Punahou’s Brady completes ILH sweep

Punahou senior Elli Brady went back in time to win her fourth straight ILH crown on Saturday.

Brady completed the sweep with her most dominating effort to date, dusting the field by 39 ticks for a time of 19 minutes, 3 seconds. She had struggled with confidence throughout her last year of competition, but those issues became a thing of the past when her feet hit the familiar course at Mid-Pacific Institute.

"I had a point to prove," Brady said. "Not proving something to anyone else, but to myself that I am ready for states and I am ready for anything that comes at me."

Brady’s effort helped Punahou secure the team title by 46 points over Kamehameha, with ‘Iolani taking third. The Buffanblu also won the boys title with 52 points to ‘Iolani’s 58 and Kamehameha’s 72. Davis Kaahanui of Kamehameha won the individual title for the boys, speeding through the course in 16:20.26.

Coming down the hill on the final turn, Brady’s mind flashed back to four years ago, when she won her first ILH title with an equally dominant performance on the same course. She ran a 19:08.59 in 2009.

"It was kind of the first time I had ever broken out and become a championship contender," Brady said. "Before I was kind of a crazy freshman who goes out a little bit fast. So when I was coming in it was almost like a deja vu, it was such a crazy moment. It was just like I ran it my freshman year."

Brady was so far ahead of the field that the pack lost sight of her on the second mile, but Mid-Pacific’s Alice Liggett kept her stride enough to finish second in 19:42.3 on her 16th birthday. She got a personal best and beat Punahou’s Teri Brady to the line by 7 seconds. Melissa Wong took fifth and Noe Lum placed seventh for the Buffanblu. The effort earned Liggett her first trip to states. Brady’s first act as winner was to help an exhausted Liggett to the end of the chute.

"I didn’t see her, but I still kept going and didn’t give up," Liggett said. "She is a beast, she gets better and better and it never stops."

Now Brady turns her attention to the final cross country race of her prep career, on the hilly course Friday at Hawaii Prep Academy on Hawaii island.

"The course next week will suit her well," Punahou coach Todd Iacovelli said. "What separates Elli for me is that she wants so passionately to do well for the team and to be an excellent runner. She is coming on at the exact right time for the state meet."

While Brady has been there before, Kamehameha’s Kaahanui has not. He ran in the top 25 at states and ILH last year before making his quantum leap this year.

"Just a lot of hard work and a lot of running," Kaahanui said. "I had confidence in myself and thought I had a lot of talent, but I didn’t see this happening. Next year I will be fast."

Kaahanui beat Punahou’s Nikolai Scharer by 20 seconds on Saturday after losing to him by less than two seconds the previous week. Jacques Hebert of Punahou was third in 16:42.10.

"It was a hard race," Kaahanui said. "I wanted to run under 16, but I didn’t. I am still happy. I knew if I could get the lead I could take him and once I made it to the first turn with the lead I thought there was no way I was giving it up."