He qualified for the 1920 Summer Olympics, won the first NCAA javelin championship in 1921 and later worked as the track coach at Fresno State University for 35 years.

His college coach later said that Hanner improved his throw by 10 feet through careful observation of "a peculiarity of the [winning] Finns' form.

In 1922, Hanner was captain of Stanford's track team and set a new event record at the AAU meet with a throw of 193 feet, 2¼ inches.

[14] Hanner's Fresno State track teams won 27 championships in the Far Western Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association.

The most notable athlete coached by Hanner was Cornelius Warmerdam—the first person to clear 15 feet in the pole vault and the world record holder in the event from 1940 to 1957.

[16] In 1927, Hanner helped found the West Coast Relays and won the javelin event with a throw of 198 feet, 2½ inches.