KIHEI — The Maui High School swimming and diving program doesn’t win many Maui Interscholastic League team titles.

The Sabers won a pair on Saturday, however, behind wins in all six relays on the docket.

It was so rare that no one at the Kihei Aquatic Center could remember the last time, if ever, that the Maui High boys and girls swept the MIL team crowns in the same year.

It dates back to at least 1994 when the Sabers won the boys MIL team title, a feat they did not repeat until 2020, which was the last time an MIL season was held because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m speechless,” Maui High coach Reid Yamamoto said after seeing the final team scores. “You know, this is something that we talked about earlier — I mean, hats off the rest of the teams, there’s some fast swimming going on — but I guess today everything just lined up.”

The Sabers didn’t clinch either title until the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of the day in both team chases. The girls’ final tally was Maui High 56 points, Seabury Hall 50, Baldwin 43, King Kekaulike 37, Maui Prep 36 — all five schools had a chance to win the league title going into the final event.

In the girls’ final relay, Maui High’s quartet of Mari Yamamoto, Kaysa Ong, Charie Salacup and Karissa Ginoza won in 3 minutes, 49.03 seconds, 5.6 seconds in front of Seabury Hall.

The Maui High girls entered the event ahead of Seabury Hall 44-42.

“Everybody did what they were supposed to do, swam fast … everybody, the seniors, juniors, freshmen, everybody contributed, so it was like a true team effort,” Reid Yamamoto said.

The Sabers decided to put their best foot forward in the relays and it paid off. Swimmers are allowed four events in championship meets, a combination of two individual and two relays or one individual event and all three relays.

Maui High has just eight girls and seven boys.

Mari Yamamoto, a senior and the coach’s daughter, won the girls 100-yard backstroke and swam on all three relays. Ginoza and Salacup were also on all three relays and Kyra Ong was on the 200 medley and 200 free relays.

“It feels amazing, you know, not having a season last year was kind of a disappointment, but I’m glad that we could end on a good note,” Mari Yamamoto said. “Being with all my teammates, working hard every day, it really paid off.

“That’s awesome to sweep. We didn’t really know what to expect coming in — we knew that we’d be fighting for it, but to see everything pay off and come together, it’s really rewarding.”

Karissa Ginoza won the 100 butterfly to add six points to the team total.

The key was clearly the relays, where points are double that of individual races — Maui High piled up 36 points in relays for both girls and boys.

Senior Patrick Garduque won the 100 butterfly and sophomore Niji Wada won the 500 free for the Maui High boys, and both were on all three relays, along with Conner Gunderson and Quincey Augustine.

The Sabers scored 57 points in the boys team standings, 13 more than King Kekaulike. Baldwin was third with 35, followed by Maui Prep (34) and Molokai (32).

“Everybody contributed, whether it was one point, or made a final and pushed somebody else out,” Reid Yamamoto said. “This was a total team effort and that’s what we needed.”

Garduque is considering joining the Navy after graduating and then attending college and swimming. He won the 100 butterfly and swam on all three relays two years ago when the Sabers boys won the MIL crown for the first time in a quarter-century.

“I feel pretty good, I’m really excited for states coming up, too,” Garduque said. “It’s pretty cool to sweep boys and girls, I think it’s like a first in 50 years for our school or something like that.”

The other individual boys winners were Molokai’s Kama Ward in the 50 and 100 freestyles; Baldwin’s Vincent McNabb in the 200 individual medley and 100 back; Lahainaluna’s Maxx Cherry in the 200 free; and King Kekaulike’s Edwin Barrett in the 100 breaststroke.

The other girls MIL champions were Seabury Hall’s Helena Colletta in the 200 IM and 500 free, Kaila Pellettieri in the 50 and 100 frees, and Tulip Hori in the 200 free; and MPA’s Mia Merrill in the 100 breaststroke.

The diving champions were both from King Kekaulike, Kewen Imlay for girls and Luke Berrigan for boys.

