Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 8, 1 August 1996 — OHA helps track star compete in national championships [ARTICLE]

OHA helps track star compete in national championships

By Kelii Meskin Casey Flores started running in elementary school on the Big Island. This year, his long time commitment to track and

field sent him to the Hawai'i state finals. With support from OHA he was then able to travel to the Junior National 01ympics in Columbus, Ohio.

At the state finals Flores sped past state records in the 100 meter event. completing the distance in 10.4 seconds. That's approximately 20 miles per hour. Only 3

high school runners in the naūon have hit that speed. Flores graduated this past June from Konawaena high school and plans to attend West Valley Junior College in San Francisco, Califomia this fall. At Konawaena Flores played soccer and ran track. He plans to continue both sports in college although he believes his athletic ability is already on the decline. "All high school athletes go through their peak and after that, if you don't train you'll go downhill," Flores said. He claims he hit his peak when he broke the state record in running and the state record for goals scored in a single soccer match. He says his speed is already down by four-tenths of a second. Flores finished 17th out of 30 in the nation in the 100 meter sprint, and 10th out of 25 in the nation for the 200 meter t * •

dash. Flores has no problem with not being the first in eaeh event. His eommunity has strongly supported him all the way. "When you represent Hawai'i it always feels like you've won," he said. Being one of Hawai'i's best and eompeting against the best in the nation is enough of an honor for him.

... :- "When you represent Hawai'i it always feels like you've won," - Casey Flores