Three men who greatly impacted sports in Hawaii died recently.
The most visible, and who transcended sports, was Mark Takai. He most recently was a United States Congressman representing the state’s 1st District before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last October. He died Wednesday, leaving a legacy of accomplishments but also sad what-ifs since his career of leadership through political service was still on an upward arc at age 49.
He was a state-champion swimmer at Pearl City High School, dominant enough to gain entry to the Hawaii High School Athletics Hall of Honor and then compete for the University of Hawaii, where he won a conference championship.
His real impact on the state’s sports scene came later, though, as the most ardent watchdog and supporter of UH sports in the state legislature; he held leadership positions in the House Committee on Higher Education for 10 years.
When Takai left for Washington, the state gained an energetic, passionate advocate in Congress. But the UH athletic department lost a key ally at the state government level — one who was willing to ask fellow lawmakers for forgiveness of the department’s accumulated debt when it was unfashionable to do so.
A few years before Takai was winning swimming and then political races, Rhani Peters established himself as one of the best all-around high school athletes in state history.
Peters died in May at age 51 from multiple myeloma in San Gabriel, Calif., where he had made his home and was a pastor and high school coach. He’d starred in football, basketball and track and field when Kaiser High was at its peak as a sports powerhouse in the early 1980s.
Peters’ sister, Jody, helped organize his memorial service in California. She said a Hawaii memorial is in the works for next year.
Although he did benefit from playing in the run-and-shoot offense, I’ve yet to see a better all-around receiver than Peters in Hawaii high school football. And, though Pac-Five’s Garrett Gabriel-to-George Smith comes close, many will agree with me that the QB-to-receiver combo of Cliff Kaneaiakala-to-Peters is the state’s all-time best.
Kaneaiakala, who named his daughter after Peters, died in a motorcycle accident on his 27th birthday.
Peters was also an outstanding forward in basketball, but his best sport was track and field. His state meet high jump record of 6-feet, 8-inches set in 1982 lasted 16 years. In 1981, he swept the state gold in all three jumps — a feat unmatched until this spring, by Baldwin’s La’akea Kaho’ohanohano-Davis.
“In addition to the amazing natural talent he was extremely coachable,” said Rick Nakashima, who coached Peters in the jumps at Kaiser. “Beyond that he really was a lovable guy.”
As was Bud Scott. The longtime Punahou coach, teacher and athletic administrator died June 22 at age 88 in his Kahala home.
Scott was best known as a highly successful varsity basketball coach, not just of the Buffanblu but also at Laupahoehoe and Hilo. In 15 seasons at Punahou, his teams went to the state championship six times and won twice. See HawaiiPrepWorld.com for more about Scott’s illustrious career.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