The K. Mark Takai/HHSAA state meet is set for March 4-5 in Hilo.

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

MIL Swimming and Diving Championships

Saturday’s Results

At Kihei Aquatic Center

Girls

Team–1. Maui High 56, 2. Seabury Hall 50, 3. Baldwin 43, 4. King Kekaulike 37, 5. Maui Prep 36, 6. St. Anthony 7, 7. Kihei Charter 4, 8, Kamehameha Maui 4, 9. Lahainaluna 3.

1-meter diving–1. Kewen Imlay, King Kekaulike, 445.25; 2. Lily Barrett, King Kekaulike, 361.35; 3. Summer Coronesi, Kihei Charter, 347.85; 4. Devon Hardy, King Kekaulike, 319.30; 5. Giullia Porter, King Kekaulike, 292.95.

200-yard medley relay–1. Maui High (Karissa Ginoza, Charie Salacup, Mari Yamamoto, Kyra Ong) 1:54.65, 2. Maui Prep 1:57.29, 3. Baldwin 1:58.03.

200 freestyle–1. Tulip Hori, Seabury Hall, 2:04.55; 2. Mikela De Aguiar, Baldwin, 2:09.43; 3. Kylee Takeda, Baldwin, 2:13.85; 4. Tea Jimenez, Maui High, 2:21.97; 5. Kathryn O’Neill, King Kekaulike, 2:22.84.

200 IM–1. Helena Colletta, Seabury Hall, 2:11.25; 2. Keanna Campbell, Baldwin, 2:19.52; 3. Ava Castillo, Baldwin, 2:24.56; 4. Lily Barrett, King Kekaulike, 2:27.82; 5. Emily Hegrenes, Lahainaluna, 2:28.67.

50 freestyle–1. Kalla Pellettieri, Seabury Hall, 25.23; 2. Li’a Vanderpoel, King Kekaulike, 25.60; 3. Maria King, St. Anthony, 25.87; 4. Yuna Lee, Maui Prep, 26.48; 5. Lexie Castillo, Baldwin, 27.30.

100 butterfly–1. Karissa Ginoza, Maui High, 58.11; 2. Tulip Hori, Seabury Hall, 1:01.52; 3. Yuna Lee, Maui Prep, 1:02.10; 4. Mikela De Aguiar, Baldwin, 1:04.53; 5. Cami Nakagawa, Kamehameha Maui, 1:06.94.

100 freestyle–1. Kalla Pellettieri, Seabury Hall, 55.37; 2. Li’a Vanderpoel, King Kekaulike, 57.42; 3. Danna Hernandez, Maui Prep, 1:00.21; 4. Kylee Takeda, Baldwin, 1:00.62; 5. Sundi King, Kihei Charter, 1:01.41.

500 freestyle–1. Helena Colletta, Seabury Hall, 5:11.66; 2. Mia Merrill, Maui Prep, 5:34.64; 3. Amanda Carter, Baldwin, 5:49.56; 4. Kaysa Ong, Maui High, 5:57.62; 5. Caitlyn Antonio, Maui High, 6:38.84.

200 freestyle relay–1. Maui High (Mari Yamamoto, Kyra Ong, Charie Salacup, Karissa Ginoza ) 1:43.65, 2. Seabury Hall 1:46.20, 3. King Kekaulike 1:47.69.

100 backstroke–1. Mari Yamamoto, Maui High, 1:01.52; 2. Maria King, St. Anthony, 1:02.37; 3. Ava Castillo, Baldwin, 1:06.73; 4. Zoe Gonzales, Maui Prep, 1:07.96; 5. Jordan Holokai-Jacinto, Kamehameha Maui, 1:10.72.

100 breaststroke–1. Mia Merrill, Maui Prep, 1:09.52; 2. Keanna Campbell, Baldwin, 1:09.57; 3. Charie Salacup, Maui High, 1:13.04; 4. Emily Hegrenes, Lahainaluna, 1:17.88; 5. Nicole Riemenschneider, King Kekaulike, 1:18.20.

