While others were focused on getting good times, the Punahou boys swimming and diving team just focused on having a good time.

"This year is so different," Punahou’s Sam Sutherland said. "This season has really been about fun. I am a senior and this year it seems we are a lot more connected than the other seasons I have been on."

That attitude paid off with the program’s 92nd state title (boys and girls) at the OC16/HHSAA Hawaii State Swimming and Diving championships on Saturday at Central Oahu Regional Park.

It was the 44th crown for the boys, second only to Louisville (Kent.) St. Xavier’s 48. It is coach Jeff Meister’s 28th title, passing predecessor Steve Borowski for the most on Punahou’s career list.

Meister’s coaching genius seemed rather simple, telling athletes before their races that it is time to have some fun. And they did, but it’s hard not to have fun when you are winning races and breaking records. All told, the Buffanblu won five events, beginning with Jacob Cornish’s gold in the 1-meter diving.

"I’ve just been so fortunate, I am just happy to be mentioned with Steve and some of the other guys like that," Meister said. "It’s really just a testament to the kids and the program."

Some of the Buffanblu believed they needed to win the final event, the 400 free relay, to take the team title, and for a fleeting second they did it. Sam Sutherland, Kenji Mori, Aukai Lileikis and Jed Johnson zoomed through the course in a record time, only to learn that they had been disqualified when one of their swimmers left the blocks early to hand the race to Kamehameha. They gathered on the grass hill on the far end of the complex before learning that they still held off the Warriors for their second straight title. They didn’t know it, but to a man the Warriors believed Punahou had the better team for that race.

"That was a pretty big scare," Punahou’s Lileikis said. "A lot of the boys were like ‘oh, no,’ and I was pretty scared, too, actually."

Lileikis had nothing to fear, as Punahou scored 56 points to Kamehameha’s 44, and he enjoyed the rare feat of four golds in a single state meet, with three records, before the disqualification was announced.

Lileikis, a junior, started his day by breaking the record he set in the 200 free in the trials the day before, then took down the mark in the 500 freestyle. He went straight from his cool-down laps in that race into the 200 free relay, where he anchored the team to another win, just 0.08 seconds off Kamehameha’s record from a year ago.

Lileikis erased the name of ‘Iolani’s Mark Eckert from the record book in both of his individual events, marks that had stood since 2002.

"It really wasn’t about individuals. We were just trying to rack up points for the team," Lileikis said. "This team is more like a family this year, like brothers and sisters. Everyone seems a lot closer this year, I don’t know why, but for the years before it was like a team and now it is more like a family."

Kamehameha ace Kanoa Kaleoaloha took down two records, in the 50 free and 100 free. Even those records were a bit of a family affair, as he took down Ryan Stack — who set the mark as his teammate last year — in the 100 and Daniel Coakley of Kealakehe (2007) in the 50.

Kaleoaloha was a hundredth of a second off his mark from Friday night.

"(Coakley) was Hawaiian, too, so this feels good because he is passing it on to another Hawaiian," Kaleoaloha said. "It’s the Hawaiian record, so that feels good."

Campbell’s Makoa Alvarez was the meet’s other record-holder, but his mark probably meant the most personally. He tied Eckert’s record from 2004 in the 100 back stroke last year, but beat it on Friday. He obliterated it on Saturday, lowering the mark from 49.55 to 48.20.