Hall of honor
adds 12The high school athletes
excelled in sports and academics
It was a memorable weekend for Punahou's Rachel Kane and Kamehameha's Keoni Ruth.
They not only led their teams to state championships, but were also among 12 Hawaii high school athletes voted into the Nissan Hall of Honor.
Kane and the Buffanblu beat Kahuku 56-52 for the girls basketball championship Friday, while Ruth and the Warriors defeated Kailua 4-2 for the baseball title Saturday.
Kane, Ruth and the 10 other Nissan selections will be honored and awarded a $2,000 scholarship at a June 8 banquet at the Ilikai Hotel.
The choices of the 12 senior athletes were made by a 16-member committee. Selections were based primarily on athletic skills, but also on excellence in academics as well as extracurricular and community activities.
The 10 other Nissan honorees are Iolani's Kanoe Kamana'o and Hongzhe Sun, Kuulei Karratti of Ka'u, Kahuku's Michelle Peters and Krisha Kai, Baldwin's Zoie Sevilla and Koren Takeyama, Saint Louis' Jonathan Spiker, Kaimuki's Daniel Tautofi and Moanalua's Caylene Valdez.
Ruth was also a standout wide receiver for the Kamehameha football team, earning Star-Bulletin all-state honors.
"A few weeks ago, one of my coaches told me about the Nissan award and asked me to fill out papers and make a scrapbook," Ruth said. "They were telling me I had a good chance to be chosen, but I was just focused on baseball.
"When I got home (from the state tournament), I got the call saying I made it and I was excited."
Kane scored 20 points in the victory over Kahuku and garnered tournament MVP honors. She also played softball for the Buffanblu.
Spiker and Valdez finished remarkable high school wrestling careers in the winter. Both won state titles in all four years.
Valdez also won Saturday's 115-pound title at the inaugural state judo championship.
Spiker is headed to Harvard where he will wrestle.
Peters, a tough rebounder and inside scorer, was an integral part of the Red Raiders' run to the basketball final. In the fall, she led the Kahuku volleyball team to the state championship.
Kai was also a member of that volleyball championship and also excelled in soccer and track and field.
Karratti was a team captian for the Trojans in five sports --track and field, soccer, basketball, cross country and bowling. She won the state championship in the 100 meters two weeks ago.
Sun's swimming exploits helped Iolani earn the state title this year. In the state's 200-yard individual medley final, he set a record of 1:49:17, shattering the mark of 1:50.35 he set in the preliminaries.
Kamana'o fueled Iolani's run to the volleyball state title in 2001. She was the Star-Bulletin's player of the year the past two years.
Takeyama was part of the Bears' state soccer championships in 2000 and 2001 and a standout in track and field.
Sevilla was an outstanding two-way player for the Baldwin softball team and a two-time Star-Bulletin all-state choice. She also won the state championship in the high jump in 2001.
Tautofi, a hard-hitting linebacker for the Kaimuki football team who is headed to the University of Hawaii on a scholarship, also proved adept at basketball.