Punahou's Alika Naone and Evan Molenda tackles assistant coach Dustin Fukuda after the Buffanblu's boys and swimming teams captured state titles. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Punahou's Alika Naone and Evan Molenda tackles assistant coach Dustin Fukuda after the Buffanblu's boys and swimming teams captured state titles. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MANOA — Using its last event, the Punahou boys swimming team came from behind to capture its fourth consecutive title and joined its girls team as state champions on the final day of the K. Mark Takai/HHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex Saturday afternoon. 

The Buffanblu's girls team, who also won last year's title, scored 88 points and more than doubled second place Hawaii Prep's score of 43. Baldwin and Kamehameha were tied for third overall with 19. 

"It's wonderful," said Punahou coach Jeff Meister. "We don't talk too much about winning, we just tell them we've got to get in and work hard and do the things you have to do and these kids have done it the whole season. It's been so special, it's been fantastic."

Punahou senior and UCLA commit, Lia Foster, placed first in four different events, including the 100-yard backstroke where she is a four-year Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion. 

"The whole season we only talked about (the) process and getting better and feeling better in the water and what it takes to do well and we never talked about places or anything," said Foster. "So it was probably the end to a perfect season honestly. Even if we didn't win I would still be so proud of everyone."

Foster is joined by sophomore teammate Sydnee Whitty as one of two swimmers who won four different events Saturday. 

"It means a lot for everyone in Punahou, it's just like we're a big family, so knowing that we won just feels so good because we worked so hard to do what we do and it just feels awesome," said Whitty. 

It was a much closer competition for the boys title however, as Punahou found itself in third place with 32.5 points behind Mid-Pacific and Maryknoll, who were tied at 34, going into the boys 400-yard freestyle relay.

Maryknoll led for the first half of the race as senior MJ Mao built a lead for his team to start. Punahou's second swimmer, sophomore Tyler Kawakami, was able to catch up on his last lap and as his teammate, junior Schuyler Cole, entered the water, the two schools were neck and neck. 

"For me, there's not much to think about, it's swimming. Basically keep everything tight, move your arms fast and get back to the end of the pool where you finish," said Cole. 

Cole kept up a strong pace and broke ahead on his last 50 yards, giving the team's anchor, freshman Alika Naone, a comfortable lead going into the final leg of the race. Naone managed to hold on and the team finished with a time of 3:07.66, earning them 12 points and pushing them into first place. 

"It feels unbelievable, I mean coming into this we knew we were the underdogs and that we would have to try our absolute best today and we all did," said Cole. "Thanks to the coaches and the coaching and everyone's combined efforts, we got the win." 

Maryknoll and Mid-Pacific finished second and third respectively in the relay, earning them second and third place finishes overall. 

The Punahou boys team had only placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay prior to the last event. 

"We just thought okay if they can get a little bit of help and get a couple of guys to step up we had a chance at this," said Meister. "Nobody gave us a chance, everybody thought that those other schools, with all of the talent that they had, were going to be fantastic, and they swam great. You know, we just tried to chip away as best as we could and it worked out."  

Maryknoll's Albert Zhi, Edmund Shiu, Mao and Keenan Lee broke a state record in the 200-yard medley relay event with a time of 1:34.46, which beat out a record set in 2011 of 1:35.70. 

Seabury Hall's Jasmine O'Brien also broke a state record in the 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 4:55.44, beating out a record set by Rebecca Walton in 2015 of 4:56.29.