Punahou girls find strength in numbers

The Buffanblu do it by numbers.

They do it by heart. By leaning on each other through all adversity. Punahou has built a mountain of success — 38 state championships — and the essence of that culture continues flourish under coach Duncan Macdonald.

Kylie Moniz was one of the busy Buffanblu, rallying to win the 300-meter hurdles in 47.57 seconds. She was the only athlete at the Island Movers/HHSAA Track and Field State Championships to deprive Kamehameha’s Tatum Moku from winning an event. Moku set a record in the pole vault, and won the long jump and 100 hurdles. She also had a personal record in the 300 hurdles, a race she had competed in just once during the regular season.

Moniz had that little extra on championship day.

“I was behind. I was in third behind Tatum (Moku) and Chloe (Kinlaw of Kaiser). I just felt like I needed to kick. It’s not my thing normally, but today it was my strength.”

In the same race, Nala Stojadinovic (47.86) placed second, while Kinlaw (48.21) and Moku (48.69) followed.

That’s the extra, the grit that continues to separate Punahou from a talented pack.

Conditions were ripe for the most well-conditioned, a steamy 88 degrees at mid-afternoon. By the time running events commenced at 5:30 p.m., the temperature was still warm, and when the long-distance runs began, it was much cooler with almost no trade winds at Kunuiakea Stadium.

Punahou’s 4×400 relay team enjoyed the cooler temps and triumphed — just one week after being disqualified during the ILH championships.

“A lot of adrenaline kicked in, especially from our cheering section at the last corner,” junior Xevani Salanoa said. “There are like 30, 40 kids over there.”

Senior Malia Dickhens battled through ups and downs during her career, rallying back from severe shin splints to win an ILH title in 2021, then struggling with the same malady this year. Teammates credited her with pushing them in multiple events.

“I’m so fortunate that my teammate is also my best friend,” Dickhens said of 1,500 run winner Isabella Ford. “I feel like I’ve learned so much these past four years.”

“Malia is someone I look up to, to push me,” said Ford, a junior. “It’s so crazy to say that I’m a junior in high school and this is my first track states. This is definitely an unbelievable experience.”

Punahou’s 38th state title in girls track and field has the vibe of something still new, still fresh. It extended a national record.

“We owe all that to our coach Duncan Macdonald,” Dickhens said.

“He told me 52 years ago today, he broke 4 (minutes) in the mile,” Ford noted. “We can rave about him all day.”

Macdonald said this team exceeded his expectations.

“It’s a big team to begin with and it stayed big. We just had people everywhere and they did a great job. A lot of youngsters. It’s also really coming back from COVID to have the actual sport happening, and the kids really responded to that,” he said, referring to the cancellation of the state meet in 2020 and ’21.

Kaylee Volner of Seabury Hall finished second to Ford in the 1,500 run, then won the 3,000 in 10:17, ahead of Punahou’s Lauren Saunders (10:49) and Ford (10:53). Moments after crossing the finish line, Volner — was didn’t seem very fatigued at all — was congratulated by assistant coach and former record-setting Seabury Hall runner Dakota Grossman.

“It’s amazing. She’s been my role model since I’ve been running with (coach) Bobby (Grossman). She was actually the first person I hugged when I got off the track. It was just really emotional. It’s like having a big sister. She’s very supportive,” said Volner, who will run at Santa Clara next season. “She runs some workouts with me, gives me some very good advice.”

Olivia Reed of St. Andrew’s won the girls 100-meter dash (12.63), then saw her younger brother William Reed of Saint Louis win the boys high jump (6-4).

“I’m really proud of him. He had a groin injury this year. All this time, he was able to come back and do what he does,” she said.

“I’m really proud of her,” William Reed said. “She put in a lot of work. She came off a loss last year (in the ILH). She was really hungry for this year. Watching her put all of that work in and how it showed, I’m really happy.”

Their mother, Tam Malone, was the 1995 100-meter dash state champion from Waipahu.