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Shields shaped by sports journey

Senior Spotlight: State cross country champ from Maui High excited for next chapter

By Dakota Grossman 7 min read

Senior Spotlight is a special series highlighting standout MIL student-athletes as they reflect upon their high school careers and look toward the future. Stories will run periodically in The Maui News.

Joining the Maui High School running squad four years ago opened up a plethora of opportunities for Hunter Shields -- and he picked up quite a few accolades along the way.

Along with Maui Interscholastic League and state championship titles, Shields also gained genuine friendships, valuable lessons and good memories on the Sabers' cross country and track teams.

"I probably wouldn't be doing anything that I'm doing today if I wasn't playing sports-- I probably would have completely different friend groups and hanging with people that aren't good influences on me because before I started sports in high school, I wasn't hanging out with a good crowd," the senior said Tuesday. "Sports definitely changed that for me and got me with a good group of people, and most of my friends today are the people I met through sports."

This month, Shields was named the 2020-21 Gatorade Hawaii Boys Cross Country Player of the Year for his past athletic achievements on the field and also for his academics, continued community service efforts, and character. It was Shields' third such honor.

"If I could say one thing about Hunter, it's that he's very humble and nice and caring," Maui High track and field coach Belden Bautista said, adding that "he's more of a complete person than just an athlete."

Bautista acknowledge the extracurricular activities that Shields was a part of while representing the school, track and cross country teams, and the Sabers community.

"I appreciate all that he did for the team, not just the work he did to be an individual champion but to help us achieve our goal as a team," cross country coach Jared Welch said. "Aside from what he contributed as far as his performance goes, but also just his work ethic and just being an example to others."

­Through Gatorade's "Play it Forward" campaign, Shields had the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to any local or national youth sports organization of his choosing.

On Thursday, he decided on nonprofit Vertical Sports Maui because it "focuses on teaching kids about their sports but also building character and it's also a faith-based organization."

It was the availability of sports several years ago that helped shape Shields.

Bautista recalled the then-freshman not being "quite hooked on running but I could see the potential."

"We're glad that he took the right fork in the road," Bautista said. "Hunter himself is a very humble guy, he doesn't speak too much. He let his actions speak more than his words. It helped that he had Adam (Hakola) and Damon (Wakefield) there with him those first two years that got him on the right track."

Shields said the Sabers community, who pushed him to become a better student-athlete, is what he'll miss most when he graduates next month, as well as moments like "traveling with the cross country team and going to different islands."

"Just spending time with the team," Shields said. "The bus rides were always fun."

Shields progressed each year, beginning with a silver medal at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Cross Country Championship as a sophomore in 2018, when he, Wakefield and Hakola led Maui High to a historic team state title.

"When he came up short and took second, he trained harder and did what he needed to do in order to win and be that much better," said Welch. "There was a growth of leadership that happened too, not just being the best runner but helping others to know what to do."

The following year, Shields won the individual state crown. He was unable to defend his title as a senior after this school year's MIL and HHSAA competitions were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Hunter gave all he could for three years and came ready for his fourth," Welch said. "He trained all summer and it kind of got to the point where he didn't know what he was training for anymore and honestly there wasn't really anything for the foreseeable future.

"The longer that things go on, it's harder to hold onto those kernels of hope."

The coaches agreed that the two-time MIL All-Star has a lot of untapped potential considering he also didn't have a junior or senior track season due to the pandemic. Shields was last seen finishing second in the 1,500 meters at the 2019 HHSAA track and field championships.

"I was looking forward to last year, he could have easily won gold in the 1,500 or the 800 or the 3,000," Bautista said. "Even this year, he could have been just as decorated."

The pandemic "really took its toll" on all student-athletes because for a while, teammates could not meet for practice and there were no competitions to train for, Bautista added.

Regardless of how the season panned out, Shields' "legacy is cemented at Maui High forever," Bautista said.

Shields acknowledged that this past year has been tough, not only because of canceled or modified sports seasons, but also "staying motivated in school."

"It's a lot harder learning from home than it is being in school, so just staying on top of my work and getting everything done is probably the hardest part," he said. "If things start to get tough, I usually take a break from what I'm doing to just reset and to take my mind off the stress of what I'm doing so that I can just get back into when I'm ready."

But nonetheless, he's making the most of his last few months of his senior year.

Shields recently started racing at the Valley Isle Track Club meets held at the Yamamoto Track & Field Facility, where he ran a winning time of 53.91 seconds in the 400-meter dash last week.

The distance runner has enjoyed dipping his toes in some speed and training in CrossFit.

"It's a lot different running shorter events than what I'm used to, but it's fun," he said. "It's better than not having anything. I just decided to do it just for fun because it's my senior year and I probably won't get to do anything like this anymore, but yeah, I just wanted to do it for fun and start running a little bit again."

Shields will be heading to Grand Canyon University, where former teammate Hakola attends, and plans to study sports management.

"I really like sports, so I knew I wanted to do something sports related," he said. "I also want to learn about business so I figured that would be a good major for me."

He visited the 100-acre campus a few months ago before making a decision, noting the many activities and programs that are accessible to the students.

Even though he said his parents say how much they'll miss having him around, Shields is ready for the next chapter in his life to begin.

"I'm just excited to get to live in a new place, experience new things," he said.

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com

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