AIR RIFLERY

Boys

Oct. 27, 2009, Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall

Team: Punahou

Individual:Alexander Char, Punahou

Recap: Punahou's Alexander Char captured the individual title with a 532.13 aggregate and helped Punahou win its fifth consecutive team title. Alexander Kimura was third and Sheldon Agbayani finished ninth for Punahou, which totaled 2,039.36 to Saint Louis' 2,015.26.

"My performance overall has definitely improved since last year," Char said. "I came in with high expectations."

Girls

Oct. 27, 2009, Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall

Team: Sacred Hearts

Individual: Haunani Akana, Sacred Hearts

Recap: Sacred Hearts' Haunani Akana became the first repeat individual champion and her 548.2 aggregate helped the Lancers win their seventh team title since the tournament's inception in 1999. Cecilia Wong was third, Caitlin Mori was sixth and Kristie Thornburg finished 10th for the Lancers, who totaled 2,130.63 to Punahou's 2,106.44.

"Overwhelming," said Akana, a senior. "I didn't expect it. It's kind of amazing."

BOWLING

Boys

Oct. 30, 2009, Schofield Bowling Center

Team: Hawai'i Baptist

Individual: Jaron Goto, Hawai'i Baptist

Recap: HBA won its fourth title in six years, led by Jaron Goto's first-place finish (1,740 pins). Lewis Wang was 14th and Tyler Hodson finished 21st to help the Eagles edge Pearl City, 7,798 to 7,616, for the team title.

"It feels good to be back," Goto said. "All of us just made sure we stuck together. Everybody did their part and we won as a team."

Girls

Oct. 30, 2009, Schofield Bowling Center

Team: Kapolei

Individual: Raelena Mattos, Kapolei

Recap: Kapolei's Raelena Mattos won titles for everyone. Her 1,620 total allowed her to capture the individual title, helping the Hurricanes win their first team title since 2003. Supporting Mattos as always was her mother, Denise, who was diagnosed with leukemia about two years ago. Mattos said even on days her mother wasn't feeling well, she was still in the crowd.

"It feels really good," Mattos said. "I'm thankful every day that she's still here."

Christalynn Bonifacio placed third and Valerie Ibarra tied for sixth to help the Hurricanes edge Kalani in the team standings, 7,427 to 7,163.

CHEERLEADING

Dec. 13, 2009 Stan Sheriff Center

Team: Radford (medium division), Kamehameha (large division)

Recap: Overcoming rare slip-ups in their routines, Kamehameha and Radford repeated as state champions.

Kamehameha won its third straight large division (minimum 11-person squad) title — and sixth in the past seven years — with a score of 314.5, just 11 points ahead of Moanalua and Mililani. The Warriors had a slip near their end of the routine.

"We're lucky our coaches set us up for success," said Kamehameha senior co-captain Chelsea Bega. "We didn't perform our best, but we knew it's the journey that counts and we worked really hard. Thankfully, the judges were able to see how hard our routine was."

Radford won its fifth consecutive medium division championship with 286 points to edge Waiākea (279.5) and Kapolei (276.5).

Radford coach Bo Frank said his team's routine "was not Radford cheerleading at its best," but the difficulty of the Rams' routine factored heavily in the scoring, offsetting an early fall during a stunt and near-collision during a late gymnastic sequence.

"That was the overall difference — the (degree of) difficulty carried us through," Frank said. "But it's a good thing they put the stunt right back up and finished the double-down, otherwise we wouldn't be standing here with this (first-place) trophy."

CROSS COUNTRY

Boys

Oct. 31, 2009, Island School, Kaua'i

Team: Kamehameha

Individual: Margarito Martinez, Leilehua

Recap: Margarito Martinez continued Leilehua's streak of state champions by winning the 3-mile race in 15:50.05. He follows Leilehua alum Bryce Jenkins, who won the last three state titles and helped the Mules win the last two team titles.

"My strategy was to go out there, set my pace and have them run my race," Martinez said. "My first two miles were good."

Kamehameha made a strong push late in the race to win the team title with a meet-low 56 points. Scoring for the Warriors were Jordan Thibodeau (third), Jordan Kahawai (12th), Isaiah Sato (13th), Alex Ortega (22nd) and Zack Sainz (26th).

"We knew that if you get out fast, you're not going to win it in the first lap," said Kahawai, a boarding student who raced in his hometown of Puhi on Kaua'i. "We talked with our coaches about it and they said start picking people off on your second lap."

Pierce Murphy of host Island School was second. Punahou finished with 85 points to place second. Kamehameha and Punahou have won a state-best 11 team titles.