400 freestyle relay–1. Maui High (Mari Yamamoto, Kaysa Ong, Charie Salacup, Karissa Ginoza ) 3:49.03, 2. Seabury Hall 3:54.63, 3. Maui Prep 3:57.41.

Boys

Team–1. Maui High 57, 2. King Kekaulike 44, 3. Baldwin 35, 4. Maui Prep 34, 5. Lahainaluna 32, 6. Molokai 14, Kamehameha Maui 7.

1-meter diving–1. Luke Berrigan, King Kekaulike, 360.70.

200-yard medley relay–1. Maui High (Quincey Augustine, Conner Gunderson, Patrick Garduque, Niji Wada) 1:42.52, 2. Baldwin 1:43.61, 3. King Kekaulike 1:44.33.

200 freestyle–1. Maxx Cherry, Lahainaluna, 1:54.90; 2. Carter Bozich, Maui Prep, 1:56.07; 3. Reese Williams, King Kekaulike, 1:58.75; 4. Dennis Nezelek, King Kekaulike, 1:59.21; 5. Joseph Ramirez, Maui High, 2:26.28.

200 IM–1. Carl Vincent McNabb, Baldwin, 1:58.69; 2. Edwin Barrett, King Kekaulike, 2:01.99; 3. Maison Alexander, Lahainaluna, 2:05.70; 4. Noah Caiserman, Maui Prep, 2:06.45; 5. Camden Eyre, King Kekaulike, 2:12.13.

50 freestyle–1. Kama Ward, Molokai, 21.98; 2. Jake McGill, Lahainaluna, 22.63; 3. Ryan Wise, Kamehameha Maui, 22.67; 4. Coby Kaplan, King Kekaulike, 23.12; 5. Mauli Pupuhi, Molokai, 23.50.

100 butterfly–1. Patrick Garduque, Maui High, 52.90; 2. Andrew Alonso, Baldwin, 53.59; 3. Maison Alexander, Lahainaluna, 54.36.

100 freestyle–1. Kama Ward, Molokai, 47.94; 2. Ryan Wise, Kamehameha Maui, 49.91; 3. Conner Gunderson, Maui High, 49.95; 4. Legend Storer, Maui Prep, 50.48; 5. Mauli Pupuhi, Molokai, 51.15.

500 freestyle–1. Niji Wada, Maui High, 4:53.40; 2. Noah Caiserman, Maui Prep, 4:59.83; 3. Jake McGill, Lahainaluna, 5:08.13; 4. Ken Yamashiro, Baldwin, 5:08.81; 5. Joseph Ramirez, Maui High, 6:51.38.

200 freestyle relay–1. Maui High (Patrick Garduque, Quincey Augustine, Niji Wada, Conner Gunderson) 1:32.72, 2. King Kekaulike 1:33.76, 3. Maui Prep 1:34.28.

100 backstroke–1. Carl Vincent McNabb, Baldwin, 53.72; 2. Quincey Augustine, Maui High, 56.62; 3. Maxx Cherry, Lahainaluna, 59.86; 4. Reese Williams, King Kekaulike, 1:00.00; 5. Carter Bozich, Maui Prep, 1:00.59.

100 breaststroke–1. Edwin Barrett, King Kekaulike, 1:02.20; 2. Legend Storer, Maui Prep, 1:04.82; 3. Ken Yamashiro, Baldwin, 1:05.75; 4. Ryunosuke Hattori, Lahainaluna, 1:05.82; 5. Noah Schwartzlow, Maui Prep, 1:12.85

400 freestyle relay–1. Maui High (Patrick Garduque, Quincey Augustine, Niji Wada, Conner Gunderson) 3:22.53, 2. Maui Prep 3:29.72, 3. Baldwin 3:34.59.