KEALAKEKUA — With each passing week, Violet Schaut seems to be running faster and faster on the track.
The Konawaena junior is no stranger to the Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) track and field community. Being one of the top sprinters since her freshman season, Schaut’s dominance has reached another level in 2025. Through five meets, Schaut has placed first in the girls 100-meter sprint five times, 200-meter sprint three times, 400-meter run twice, 4×100-meter relay five times and the 4×400-meter relay once — continuing to build her legacy as one of the top BIIF runners to ever grace the track.
“(This season) has been going good,” Schaut told West Hawaii Today at a practice earlier in the week. “I’m where I want to be in all of my events, but there’s another level I’d like to hit as the season goes on.”
But perhaps Schaut’s most notable achievement of her high school career thus far came at last weekend’s meet at Julian R. Yates Field, where Schaut placed first in the 100-meter sprint in an incredible 11.83 seconds. The personal-record finish for Schaut was measured as the top time in the state by a landslide, and according to Athletic.net, no girls runner in Hawaii has ever finished the race in under 12 seconds since the site began tracking the data in the mid 2000s.
Schaut was excited to run such a dominant race in front of her home crowd, pointing to her growth in launching off the start blocks as a primary factor for her record-breaking time.
“It felt really good,” she said. “I had been wanting (to run under 12 seconds) for a while, and it was just the click of my blocks that I needed in order to do it.”
Despite being so dominant in the 100-meter, Schaut admitted that it isn’t her favorite event. She prefers the 400-meter run due to the challenge of the last leg of the race.
“Not a lot of people want to do it, because it’s really, really hard,” Schaut explained. “The last 100 meters is very difficult. But then you feel really accomplished once you finish.”
Schaut hopes her interest in the 400 will pay off. While breaking personal records in the 100 and 200-meter (24.65s) dashes this season, she has yet to PR the 400 despite winning it twice. Schaut believes her improvement on the starting blocks will eventually lead to reaching that goal.
“Previously, I’ve had a really hard time coming into my blocks, and this year, it really started to click for me,” she said. “I haven’t hit my PR in the 400 because of the way the peak of my season is, so I’m hoping to PR it on the weekend after next.”
Schaut’s 2025 campaign has been a testament to the work she has put in over the last several years. Schaut realized her potential as a runner at a young age, constantly lapping her classmates in schoolyard races and recreational activities. Also a soccer athlete, her speed was consistently praised by her teammates and supporters on the pitch. Eager to find out what she could do on the track at the BIIF level, she joined the green and white’s squad in the spring of 2023 as a freshman.
Soon enough, Schaut began to put her name on the map. She finished her freshman season winning the 100-meter dash seven times, 200-meter dash nine times, 400-meter five times, 4×100-meter relay six times and 4×400-meter relay five times. Finishing eighth in the state in the 100 and 200-meter races at the 2023 HHSAA Track and Field Championships, Schaut put all of the islands on notice.
Returning for her sophomore season in 2024, Schaut began to level up — winning the 100 12 times, 200 10 times, 400 six times, 4×100 relay eight times and 4×400 relay seven times.
While Schaut placed second in the 100 and 400 and seventh in the 200 at states, Wildcats head coach David NeSmith was more impressed with how she anchored her relay team of Jazmin Fillmore, Rustee Meyers and Dasha Kala in the 4×400, in which they won with a time of 4:01.80.
NeSmith is primarily a throwing events coach, but recognized Schaut’s talent as soon as he met her.
“That was amazing to see,” NeSmith said of Schaut’s performance in the relay race at states last season. “(Violet) anchored that team, and she had a little get-up on her step.”
Schaut added that her 2024 states expierence was a valuable lesson for where she ultimately wants to go, planning to use those second-place finishes as fuel for the HHSAA Championships next month at Kealakehe High School.
“I definitely learned to just run my own race and be in my own head space,” Schaut explained. “In the 400, I was too focused on the girl next to me, rather than focusing on what I was doing. That was probably the biggest thing I took away from that experience.”
Schaut spent the offseason doing more weight training, which she believes helped elevate her ability to start her junior season. The star is confident that her work behind the scenes will keep translating to the track for the remainder of high school.
“I did a lot of weight training over the summer and leveled up a bit,” Schaut said. “And I think running with my track club and getting exposed to mainland meets really helped.”
NeSmith believes that Schaut has the mental fortitude to accomplish anything she wants on the track, noting that her mindset sets her apart from other athletes. With this in mind, NeSmith has no doubt that Schaut can reach her goal of winning state in several events.
“She’s phenomenal to watch,” he said. “What I appreciate about her is her laser focus. When she’s in her event, she is entirely locked in. And it translates to her practices. She’s not just like that on meet day. When she’s in practice, she’s just as locked in.
“I’ve told her that when colleges call about her, they will want to know how she is in practice. How are you transitioning from one coach to the next, and are other coaches saying the same things about you through your workouts? And she’s exactly that person. I’m proud to have had the opportunity to get to know her and be a part of her career in a small way. She’s a great athlete and person.”
Schaut hopes to run for a Division-I college program once she graduates next spring. But in the meantime, she intends to enjoy her time as a Wildcat and hopefully keep breaking more records.
And who knows? Schaut may even break her incomparable 100-meter record again at this weekend’s meet at Kea‘au High School.
