Star performances in ILH swimming as ‘Iolani boys, Punahou girls win

The returning ILH champions left nothing in doubt as the ‘Iolani boys and Punahou girls defended their league titles with dominant performances on Saturday.

Each school overcame its opponents by double-digit points in the final standings at the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Swimming and Diving Championships at Punahou School.

‘Iolani scored 80 points to down runner-up Punahou (68) in the boys’ competition. Kamehameha finished third (41), followed by Mid-Pacific (24), Pac-Five (18) and Le Jardin (9).

“It’s well deserved,” ‘Iolani coach Ivan Batsanov said. “These kids have been working extremely hard. It’s a hat trick for us, so I’m extremely happy.”

On the girls’ side, Punahou scored 99 points to race past runner-up Kamehameha (65) and third-place ‘Iolani (31). The top three teams were followed by Le Jardin (23), Mid-Pacific (10), Sacred Hearts (10) and Pac-Five (2).

“I think they swam great,” Punahou coach Jeff Meister said. “We’re very excited. We’re where we want to be right now in terms of our performance and what we’re doing with things. It’s always fun to be competitive with all these teams. It brings out the best in everybody.”

Punahou senior Kai Flanagan shone brightly for the Buffanblu, adding to her five career gold medals in ILH competition with four on Saturday. One of her medals came on a record-breaking swim. Flanagan won the girls’ 500 freestyle final with a time of 4:55.31, breaking Diane Williams’ 37-year old league record of 4:58.26.

“Pretty stoked honestly. I’m super happy,” Flanagan said immediately after the race. “I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to do it.”

“She’s just an amazing kid. She’s been amazing since she’s been here,” Meister added about Flanagan. “She’s a great teammate, a great swimmer and a great person. She inspires everbody.”

Flanagan won another individual gold in the 200 freestyle (1:51.19), while winning two more gold medals in the 200 medley relay (1:49.37) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:34.57). Flanagan was joined in those two relay events by another four-gold-medal winner from Punahou. Freshman phenom Journei Webster raced alongside Flanagan, Tai Misailidis and Ciera Fujiwara in the 200 medley relay, while joining Flanagan, Sophia Hurd and Kiani Morikami in the 400 freestyle relay. Webster added individual golds in the 50 freestyle (23.56) and the 100 butterfly (55.31).

“She’s an amazing freshman,” Meister said about Webster. Great feel for the water, very talented. The sky’s the limit for her.”

Kamehameha’s Emma Lee won a pair of gold medals in the 200 yard individual medley (2:12.72) and the 100 backstroke (57.81). The Warriors added another gold medal in the 200 freestyle relay (Leinaala Wong, Jordyn Nishimura, Melia Lee, Kohia Rego) in 1:39.14. ‘Iolani’s Aily Miyake won the 100 breaststroke (1:08.18), and Gigi Hioki won the 100 freestyle (52.69).

The ‘Iolani boys were also led by several multi-event winners. Senior Stone Miller won four gold medals for the Raiders, while juniors LT Stancil and Evan Wong and sophomore Finn Arrillaga each won three golds. Junior Tobey Yuen and freshman Jihoon Sung added two more gold medals each for ‘Iolani.

Miller, Stancil, Yuen and Arrillaga won gold together in the 200 medley relay (1:36.59). Miller, Sung, Wong and Arrillaga won gold in the 200 freestyle relay (1:27.13). Wong, Sung, Yuen and Arrillaga finished the sweep in relay races with a gold medal in the 400 freestyle relay (3:14.79).

“Stone had some great swims,” Batsanov said about his team’s standouts. “So did Evan Wong, Finn Arrillaga, LT Stancil. I don’t want to be annoying and mention the whole team, but all of the kids did good. It was a team experience.”

Miller added individual gold medals in the 50 freestyle (21.35) and 100 freestyle (47.72), Stancil won gold in the 200 individual medley (1:59.43) and the 100 breaststroke (59.93), and Wong took home gold in the 500 freestyle (4:43.14).

“I feel pretty confident that states will be like we saw today,” Batsanov said. “But at the end of the day all the teams are preparing hard. And I’ll be happy to see some great swims. But I’m confident we’ve got them.”

Kamehameha’s Connor Seminavage was the only other swimmer on the boys’ side to win multiple gold medals, taking the 200 freestyle (1:39.62) and the 100 butterfly (50.41). His teammate Dustin Kealoha won the 100 backstroke (53.15).