WAILUKU, Maui — Punahou relied on depth to claim its fourth straight girls team title at the Island Movers Track & Field State Championships yesterday at War Memorial Stadium.

The Buffanblu won only two golds during the meet that saw Neighbor Island athletes take 10 of 16 events, including double wins by Sarah Nicolaisen of Ka'u in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles events.

Nicolaisen, who disappointed herself at last year's championships with a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the 300, said she upped her mental game this year by using visualization techniques. "I had to overcome the negative that made me lose before. I visualized every step of the way before the race and then I got out there and won," she said.

Her time of 44.44 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles was a personal best for the senior, who trains on an uneven grass track with her teammates at the remote Big Island school.

Britney Stephens of Mililani was another double winner, edging out defending champion Brittany Feiteira of Baldwin in the 100-meter dash in 12.36. The two battled each other again in 200-meter dash with the same result. Stephens posted a time of 25.60 seconds with Feiteira only .04 seconds behind.

Feiteira won gold in the 400-meter dash at 59.08 seconds and anchored Baldwin to a come-from-behind win in the 4x100 relay in 49.48 seconds. Feiteira was forced to carry the load for her team after an injury forced fellow Baldwin star June Ann Lusk to drop from five of the six events she had planned to enter.

Punahou's Samantha Cabreros successfully defended her title in the triple jump with a leap 38 feet, but lost in the long jump to Yasmina Taketa of Kalani. Taketa, a junior, fouled on her first jump but set a personal best of 17 feet, 7 1/2 inches on her second attempt.

"I was pretty mad (about the foul) so that helped me," Taketa said.

The only other gold for Punahou came in the last event of the night, the 4x400 relay. The Buffanblu clocked 4:03:72, with Baldwin about four seconds back.

Maui High's Chelsea Machida captured the high jump for the second year in a row by clearing 5 feet, 2 inches. Machida won the state high school diving championship in February, and said her early gymnastics training helped her reach the top in both sports.

Machida, a senior who plans to attend Linfield, said she felt a lot of pressure coming into the state meet as defending champion and the top-ranked high jumper in the state with a season's best of 5 feet, 4 inches. She said she counted on the mental toughness she's learned from competing in diving and field events.

"They're similar in a way because you have to be mentally strong because you're competing against yourself most of the time," she said.

Other Neighbor Island winners were 1,500-meter champion Chelsea Smith-Wishard of Kaua'i, who ran 13 seconds faster than her winning time from last year. Hailey Grossman of Seabury Hall won the 3,000-meter run, and Keri Ogden of Hawai'i Preparatory Academy won gold in the 800-meter run.

Hilo High claimed two of the field events, with Daysha Viernes winning the pole vault with the bar at 10 feet, 3 inches, and Kiki Robertson-Kapoo the discus with a toss of 118 feet, 4 inches.

Charmaine Mokiao provided Kamehameha's only gold, taking the shotput with a toss of 39 feet, 9 inches, her best effort of the season.

The Punahou girls team finished the night with 92.5 points, Baldwin was second with 68, and Mililani third with 51.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.