The graduation of two dominant cross country runners left the Interscholastic League of Honolulu cross country championships up for grabs, and 'Iolani senior Kon Weber and Maryknoll sophomore Julie Besenbruch filled their shoes nicely.

Both won their first ILH titles yesterday at the Interscholastic League of Honolulu cross country championship at the Central O'ahu Regional Park in Waipi'o.

The Kamehameha boys and Punahou girls won team titles, both by placing four of their runners in the top 10.

Kamehameha's Jeremy Kamaka'ala won the past two and Hawai'i Baptist's Lauren Ho won the past three ILH championships.

"I had guys to follow last year," Weber said. "It was more difficult being alone."

Weber said his strategy was to "go out and run like hell."

He finished the 3-mile course in 16 minutes, 59.50 seconds, followed by Chris Burniske of Punahou in 17:31.15, and Kamehameha's Nathan Nakatsuka in third in 17:33.00.

Kamehameha won its first ILH title since 2002, with four runners in the top eight, and its fifth finished in 13th place, for 37 points. Along with Nakatsuka, other scoring runners included Micah Gomes (6th, 17:35.71), Kamalu Beamer (7th, 17:47.11), Kainoa Ho (8th, 17:50.76) and Kyle Pidot (13th, 18:22.01).

'Iolani was second with 48 points and Punahou third with 56.

"The last couple of years, it would be Jeremy winning and the fourth and fifth guys kind of drifted," Kamehameha boys coach Steve Jenness said. "There isn't a star on this team, but we tried to get everybody to do their job.

"To win in this league, we knew we needed at least four runners in the top 10. And when we had those four, it made a big difference."

Like Weber, Besenbruch had about a half-minute lead on her nearest competitor.

"It's kind of good to cross the finish line and have the official point at you say, 'One!' " to signify she won, Besenbruch said.

She completed the 3-mile race in 19:43.23. Christina Wong of Punahou finished in 20:21.72, edging out Malia Kagawa of Maryknoll (20:22.19) at the finish line.

"I'm pleased we managed to crack the top three for the first time this season," said Punahou coach Duncan Macdonald, who said Maryknoll teammates Besenbruch, Kagawa and Haley Abing finished in the top three of most races this season. Abing was fourth yesterday in 20:29.39.

"The start of the race, Haley went out pretty fast, so I stuck with her," Besenbruch said. "I guess I broke away during the second mile. I tried focusing the whole race on relaxing and concentrating."

The Punahou girls won the team title for the second year in a row, scoring 41 points. Five of the Buffanblu runners finished in the top 12: Wong, Hope Alexander (8th, 20:45.80), Kristi Torkildson (9th, 20:47.69), Chelsea Oda (10th, 21:06.21), and Farrah Madanay (12th, 21:27.82).

Maryknoll was second with 69 points, one point ahead of Kamehameha's 70.

The top 40 boys and 36 girls qualified for the state cross country championships at CORP Friday. The top ILH teams — Kamehameha's and 'Iolani's boys and Punahou's and Kamehameha's girls — each qualified all seven of their runners. Maryknoll runner are eligible for the state meet but not for the team title because it uses runners from other schools.