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Kalei Harbottle of Kamehameha has thrown the shot put 64 feet, 3 inches, aiming for an HHSAA record. He previously achieved 61 feet at the Kamehameha Invitational.
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He would be having the time of his life without the hunt.
Yet, here he is. Kalei Harbottle. The breadth of his people skills is real. Future talk show host? Future coach? Maybe and maybe.
For now, all Harbottle did is blow people’s minds by putting the shot 61 feet a few weeks ago at the Kamehameha Invitational.
Then, two weekends ago, the Warriors senior surged to another stratosphere with 64 feet, 3 inches at an ILH meet at Punahou’s Alexander Field. That is believed to be a non-HHSAA record.
“At Kamehameha Invitational, it was our first meet at home, my ring. I tried to get a big one out there. I didn’t win the discus (154 feet), but I had fun. I know what things I have to work on,” Harbottle said.
Going into the meet at Punahou, it was a week of treatment for an oblique injury. The last thing on anyone’s mind was a throw beyond 60 feet.
“It was the same flow state that I had at Kamehameha. Just go easy, 70, 60%. My first throw was 59 (feet), then 58, then 61-3,” he said. “I was pretty happy about that, but I thought, let’s get a big one.”
He sat and scrolled on TikTok.
“I don’t want to think about throwing all meet. I don’t want to overthink,” he said. “Coach Max (Kanoa) told me, ‘You have it. Go for it. You’re well-rounded in this sport. Have fun.’ It did feel good. That last throw, I had a little clap before it.”
His teammates won’t say a lot about the numbers, but they have stacks of memories with their favorite state-title-contending shot putter.
“My favorite memory of Kalei,” teammate Berta Ah-Kiong said, “is after Kamehameha Invitational, we went to get Wing Stop, and while we were driving, Kalei was screaming the song ‘Linger’ by the Cranberries at the top of his lungs.”
This was a shy kid whose mother was a kumu at his middle school, Kamehameha, and who gradually gravitated to the joys of life and Hawaiian culture as Warriors do.
“I met Kalei when he was in eighth grade,” said Chawai Manuel, a fellow thrower. “I remember him being quiet and very to himself. It was only in his junior year that he truly opened up and started being the goofy kid he is.”
Harbottle hit the two new high-water marks while struggling with an oblique injury, which is not to be fooled with. The injury was enough to knock Harbottle out of the most recent ILH meet on Saturday.
“I’m just surprised that it’s quite early and quite young in the season,” said his father, Kawika. “Dude, this is not your max. When he hit his 64, I have not seen you throw that smooth before. You’re strong enough, work on getting smoother. Just maintain the lifting you’re doing.”
The HHSAA record of 59-8 is one of the most prominent hallmarks of all. Kaione Crabb of Punahou set the mark in 1997 at the state meet at Kaiser Stadium, just weeks after crossing the 60-foot barrier.
To his teammates, the circle of throwers, the true hammers, Harbottle is as personable as they come. It is always one of the most unique of circles, discus throwers and shot putters from different schools sometimes training together, sharing pointers and bonding over some of the most ancient of sporting endeavors.
Kalei Harbottle recently threw the shot put 64 feet, 3 inches at an ILH meet.
Harbottle set his shot put record at Punahou’s Alexander Field during an ILH meet.
At the Kamehameha Invitational, Harbottle achieved a shot put distance of 61 feet.
Yes, Kalei Harbottle is aiming to break the HHSAA shot put record with his recent performances.

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“My favorite memory with him are the times when he tries to coach me with the drills he uses,” Manuel said. “When I can’t do it, he makes sure to get the attention of everyone so they can all get the same laugh he’s getting at. It’s all good because he’s someone who brings us all together and makes the throwers truly feel like a tight-knitted family.”
Harbottle is the glue man who happens to be chasing a state mark that has rarely been approached. Last year, Javian Goo of Kapolei got in the neighborhood at 56-9.5, while Harbottle placed second at 55.85 at the HHSAA meet at Kealakehe. In 2015 at War Memorial Stadium on Maui, ‘Iolani’s Kamuela Borden won with a distance of 57-3.75.
When Harbottle took second last year, there was disappointment. Sourness. Bitterness. He turned those ingredients into fuel. So much so that his teammates can’t deny his buy-in. He leads by voice, but mostly by example.
“I’m so serious at practice and they’re trying their hardest to make jokes about me. They say the funniest things,” Harbottle said of his teammates. “Kaimana (Fake) humbles me a lot. He tries to get in my head. … He’s my brother.”
Whatever it is, you got into his studying groove and continues to learn about shot putting every day.
“My teammate Kapena Silva, he broke down the shot put with physics. The angle release, maximum velocity. It’s on paper. He does both events (shot put and discus),” Harbottle noted. “He sent the paper to me and I said, I don’t understand a single thing about the numbers and the equation, so he dumbed it down. He has a 4.5 GPA. I’m very happy with him sending me those emails. It gives me an extra edge.”
Harbottle has studied the craft to the nth degree since first trying it as a freshman. He was a Star-Advertiser All-State third-team selection as a linebacker last fall, but he is going to Sacramento State strictly as a discus and shot put man.
