Casey Flores showed his track form in a
100-meter dash earlier this year.
Photo by Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin

"I jump a little on to the grass when I hit the turns because you can get hurt," he said.

"Track" might be a generous term for the crude six-foot-wide, one-inch-deep oval that has produced the fastest dash man in Hawaii prep history.

"We scratched it out with the front bucket of a backhoe," said Konawaena track coach Randy Provinzano, who's also Flores' uncle.

"We filled it in with very rough, red cinders - very large quarter-inch to half-inch chunks of cinders. It's like running on the King's Trail that goes around the Big Island."

Provinzano complains that an all-weather track is long overdue at Konawaena.

But his nephew, holder of three state meet prep records and the hottest sprinter in the islands right now, actually has something good to say about it.

"I enjoy training in poor conditions because when I get to a good track, I think, 'Wow!' "

It's also very humid out there on the cinders, but Flores doesn't mind.

"I like it when it's hot," said the stocky teen-ager, who could pass for a college-bound football slotback.

Flores said he counts his blessings.

Last year, when he was a Kohala High athlete, he won the state prep 100-meter title in a hand-timed 10.8 seconds (about 11.05 electronic), having trained on nothing but grass, dirt and macadam.

Flores is now preparing for the 100 in the Aloha State Games on June 8. On June 28-29, he will be in Columbus, Ohio, at the U.S. Junior National Championships.

After setting hand-timed records in the 100- (10.4 seconds, wind-aided) and 200-meter (21.2) dashes and the long jump (23 feet, 11 inches, wind-aided) at the state high school meet, Flores has gone extra lengths to stay sharp. In the past few weeks he has competed in the Stanford Relays and the Modesto Relays, as well as the USA Track and Field Adult Championships at the University of Hawaii's Cooke Field.

His electronic times have ranged from 10.70 to 10.84. His hand times have been as low as 10.4 (state meet). His state meet mark in the 100 would have been converted to 10.64 electronically.

His 10.70 win at Cooke Field three weekends ago was especially impressive because it came under a searing sun.

His 10.84 time came in a field that included decathlete Dan O'Brien and some former NCAA standouts at the Stanford Relays.

"I felt awed that I ran against those guys," said Flores. "I think in time I'll be able to compete the way I want to compete in Division I. My coach has molded me into an OK sprinter but I can't get a big head now. A big head makes you run slower."

Flores drew statewide attention last February when he scored four goals in the first 36 minutes of a first-round state soccer tournament game against Aiea on Feb. 14 at Aloha Stadium. But it was in that game that he aggravated a knee injury originally suffered in practice. His prep soccer career basically ended that day. The injury also delayed the start of his track season.

"The rehab on the knee made me work harder," said Flores. "My uncle let me rest after soccer season and that was a big help. It took me a while to get back into track. I ran 11.4 in my first 100 of the season."

The 18-year-old Flores has attracted the attention of the University of Oregon, a five-time national champion, and Cal-Berkeley. Flores said he's flattered by Oregon's interest. The same school recruited Punahou head track coach Dacre Bowen (former Canadian Olympian) a quarter century ago.

It's been a tough grind for Flores, but he's arrived as a Hawaii sports phenomenon with surprising suddenness.

But there's a little bit of swagger that characteristically goes with the sprint game, and Flores radiates as much confidence as anybody.

"I'm ready for anybody," he said.

But the man Flores really wanted to meet in the 100 meters, "Hawaii's Fastest Human," 29-year-old Kelsey Nakanelua, won't be accommodating him.

Nakanelua, who has won the "Fastest" distinction at the last two Punahou Relays, was going to meet Flores in the Aloha State Games 100-meter event on June 8 at the University of Hawaii's Cooke Field. The event promised to produce pre-race verbal sparring worthy of a prize fight.

"I would have loved to teach him a lesson," said Nakanelua, who has pulled up lame with a stress fracture in his left shin.

Nakanelua said he "didn't appreciate" Flores' response in the media when he was asked how he regarded the older sprinter. "Kelsey who?" asked Flores mockingly in a television interview.

"I found that insulting, considering my time is faster in the 100," said Nakanelua who figures he may never get a chance to face Flores in the 100. Nakanelua touts the 10.59 clocking he recorded in the 1995 Aloha State Games, which stands as the state open record for the event.

"Until you can run consistent 10.6 and 10.5 electronic times, you're just a good sprinter," said Nakanelua. He said he's certain he could beat Flores in the 100, even with the stress fracture, if he chose to risk further injury and compete.

But the two did meet unexpectedly in the 200 meets of Hawaii's USA Adult Track and Field Championships two weeks ago at Cooke Field. In that race, Flores clocked 21.81 in winning the race while Nakanelua finished third.

Nakanelua said he was winning the race until there were 90 meters to go and he developed a cramp. Other runners who watched the race, including two who are Flores' 100-meter rivals, said they didn't see it that way.

"I'd like to see Hawaii's 'fastest man' in that race with me," said Flores. "I still consider him that."

But the experience of finally meeting the highly respected Nakanelua in a race, and beating him to the finish in the 200, reinforced Flores' confidence level.

"I'm not that impressed," he said.

Flores said he's going to run 10.3 some day (the electronic Olympic trials qualifying time). '"But I don't want to be overconfident. It's not in my nature to be overconfident."

"That kid has God-given speed," said former Pac-Five star Jumanne Washington, whose 100-meter prep record Flores broke. "Once a college gets hold of him, I predict he'll do 20.0 easily in the 200. The 21.2 he ran on Maui without wind was amazing. His 400 time - and yes, I think he'd be a natural for the 400 - could be the best 400 ever to come out of Hawaii. Same goes for his long jump."

Washington said he's impressed with Flores' physical makeup. "He's built like a Leroy Burrell. He looks like a 100 sprinter but he will do better in the 200."

Bowen, who coaches Nakanelua, said Flores reminds him somewhat of Houston McTear, a standout sprinter in the 1970s. "He's short - a pocket-rocket who can work the turn," said Bowen.

"He's someone who keeps his knee carriage down and does something with his body positioning during a race," said Bowen. "He's a dream-athlete for some coach in college."

Bowen said that he thinks Flores' outstanding jumping ability will serve to increase the length of his stride and frequency of leg turnover.

"The rest will be mental," said Bowen. "He must be an independent soul who has integrity and faith."

Interscholastic League of Honolulu sprint champion Jon Van Horn of Punahou called Flores, "tremendously strong."

"He's not gifted in size, but with each step you can see the amazing power."

Former Pearl City sprint star Jason Knight competed against Flores a few weeks ago in California and will probably face him again in the Aloha State Games.

"His confidence level carries him through," said Knight. "Sprint is 70 percent mental and he has the mental strength. His technique is clean. It's unreal. Probably the best I've seen."