KEAAU – Hawaii Prep celebrated a milestone at the HHSAA swimming and diving championships, even as the BIIF suffered another hiccup.
Ka Makani coach Mark Noetzel see a trend with the former, but not the latter.
No team was able to stay close to Punahou in either team race Saturday at Naeole Pool, but the HPA girls rode silver in two relays and Maile Lawson’s runner-up in one of the most anticipated races to finish second, the program’s best result under Noetzel.
“We knew we had contenders and scoring potential in every race,” Noetzel said. “It just added up that we weren’t able to overcome an impressive Punahou team.”
Joining Lawson with silver was HPA’s Frederik Moller, but for the second consecutive year the BIIF failed to produce a gold medal winner at states. The league brought home at least to golds at the five HHSAA meets from 2010-2014.
“Just keep waiting,” Noetzel said. “We’ve got seven girls returning from this team and some new swimmers that can come in do well.”
Hawaii Prep sophomore Kira Parker took home three medals, winning bronze in the 100-yard freestyle and silvers with the 200 and 400 freestyle relay squads. Ka Makani rolled out the same quartet in each race: sophomore Karly Noetzel, Parker, junior Taylor Doherty and junior Frida Berglund.
They twice finished second to Punahou, which dominated the girls race, outscoring HPA 86-31. On the boys side, the Buffanblu’s 68 points were almost double that of runner-up Maryknoll, an ILH rival.
Besides Moller, the only other BIIF boys swimmer to medal was Kealakehe’s Joshua Bandt, who took bronze in the 50 freestyle.
“It takes year-round commitment,” Noetzel said. “If you look at the kids from Punahou, Kamehameha-Kapalama, their kids are swimming 10-11 months a year.
“We’re at a point in our program, and really island swimming, I think the next 8-10 years we’re still on an upward swing. We haven’t peaked by any means. We’re still on the upslope of the curve.”
The ballyhooed battle between Punahou’s Maddie Balish and Lawson the 100 breaststroke never materialized. Balish took gold in 1 minute, 3.45 seconds, with Lawson next in 1:05:17.
Noetzel said the freshman would be better for the experience.
“A young athlete learning how to compete and have everything go right at the right time,” he said.
Moller, a junior exchange student from Denmark, placed second in 100 backstroke in Friday’s trials and duplicated the finish a day later, his 53.13 a little less than a second behind Iolani’s Sung Je Lee.
“I was just mentally strong and focused and I just did my best and pushed from the start through the whole race,” Moller said.
Should he decide to return to HPA for his senior year of high school, it would be boost to a Ka Makani squad that finished eighth in the team race at states and will search for a BIIF threepeat next year.
“It’s perfect,” Moller said of Noetzel’s program. “I came here to compete and improve. The BIIF (meets) were a lower level but the state level was good.”
