Sage Miller Scares Oldest Hawaiian High School Swimming Record at HHSAA Champs

2024 K. Mark Takai/HHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• Feb. 9-11, 2024
• Kihei Aquatics Center
• Kihei, Hawaii
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet central
• PDF results

Girls Team Scores

1. Punahou – 73
2. Iolani – 36
3. Kamehameha School Kapalama – 35.5
4. Mililani – 24
5. Hawaii Preparatory Academy – 15

Iolani junior Sage Miller put a serious scare into the oldest Hawaiian high school record on the books at the K. Mark Takai/HHSAA State Championships last month in Kihei, which is located on the island of Maui.

The meet is named after former U.S. House of Representatives member Kyle Mark Takai, a former state champion swimmer who died of cancer in 2016.

Miller, a USC commit (‘25), fired off a winning time of 23.27 in the 50-yard freestyle, just a hundredth of a second shy of Keiko Price’s 30-year-old state record (23.26) from 1994. Price went on to become a 22-time All-American swimmer at UCLA and currently works as an administrator at Emory University.

Miller has been as fast as 23.25 last February. She also won the 100 fly (54.24), dropping almost half a second off her previous-best 54.73 from last February. Miller contributed a 23.47 leadoff on Iolani’s 200 free relay (1:38.14), but her performance wasn’t enough to beat Punahou in that race or the overall team standings.

The Punahou girls more than doubled runner-up Iolani’s team score (36) with 73 points, cruising to their eighth consecutive HHSAA crown.

Punahou sophomore Journei Webster led her squad with victories in the 100 free (51.19) and 100 back (57.37), slightly off her best times from last March. She went on to lower her best 100 free time from 50.87 to 50.70 a couple weeks later at the Hawai’i Club State Championships. Webster wrapped up her day by joining Deanna Wen (51.97 leadoff), Leila Nasrallah (split unavailable), and Sophia Hurd (split unavailable) on Punahao’s record-breaking 400 free relay (3:28.93), which took down the school’s own state mark from 2018 (3:29.35).

Mililani senior Belise Swartwood was the other double winner on the girls’ side of the meet with 1st-place finishes in the 200 IM (2:05.76) and 500 free (4:59.62). The MIT commit (‘24) got under five minutes in the 500 free for the first time, lowering her previous-best 5:01.75 that placed 2nd last year. In the 200 IM, Swartwood defended her crown just off her winning time from last year (personal-best 2:05.35).

The best battle of the day came in the 100 breaststroke, where Island School senior Chloe Inouye barely defended her title, eking past Kaiser senior Sala Yasumi (1:04.24) by just a hundredth with a winning time of 1:04.23. Inouye owns a best time of 1:03.94 from last March. Yasumi shaved .02 seconds off her best time with her runner-up finish, and went on to lower her personal best to 1:04.01 a couple weeks later.

Maui sophomore Aika Swanson triumphed in the 200 free (1:52.30), within a tenth of her personal-best 1:52.23. A couple weeks later, she threw down a huge lifetime best, dropping almost two seconds down to 1:50.57.

Boys Recap

Team Scores

1. Iolani – 65
2. Hawaii Preparatory Academy – 36
3. Punahou – 32
4. Maui Preparatory Academy – 24
5. Kamehameha Schools Kapalama – 24

Evan Wong ended his high school career on a high note by defending his individual crowns in the 200 free (1:37.90) and 500 free (4:41.31) to highlight a three-peat for Iolani before heading off to West Virginia this fall.

Wong dropped almost half a second off his previous-best 1:58.35 from December. His new lifetime best would have made the B-final at the Big 12 Championships last month. Wong repeated in the 500 free nearly 11 seconds off his best time from November (4:30.51). He won the distance free events last year in 1:40.04 and 4:37.33.

Wong also blasted a 45.97 100 free leadoff on Iolani’s 400 free relay in prelims, faster than the winning time in the individual event. Iolani went on to win the 400 free relay in 3:07.51 with Wong anchoring in 44.62 during the final.

Iolani junior Finn Arrillaga led off that 400 free relay in 46.40 during the final to go along with an individual victory in the 50 free (20.82). He dropped more than half a second off his previous-best 21.42 from last March. Arrillaga’s transition to sprinting paid off as he placed 2nd in the 200 free (1:42.60) last year.

Kamehameha Schools Kapalama senior Connor Seminavage was the other double winner on the boys’ side, defending his titles in the 100 fly (49.03) and 100 back (50.04). He set a lifetime best in the 100 fly, lowering .69 seconds off his winning time from last year. Seminavage was about a second off his best 100 back time from last March (48.99).

Hawaii Preparatory Academy senior Lucas Duba triumphed in the 100 free (46.00) dropping exactly a second and a half off his best time. He continued his steep improvement curve a couple weeks later, lowering that mark to 45.67. Duba also earned a runner-up finish in the 200 free (1:42.94) behind Wong, dropping more than two seconds off his previous-best 1:45.56. He shaved a few more tenths off that mark a couple weeks later (1:42.56).

Kalaheo senior Tristan Regula emerged victorious in the 100 breast (57.38), knocking .12 seconds off his previous-best 57.50 from November. He lowered his lifetime best to 57.29 a couple weeks later.