The first week of state athletics championships featured six sports with a total of eight championships at stake. Punahou participated in each one. Leading off was the girls golf team, which played on the beautiful Wailua Golf Course on Kauai. Kacie '13 won the individual title and the team took second.

Back on O'ahu, the action picked up for the girls softball team, which faced second-seed Campbell after an opening round win over Mililani. After an exciting bases-loaded effort in the seventh, Campbell held on for a 4 - 2 win. Punahou carried the following two games, earning fifth place.

With both girls water polo and boys volleyball seeded first and earning an opening round bye, they met their first opponents on Thursday. The girls earned their fifth straight state championship after three successive games, with a finals win against ILH rival Kamehameha on Saturday, May 5, 2012.

The boys volleyball team also moved through to the finals on Saturday, facing Kamehameha - Hawai'i whose resolute effort yielded a heart-pounding 5-set final which Punahou won 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-11, 15-13 to claim the state title.

Girls and boys tennis also opened their titles defense on Thursday and, on Saturday, swept the championships together for the 10th-straight year. For the girls, the win came down to the final match, the doubles final where the top-seeded buff 'n blue pair held on to win. For the boys team, this is their 22nd straight championship, a national record for consecutive state wins.

The boys and girls judo teams entered the one-day competition in the Stan Sheriff Center. The girls judoka earned three individual state titles and placed second in team competition, while the boys tied for fourth in team competition, earning one individual state title.

Congratulations to all the teams and players for an outstanding week. Week two of states now gets underway, with Punahou teams competing in baseball, boys golf, and girls and boys track and field.

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