’12 Hall of Honor class filled with family connections

Family ties are woven throughout this year’s class of inductees into the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Hall of Honor.

A few of the 12 seniors will share the distinction with relatives who earned places in the Hall of Honor over the past 29 years.

Yet all of them distinguished themselves with their performances in a wide range of disciplines to establish their own niche within the group and will be recognized for their athletic achievements at today’s awards banquet.

Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Shane Brostek joins his father, former ‘Iolani standout Bern Brostek, on the list of honorees as one of the state’s best in football and track and field.

Punahou’s Mindy Chow is the third member of her family to be inducted for accomplishments in wrestling and judo.

Konawaena’s Dawnyelle Awa’s cousin, Jazzmin Awa-Williams, was part of the 2007 class and Mid-Pacific’s Keiki Carlos was selected to the Hall of Honor 26 years after her uncle, Garrett Gabriel, was voted in.

Joining them in the Hall’s 30th class are Punahou’s DeForest Buckner and Mysha Sataraka, ‘Iolani’s Lorens Chan, Baldwin’s Kristine Felix and Pasoni Tasini, Kahuku’s Benetton Fonua, Konawaena’s Lia Galdeira and Kamehameha’s Misty Ma‘a.

University of Hawaii football coach Norm Chow will be the guest speaker at the banquet held at the Sheraton Waikiki.

Chow, a 1964 Punahou graduate and a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, accepted the UH coaching job last December and embarks on his first season as a Division I head coach this fall.

He was involved in the recruitment of two members of this year’s Hall of Honor class. Chow’s efforts as offensive coordinator at Utah factored into Tasini’s decision to commit to the Utes. After being hired at UH, he convinced Fonua to join his first recruiting class with the Warriors.

Each inductee receives a $2,000 scholarship courtesy of Enterprise Rent-A Car.

The Hall of Honor inductees were selected by a 16-member committee comprised of current and former athletic directors, coaches and media members.