Girls

Oct. 31, 2009, Island School, Kaua'i

Team: Punahou

Individual: Elli Brady, Punahou

Recap: Sticking with its group mentality as in years past, Punahou won its fifth straight team title with a meet-low 62 points.

The Buffanblu have always had a strong group of runners who grabbed high finishes for the team. The difference with this win was the Buffanblu finally had an individual champion in Elli Brady, a freshman who stuck with her plan and made a move midway through the 3-mile race to win in 18:53.85.

"(The plan) was to not go out too fast and start reeling people in in the middle of the second mile and until the end," Brady said. "I didn't want to surge or do anything to kill my energy, but to keep my pace up."

Also scoring points for the Buffanblu were Kyleigh Mann (12th), Julia Brand (13th), Jaime Durso (23rd) and Kacie Won (30th). Mililani finished second with 70 points.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Division I

Oct. 31, 2009, Stan Sheriff Center

Team: Kamehameha

Recap: A youthful Kamehameha team completed an improbable run, rallying past Punahou, 22-25, 25-18, 26-28, 25-23, 15-6, for its fifth straight state title. With one senior, two juniors and three sophomores in the starting lineup the Warriors (20-3) were the underdogs coming into the tournament.

"Every year is considered a rebuilding year, but it comes down to the will of the players and having the confidence to step up and do the job," said Kamehameha senior outside hitter Taylor Akana, who had 19 kills. "It was a great match and everybody did an awesome job."

Kamehameha rallied from a 14-8 deficit in Set 4 to lead 22-16, then had to hold off the Buffanblu to force a decisive fifth set. Kamehameha jumped to a 5-1 lead in Set 5, then went on an 8-1 tear to make it 13-4. The Warriors hit .421 in Set 5, with only two attack errors in 19 attempts.

"We talked about Game 4 being the turning point, and in Game 5 nothing would deny them," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "I asked the girls to dig deep, step up and play for each other, and that's what they did."

Division II

Oct. 31, 2009, Stan Sheriff Center

Team: Hawai'i Baptist

Recap: The powerful outside-hitting combo of C'era Oliveira and Sarah Palmer helped the Eagles win their third straight state title. Oliveira had 20 kills, Palmer had 19, and long service runs in the second and fourth sets helped HBA beat Word of Life, 25-22, 25-14, 19-25, 25-16.

"It feels good to contribute to our school's history," said Palmer, whose team beat Word of Life in five sets to win the 2008 title. "It's just a good feeling that we finished our season off really well."

Palmer had 25 digs and Kayla Kawamura added 13 digs for HBA (21-2), whose only losses were to Punahou and 'Iolani.

FOOTBALL

Division I

Dec. 4, 2009, Aloha Stadium

Team: Kamehameha

Recap: The game that was billed a battle of defenses turned into the highest scoring state title game as Kamehameha beat Kahuku, 34-21.

"Everybody knew it was going to be a defensive battle, but when (the media) says it, it becomes a battle like this," Kamehameha coach David Stant said.

T.C. Campbell passed for 183 yards and three touchdowns and Ryan Ho rushed for 121 yards and two TDs for the Warriors (12-1). The Red Raiders had two quick scores in the third quarter to pull to 20-14. But Kamehameha answered with two more TDs in the second half to seal their first state title since 2004.

"They never let down. I told our boys, we want them to come out and challenge us," Stant said. "If we are the best team in the state, when you guys get challenged, you better step up."

Division II

Dec. 4, 2009, Aloha Stadium

Team: 'Iolani

Recap: Overcoming a turnover-plagued first half, 'Iolani won its third straight state title with a 24-17 win over Kaua'i.

"It feels great," said 'Iolani senior quarterback Jarrett Arakawa, who was intercepted three times in the first half but finished with 22 completions in 30 attempts for 251 yards and one TD. "This was the goal we set from the beginning, and it's my last game, so there's no other way I'd want to go out."

The score was tied 10-10 at halftime, with 'Iolani committing six uncharacteristics turnovers. 'Iolani scored twice in the second half, but Kaua'i closed to 24-17 with 2:02 left after Trey Shimabukuro's 8-yard TD pass to Kealoha-Albarado and Shea Shimabukuro's extra point.

But 'Iolani (11-2) recovered the ensuing onside kick, and with Kaua'i having used all of its timeouts, the Raiders were able to run out the clock for their fourth title in the past five years.

"This was all them," said 'Iolani coach Wendell Look. "The coaches went in (at halftime) and we said, 'This is your game, you know what you need to do.' And then we walked out. (The players) talked it over themselves, settled themselves down, and took care of what they needed to do in the second half.

"They got it done, and that was nice to see."