Maui High’s Hunter Shields was selected as the Gatorade Hawaii Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year for the 2019 season, the Gatorade Company announced Monday.
The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.
Shields, a 5-foot-19, 135-pound junior, also won the award as a sophomore. He won the state meet’s three-mile race in 16 minutes, 15.60 seconds. He was 3.87 seconds ahead of the next closest finisher, and he was instrumental in the Sabers winning the team title.
He is also the 2019 MIL runner of the year, winning five of the nine races he ran in and finishing second three times.
Shields, who has a 3.89 grade-point average according to a news release, has volunteered with the Maui Humane Society and as a youth sports camp counselor.
“I watched Hunter and his preparation for each race was very sound,” said Dave Kannewurf, the cross country head coach at Kihei Charter School, in the release. “Hunter was all business. His passion for improvement and love for competition is what has made him a strong runner.”
Gatorade Hawaii Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year
>> 2019: Hunter Shields, Maui
>> 2018: Colby Otero, Kalaheo
>> 2017: Colby Otero, Kalaheo
>> 2016: Connor Lehl, Punahou
>> 2015: Kaeo Kruse, Kamehameha
>> 2014: Kaeo Kruse, Kamehameha
>> 2013: Davis Kaahanui, Kamehameha
>> 2012: Davis Kaahanui, Kamehameha
>> 2011: Troy Esaki, ‘Iolani
>> 2010: Jordan Thibodeau, Kamehameha
>> 2009: Pierce Murphy, Island School
>> 2008: Bruce Jenkins, Leilehua
>> 2007: Bryce Jenkins, Leilehua
COMMENTS