The reigning Maui cross country champion: Kaimana Cantere
KAHULUI, Hawaii — Kaimana Cantere was recently crowned as the boys state cross country champion, taking home the individual title after edging Benjamin Zerr of Kalaheo High School in Kailua by sixth tenths of a second. Cantere is a senior at Maui High School in Kahului and has been a cross country runner for three years.
It was a year filled with race victories for Cantere leading up to the state championship race. Cantere grew with every passing race as a student athlete and it showed in the way he led every cross country race this Maui Interscholastic League season, demonstrating his consistency and reliability.
Cantere is always looking to improve and get better as a long-distance runner and his biggest motivators are his very own teammates.
“My teammates, they motivate me,” he said. “I see how much they progress and that really motivates me to be better. Seeing them improve only improves me.”
Another source of motivation for Cantere was his individual past performances.
“What really motivated me was the 2019 state championships at Seabury,” he said. “I felt like I could have done better, and I should have, but at the time, I wasn’t at my prime.”
Cantere also had the opportunity to learn from the star athletes that were ahead of him, such as Adam Hakola, Damon Wakefield and Hunter Shields. Having a former champion in Shields helped him work harder to be at that level.
“My freshman and sophomore year, my goal was to catch up to the top boys: Adam, Damon and Hunter,” Cantere said. It’s safe to say he successfully followed in Shields’ footsteps.
The championship race proved to be difficult even for the talented Cantere.
“Some challenges during the course were the slippery mud hills, the cold air, the elevation and definitely the competition,” he said. “I was mentally challenged and stressed about many things.”
The course was 5km of rain and fog on the hilly terrain. Because of the rain, there were areas that were incredibly tough to maneuver but Cantere would come out on top.
“(I) knew I had to dig deep,” Cantere said. “I never knew I had it in me.”
Cantere said his success in the race is a result of the training he put himself through. He ensured to fully prepare for the circumstances that played out in the race such as the cold air and temperatures.
“The training was challenging, but the one thing I kept in mind was the race,” he said. “I attribute my success to my coaches and teammates the most because they were the ones who motivated me to get where I am.”
Cantere became only the fourth boy in Maui Interscholastic League history to win a state championship and his coach, Jared Welch could not be prouder.
“It just means so much because I know how much he’s put into it and the effort that he gave these past two years have been so much on his own,” Welch said.
The pandemic limited the opportunities to compete the previous season, which made this championship a huge accomplishment for Cantere. The question is, what’s next for Cantere?
“My plans are to try to get into a college with good athletics and the major I want to study,” he said. “If things do not go the way I want them to go, I will be switching to road races from the mile on the road to the marathon distance.”
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