Kanoa has been there day by day, watching the evolution of Harbottle and his teammates. Head coach Pili Kitashima is the overseer. Kanoa is one of the mechanics, an orchestrator who knows every nuance, every note that should be sharp rather than flat.
“The throwers group, there’s so many, and only two rings,” Kitashima said. “They are one of the tighter groups on our team. That starts with Coach Max and his other coaches. I have full trust in anything he does. He treats them as his kids. They are like brothers and sisters. It’s nice to see year after year. The throwers are reliable, always helping out, always show up to compete.”
There is training. Lifting. Skill. Random luck, good or bad. Harbottle hasn’t left anything to chance. In the fall, he shifted his classes to late mornings and afternoons to train for the shot put early in the day, and had his usual football practices in the afternoons.
His maximum squat is 550 pounds. Max bench, 390. It probably won’t be long before the football staff at Sac State asks Harbottle to consider a return to the gridiron. By then, however, he may just be too absorbed as a scholar-athlete and cornball, loving life to the fullest.
“That was a thought. We had a brief conversation about it, especially when he decided on Sac State,” Kamehameha football coach Kaeo Drummondo said. “It might be a viable option, but at the college level, 90% of (recruiting) is measurables. I think he makes up for it with motor, leverage, strength and quickness, but he’s ultra-focused on track. I think he made a good choice.”
Underlining everything is respect that comes through sheer effort. Would Harbottle be so enthused if all his studying and training of the event didn’t yield massive throws? The answer, realistically, is probably yes. Big yes.
“There’s no sense in us worrying about state records and winning,” Kitashima said. “All of that is out of our hands, but we can prepare them the best we can. Success is a byproduct of the journey. That’s what we need to prepare them for. We’ll embrace the success, but winning is never guaranteed.”
Drummondo and his staff talk about Harbottle from time to time. He’s a rarity in this era, an old-school, multiple-sport difference-maker.
“Of all the kids we’ve coached, he’s probably had the best overall experience. He didn’t put too much pressure on himself with one sport,” he said. “Three sports, when he’s there he’s 100% in all season. He hones in, then he moves on and it’s worked for him.”
Kalei Harbottle
Kamehameha football (DL/LB), track and field (shot put, discus) • Senior • 5-10, 245
Favorite hobby
Weightlifting
Max bench: 390 pounds
Max squat: 550 pounds
“These were at the end of February with my lifting coaches Jake Mendoza and Winston Ho.”
New hobby
Yoga
“I’ve been doing yoga a lot to open up my oblique. It’s one of my dad’s things. He did it when he got injured.”
Top 3 movies/shows/books
“Remember the Titans”
“50 First Dates”
“Project Hail Mary”
Top 3 homemade food
Mom and dad’s chicken katsu
Dad’s pork belly curry
Dad’s chili
Kawika Harbottle hones his cooking skills at work. “My dad is a firefighter at Station 41 (Mililani Mauka).”
Top 3 foods (eating out)
Korean chicken plate, rice, mac salad (Zippy’s)
Meat jun, rice, cucumber kim chi, bean sprouts (Peppa’s Korean BBQ, Kamehameha Shopping Center; Tasty Korean BBQ, Mililani Town Center)
Fettuccini Alfredo, Cheesecake Factory
Top 3 music artists
Frank Ocean — “Pink Matter”
Daniel Cesar — “Superpowers”
Luke Combs — “Tennessee Whiskey”
Favorite athlete
Adam Nelson (2024 Olympic shot put champion)
“We have kind of the same background and training, pushed our bodies to the limits. I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos of his.”
Funniest teammates
Sina Tuitele, Ohovai Manuel, Berta Ah-Kiong, Kaimana Fake
Smartest teammate
Kapena Silva
“He has a 4.5 GPA. He broke down the shot put with physics.”
GPA (cumulative)
3.6
“It’s just doing your homework. You can study, but just do your homework. I’ll ask questions if I’m curious.”
Favorite teacher (all time)
Kumu Jenna Teruya (homeroom teacher), Kumu Vicky Kamaka (counselor)
“I’ve had amazing teachers.”
Favorite class (all time)
Sports strength and conditioning
Hidden talent
Cooking
New life skill
Handstand for one minute
Bucket list
“Go to the 2028 Olympics and watch the throwers. Go snowboarding again. Utah, Big White (Ski Resort) Canada.”
Time machine
“I would go backwards to see what King Kamehameha looks like. The education I learned about, he had a lot of mana, so I want to have a conversation with him.”
Youth sports
“Gymnastics when I was 3, soccer, judo for seven years, jiujitsu, basketball. My parents would never let me play tackle football, so I played flag when I was 7 to 10 years old. Then I started playing (tackle) football freshman year.”
If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
“I’d tell my younger self, start throwing earlier.”
Shoutouts
“My teammates. Shout out to the holy spirit, the Lord, the one and only. My parents and siblings, and my coaches, Coach Max (Kanoa), Coach Houston (Ala), Coach Kaipo (Fake), Coach Maxy’s daughters (Sierra, Shaye). Shout out, Joe Kovacs and his family. They did a camp for my school last year. I kept in touch with them.”
Hawaii Prep World
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