WAIPI'O — Kamehameha's Jeremy Kamaka'ala and Hawai'i Baptist's Lauren Ho crossed the finish line with no one around, while the Punahou's boys and girls teams won by sticking together at the Interscholastic League of Honolulu cross country championships at Central O'ahu Regional Park yesterday.

Kamaka'ala defended his title, winning the 3-mile race in 16 minutes, 16.01 seconds, followed by Punahou's Peter Deptula in 16:42.02 and Iolani's Morgan Stephenson in 16:50.48.

"It always feels good (to win), and now especially because it's when the team needs it," Kamaka'ala, a senior, said.

The trio stuck together, but Kamaka'ala and Deptula separated themselves, before Kamaka'ala pulled away at about the 2-mile mark.

"We both kind of went at the same time," Kamaka'ala said. "I'm not sure when I pulled away. I thought he was with me the whole time."

The Punahou boys won with 34 points. Iolani was second with 39 and Kamehameha third with 55.

Along with Deptula, Punahou's top five scoring runners finished in the top 11: Chris Burniske (6th, 17:31.04), Everett Jellinek (7th, 17:33.62), Mike Wong (8th, 17:39.46) and Troy Yasuda (11th, 17:52.72).

Punahou boys coach Michael Georgi credited "team cohesion" for the Buffanblu's first league title since 1996.

The team hadn't won a meet this year, but Georgi said, "nothing matters before the championships," and that the team was peaking at just the right time, according to plan.

"We worked hills, avoided injuries, and keyed on the top teams in the state, Kamehameha and Iolani," Georgi said.

Ho won her third straight ILH title, with a new 3-mile distance, in a commanding 18:49.68, more than a minute faster than her nearest competitor. Maryknoll's Julie Besenbruch was second in 19:58.12 and Punahou's Kristi Torkildson was third in 20:13.39.

"I wanted to get out hard," said Ho, who led from start to finish. "I'm very happy with it. It's my third time, so it feels good."

Ho, who said she was training specifically for next month's Foot Locker Cross Country Championships West Regional, is coming off a ruptured disc injury, which she suffered in July. The senior has committed to the University of Washington.

The Punahou girls won their first title since 1999 with a dominating performance, scoring 32 points. Kamehameha was second with 67 points and Maryknoll third with 77 points.

"We have girls who run well together," Punahou girls coach Duncan Macdonald said. "One of our top runners was not feeling well, so we can still improve."

The Buffanblu placed their five scoring runners in the top 12: Torkildson, Marisa Schoen (4th, 20:36.37), Chelsea Oda (6th, 20:48.16), Pua Chang (7th, 20:52.25), Piper Marshall (12th, 21:05.64).

"We have a little bit of luxury in depth," Macdonald said. "One of the features of this team is we always have someone step up.

"We have a competitive group of youngsters who play basketball, soccer and swim. Their attitudes are really good."

The top two teams for the boys and girls, usually made up of seven runners each, automatically qualified for Friday's state meet on Kaua'i. The top 28 girls and top 33 boys from the ILH, including the runners who qualified with their teams, advance to the state meet.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.