get this,’ " said Bettendorf, who won the 100, 200 and 400 meters and placed third in the long jump. "It just made the team that much better."
Dakota Grossman won the 1,500 meters, finished third in the 800 meters and completed a career sweep of the 3,000 meters.
"It definitely was my goal to do it four years in a row," Grossman said. "My sister won the last two (prior to her freshman year), so I was trying to keep a family name going.
"My goal was to go in and win it for myself and for the team (points)."
The pace was set before Saturday’s finals when Amy Ozee picked up 10 points by winning the high jump on Friday.
"I felt if she won the high jump we could win the meet," Bobby Grossman said.
The end of the night might have been a bit more tense had Bettendorf not pulled out come-from-behind wins in the 100 and 400. She chased down Pearl City’s Diamond Briscoe in a dramatic 400 race and won with a lean at the finish.
"The 400 had to be the race of the night," Bobby Grossman said. "She came back from about 15 meters down and got it right at the end and I’m very proud of her."
Grossman dusted the field in the 1,500 and came from back in the pack to win the 3,000. She was third as the bell rang signaling the final lap and had tracked down Punahou’s Teri Brady by the time she reached the final 200 meters.
"I could tell she was fighting it to stay in the pace because she had worked so hard in the 1,500 and 800 earlier," her father said. "We kind of knew she had to stay in it, we worked on it all year to triple that way.
"You just don’t know. Even though she’s won it every year you don’t know. That’s what sports is about."
There was little doubt as to the outcome of the race and the team’s pursuit when she crossed the finish line.
Dakota Grossman and Bettendorf said they were a bit concerned after a sixth-place finish in the 4×400 relay, but they’d put enough distance on the field to render that result inconsequential.
"I got worried and got upset with myself (after the 4×400), but we pulled it off and I’m so happy right now I can’t even explain it," Grossman said.
Hawaii Prep’s Emma Taylor was a two-time winner on Saturday, edging ‘Iolani’s Lindsey Combs in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles.
Campbell’s relay team of Jade Savaiigaea, Shatres Ah Nee, Kameron Smith and Tristen Dulay swept the 4×100 and 4×400 events.
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