Steve Jenness 

Steve Jenness was a gifted runner with the heart and soul of a teacher and mentor: his real gift wasn’t just how fast he ran, but how well he taught others to do the same. Jenness achieved success as a runner in high school, college, and post-college, and later became a dedicated and inspirational high school coach for 35 years.  

Jenness demonstrated a remarkable talent for running early in life, running the Honolulu Marathon — his first race ever — at the age of 14 (3:22) and improving his time to 2:47 the following year. He was an exceptional runner at Kalaheo High School, winning the OIA cross country championship in 1976 and 1977.  On the track, he won six OIA championships.  At the state track championships, he won the mile race in both 1977 and 1978 and the two-mile race in 1978. 

Jenness attended the University of California Riverside on a track scholarship.  In 1982, he was an All- American at 1500 meters, with a best time of 3:44.72.  In addition, Jenness was a four-year letter winner in Cross Country and Track. After college, Jenness won many road races in Hawaii in the 1980s and 1990s.  

Jenness led the Kamehameha Schools boys’ cross-country and track programs to sustained excellence, demonstrating a rare ability to develop talent, motivate athletes, and build a winning culture. He served as head cross-country coach from 1988 to 2020, earning Coach of the Year honors 15 times. In track, he was distance coach from 1985 to 2015 and head coach from 2016 to 2019. Between 1997 and 2015, his teams captured 13 state championships, along with four runner-up and two third-place finishes, scoring under 100 points every year during that span. He also coached 18 individual state champions across cross-country and track. 

Jenness is a retired firefighter and was recently appointed to the new City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety Commission. He resides in Hawaii with his wife Cynthia.