It was a rare top-four sweep, considering the dominance of Interscholastic League of Honolulu teams in past years. No public school had won a boys state title since Maui in 1995, and the last time an O'ahu Interscholastic Association team won a boys state crown was in 1985, when Radford took it.

Pearl City, in particular, did not project itself as a state champ last night but sloshed through the constant rain at Satoshi Yamamoto Track and Field to rack up 50 points.

Kahuku finished with 37 points, followed by Kea'au (36), Mililani (35) and Kamehameha-O'ahu (32).

"It's just a blessing to go out this way," said Pearl City senior Nate Nasca, who won tight races in the 100-meter dash and 110 hurdles. "We didn't expect it, but we knew that if we did our best individually, the points would come."

In addition to Nasca, the Chargers also got key points from sophomore Joseph Gonzales, who took second in the 3000 and third in the 1500, and Bryson Pascua, who took fourth in the 800 despite a nagging back injury.

"His back has been hurting him all season, but he just gutted his way through it," Pearl City coach Donaldo Hopper said. "Just to finish fourth is a big accomplishment."

Despite the terrible conditions in a constant downpour, there were big accomplishments all around, including two victories by Kapa'a junior Joseph Locey.

Using an unorthodox standing start, Locey won the 200 in 22.93 seconds and the 400 in 49.63.

"It's good to have these medals to prove that my standing start actually works," said Locey, who said his legs are too long to be comfortable in the traditional crouch. "It feels great to win for Kaua'i, because there are so many good athletes there but it's hard for us to get good times on the dirt tracks."

NATE NASCA

"I never ran in rain like this, but I didn't mind," Locey said. "It wasn't cold until I stopped running."

The weather made for slow times, but there was not a lack of exciting races. In the 100, Nasca ran an 11.38 and won by 4/100s of a second over Clarence Alcoran of Ka'u and Hawai'i Prep's Mau'ae Purdy. In fact, the top six runners in that race all finished less than one-tenth of a second apart.

"It was really close — I thought I finished second," Nasca said. "I give all those other guys credit, because they really pushed me hard."

Narrow wins like that pushed the Chargers over the top, and now they can bring home a rare state championship to Pearl City.

"Our school is mostly known for our band, and we get teased about that," said Nasca, who also was an all-star receiver in football. "It feels great to finally show that we've got a lot of good athletes at our school. I want to thank all the great coaches and the trail blazers who came before us. It feels great to go out on top."