KUALOA — Closing the gap between local and Mainland competition, the Kamehameha boys cross country team ran off with a rare title at the 'Iolani Invitational.

Kamehameha won the boys team title by outscoring Lynbrook (Calif.), 46 to 47 points, at yesterday's 'Iolani Invitational at Kualoa Ranch. The Warriors became the first boys team from Hawai'i to win the team title since 2001 in the state's biggest cross country meet where Mainland teams have long showed they've been further ahead of local teams.

There were seven races with about 1,000 runners.

"Halfway through the race, (our team) pulled apart from each other but we ran at our best paces," said Kamehameha's Caleb Achuela, who placed 20th in 17 minutes, 4.20 seconds. "Coming in, finishing, we knew we needed to place just right to beat the Mainland team. Coming in, that was our biggest worry."

Kamehameha and Lynbrook both placed three runners in the top 10 with Lynbrook led by first-place finisher Luca Signore, who won the race in 14:58.31 on a hilly course that was slightly less than 3 miles. It was his personal best time in a cross country race, and he was inspired by his ninth-place finish in the varsity race when he ran here as a freshman.

"I wanted to win this race, it made an impression when I came here as a freshman and I just told myself when I come back as a senior, I want to win this race," Signore said.

Signore pulled away from Leilehua's Magarito Martinez after the first mile, and said the hills near his San Jose campus prepared him for the Kualoa course. Martinez was second in 15:38.01.

Kamehameha then made its charge for the team title. Jordan Thibodeau finished third in 16:06.36 and Isaiah Sato was fourth in 16:09.80.

Jordan Kahawai placed seventh in 16:19.95, Daniel Kaneko was 12th in 16:30.71 and Achuela was 20th to round out the team scoring. Each team's top five finishers contributed to their team's score. Though Lynbrook's fifth runner finished ahead of Achuela, the Warriors' first four were ahead of Lynbrook's four, giving their team an edge in the final standings.

'Iolani was third with 103 points, followed by Punahou (107) and Castle (184).

"(Our) workouts, we always push each other," Thibodeau said.

Dana Hills (Calif.) retained its girls team title after placing five girls in the top 11 to win with a meet-low 25 points. Junior Alaina Alvarez won the girls race in 17:42.81. Teammate Laura Beresford was second in 17:52.72.

Punahou was second with 58 points, followed by Lynbrook (79), 'Iolani (121) and Hawai'i Prep (138).

"We've been training really hard to close the gap (between each other)," Alvarez said. "A lot of us are trying to improve from last season and I'm training really hard to come off of my last track season.

"As a team, we're trying to close the gap and keep a tight-knit group. We still have a lot of work to do. We're going to go home and train as hard as we can and train as hard as we can while we're here."

Though the heat and humidity are vastly different from what Mainland teams are accustomed to, the 'Iolani Invitational has secured a place in their calendars. They return year after year for an opportunity to build team chemistry and train while bringing a higher level of competition here.

The sights aren't bad either, and the Kualoa course overlooks Chinaman's Hat.

"I really like this course," Alvarez said. "The hills weren't too bad. It was fun and I love the view from the top.

"I wanted to slow down (to look) but I didn't."

Senior Hailey Grossman of Seabury Hall finished third in 18:21.25. Grossman, who won Maui Interscholastic League titles as a freshman and sophomore, was her school's only entrant in the race, and she came to compete against tougher competition. She led through the first mile.

"I usually front run, so that was usual for me," Grossman said. "I really liked the hilly course. It had some downhills and flats, it was all-around a really good course."

Grossman also came to compete in the same meet as her younger sister, Dakota, an eighth grader at Kalama Intermediate. The younger Grossman won the intermediate title for the second straight year, finishing the 2-mile race in 12:00.39.

"I've never done this race before and really I just wanted to do something with my little sister because this is the only time we'll be able to race at the same place together," Grossman said.

Kyle Willis of Jserra (Calif.) won the boys open race and Kamehameha edged Punahou, 35 to 36, for the open title.

Bailey Montano of Dana Hills won the girls open race in 19:36.83, beating teammate Aubrey Carr by 1.13 seconds and helping her team claim the team title with 16 points. Punahou was second with 53.