Leilehua boys, Hawaii Prep girls win state cross country titles

KAPALUA, Maui » Books have been written, movies have been filmed and songs have been penned about the loneliness of the long-distance runner. And, from an outside perspective, cross country sure seems like the most individual of sports.

But the word "team" repeatedly was mentioned by members and coaches of the victorious Leilehua boys and Hawaii Prep Academy girls at Saturday’s 47th annual HHSAA/Honolulu Marathon Cross Country State Championships.

‘Iolani senior Troy Esaki took top honors in the boys race and Seabury Hall sophomore Dakota Grossman again captured the girls crown. Both won by such decisive margins over a hilly 3-mile circuit at the Kapalua Village Golf Course that the biggest buzz was generated by the Hawaii Prep Academy pack mentality and Leilehua’s narrow win over Maui High.

"If we run together, we are successful," said Leilehua coach Shawn Nakada. "When we lose sight of each other, things don’t go as well."

As with other public schools, the Mules no longer are allowed to run outside the limits of their campuses because of concerns by the Department of Education of liability issues.

For the Mules, that means a 1-mile loop around the entire campus. Not ideal, Nakada conceded, but good enough for his self-motivated group to raise a big tiki in holding off Maui High 55-63. The Mules placed four runners in the top 12 scoring places. Eliot Estrada was second and Dylan Mar fourth for Leilehua.

The Sabers had three runners finish in the top nine — led by Rocky Bala and Nicola Perez, who were fifth and sixth.

"We have a close group and we’re lucky to have some outstanding leaders," Nakada said. "The coaches don’t have to give pep talks. The seniors take care of that."

Esaki covered the challenging course in 16 minutes, 29 seconds. He finished well ahead of Estrada (16:54.5) and Charles Akiona (17:02.3) of Kamehameha. Esaki showed his strength by sprinting up a slope for 70 yards in the final dash to the finish line.

The theme of togetherness also was invoked by HPA coach Mike Franklin, whose Ka Makani ended Punahou’s six-year championship run.

"This is a very close team," Franklin said.

And he means that literally. HPA is coached to run as a group. Ka Makani started the race as a unit and ended it the same way. Although Grossman dominated the field, the fifth through ninth finishers were all from HPA.

"A lot of people thought we were crazy to run in a pack," Franklin said after his theory was validated with a dominating victory.

HPA had 35 points, well ahead of Punahou’s 50. Kamehameha (120) was third, followed by ‘Iolani (153) and Seabury Hall (155).

Grossman has quickly become the most dominant prep distance runner in Hawaii. She won the state cross country title as a freshman last year. In the spring, she also won the state 3,000-meter crown.

On Saturday, she was at it again, registering a time of 19:27.5 for an edge of nearly 20 seconds over her closest pursuer, Punahou’s Elli Brady (19:47.3). Punahou’s Kyleigh Mann (19:54.1) was third and ‘Iolani’s Breanne Ball (20:06.75) fourth before a wave in HPA red washed over the finish line.

"I wasn’t, like, expecting myself to win," Grossman said. "And I was really nervous because there was lots of tough competitors out there, so it was really exciting."