The Making of a Legacy

Kristin Lim ’09 witnessed the beginning of “The Streak.” The year was 2003, and Lim – then a Punahou sixth grader – watched as the Buff ’n Blue varsity girls won the state team title in tennis at Central Oʻahu Regional Park, ending an 11-year absence from the top of the podium.

“It was a huge motivator for me,” she recalls. “I remember thinking, ‘I want to contribute to the legacy of Punahou and represent this amazing school and program.’”

Lim would honor that pledge just a few years later, winning the state doubles title as a ninth grader and then capturing three consecutive state singles championships. She contributed to four team state titles, part of a streak that now stands at 21 consecutive championships – the longest ever in the nation for a high school girls tennis program.

This history of excellence is evident on the boys’ side as well. Of the 66 state championship tournaments contested since the first in 1958, the Punahou boys have won 52 team titles, including the last four – a winning rate of 79%. Remarkably, 16 of those victories were “Triple Crowns,” in which Punahou won not only the team title, but the singles and doubles titles as well. Only one other school in Hawai‘i boys prep history – Kalani in 1973 and 1982 – has accomplished this feat.

Several factors account for this sustained period of achievement. Punahou’s relationship with tennis dates to the sport’s late-19th century introduction in the Islands, and many of Hawai‘i tennis’ earliest champions were alumni or benefactors. Names like Dillingham, Castle, Atherton and Cooke feature prominently in the sport’s record books from the 1910s and ’20s.

Punahou tennis has benefited from a lineage of coaches who have provided continuity and institutional knowledge. On the boys’ side, for example, Punahou has had just four head coaches in the last 45 years. During that time, Rusty Komori led the School to a national-record of 26 consecutive team state championships. When he retired after the 2015 season, he was succeeded by current head coach Ikaika Jobe ’01, who had won two state singles titles as a player during Komori’s tenure.

The girls program has demonstrated similar stability throughout its current 21-year streak. Bernard Gusman was at the helm when the streak began in 2003, overseeing 10 state championships. He was succeeded by Jobe, followed by former Punahou state singles champion Betsy Somerville ’86 Purpura, who led the team to three titles.

Current coach Jason Oliver ’93 has guided the program since 2019, winning the last five championships. (Covid-19 restrictions led to the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 state tournaments.)

This continuum of success inspires the athletes themselves. Kawika Lam ’15 was the first boys tennis player in Hawai‘i prep history to win four consecutive state titles – one in doubles followed by three in singles. He spent his keiki days at the Dillingham Tennis Complex looking up to brothers Robbie ’04 and Mikey Lim ’06, who each won two state singles titles during their varsity careers. Their sister, Kristin, was among the champions who inspired him.

Lam recalls how the Lims and other older players embodied the program’s culture of excellence. 

“They did great things,” Lam says, “so as an elementary schooler looking up to those guys, it was really fun to see. They set the precedent and led the way, and were great role models for me.”

Punahou’s tennis legacy is also cultivated through physical education programs that introduce the sport beginning in kindergarten, with courts located just steps from the Omidyar K – 1 Neighborhood.

“It’s a good introduction for the kids,” Jobe says, “and an opportunity for our coaches to see any students who have talent and help them pursue that if they would like to.” 

Additionally, the Punahou After School Tennis program serves students in grades 1 – 12, with enrollment of approximately 500. To serve the broader Hawai‘i community, the program is also open to students from other schools. This exposure often leads to a deeper commitment.

“With our after-school programming, there’s a progressive kind of pathway,” Jobe says. “Some students can stay recreational, while others can continue on to more competitive opportunities.”

Punahou’s tradition of excellence is shaped by its student-athletes, who consistently deliver top results when stakes are highest. The School fields two intermediate and two JV teams to accommodate the many high-caliber tennis players in middle school. Tryouts for varsity roster spots are highly competitive and ensure the 12 boys and 12 girls selected can all contribute to the teams’ championship aspirations, either as singles players or members of doubles teams.

Payton Jim On ’24 won three consecutive boys state singles titles from 2022 – 24, as well as the ILH championship as a freshman in 2021, when the state tournament was not held. Now a sophomore on the Boston University men’s tennis team, Jim On says the seasons affected by COVID-19 marked a turning point for the Punahou boys program, which had lost the three state championships preceding the pandemic. 

“Those seasons before I came to high school, every year I’d see the results in the newspaper,” he recalls. “I just wanted to turn that around. Nearly the entire Punahou varsity team was in the grade above me when I was playing, and they were all really good. We started winning.”

And who did Jim On look up to as he was ascending the elementary ranks?

“Kawika Lam,” he says, without hesitation. “Seeing him win four state titles made me want to play good tennis for Punahou. I just wanted to wear the uniform and win for the team.”

Today, Courts 3 and 4 at the Dillingham Tennis Complex feature a plaque designating them as “The Lim Family Courts,” thanks to generous support from Richard and Carin Lim. The eight state championships in tennis won by their three children is a Hawai‘i record for a single family.

As Kristin Lim reflects on her time as a varsity athlete, she expresses appreciation for the program’s enduring legacy.

“It was a privilege to compete for a school with this kind of tradition,” she says. “Punahou truly does development and programming better than any other, and to be part of that legacy was incredibly meaningful.”

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Punahou’s boys and girls tennis teams have played at the highest national levels. In March 2025, the Boys Varsity team, pictured above, traveled to California, where they captured the National High School Tennis All-American Championship. “It’s been a really big accomplishment for us,” said Tanner Ige ’25. “Coming from Hawai‘i and beating teams from California that had dominated that tournament for so long was pretty fun.”

Richard C. Lim and Carin Lim, a former Punahou Japanese language faculty member, generously supported the restoration of the Dillingham Tennis Complex. Collectively, their children – Robbie ’04, Mikey ’06 and Kristin ’09 – have captured an extraordinary eight state championships, which is a record for a single family in Hawai‘i.