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This year’s high school seniors had so many things taken away, but the Hall of Honor refused to be one of them.
The annual program selected 12 elite athletes for this year’s honor on Sunday, coming up with a class that has every league represented and no school having more than one inductee.
There are a few “firsts” that make this class unique, and Cayla Cabanban provided two of them. She is the first competitive cheerleader to be selected as well as the first from Sacred Hearts Academy to join the elite club.
Each student-athlete receives a $2,000 Enterprise Rent-A-Car college scholarship.
The 2021 class:
>> Teani Arakawa, King Kekaulike soccer, cross country and track and field: Arakawa helped lift the King Kekaulike girls soccer program into consistent state contention, putting her Waveriders into the state final before losing to Kamehameha 1-0. Her all-tournament performance led to a spot in the Star-Advertiser’s Fab 15, but losing her senior season cost her the chance to become the first girl from her school to repeat.
Arakawa will play Division I soccer and major in exercise science at South Dakota State.
>> Kanani Araki, KS-Hawaii air riflery, swimming and track and field: Araki made her bones in air riflery, finishing in the top 10 of the state tournament twice before having her senior season wiped out by the pandemic. The two-time BIIF team champion finished seventh at states as a sophomore and fourth as a junior.
Araki will move on to Grand Canyon University, where she will major in psychology.
>> Alana Barthel, Le Jardin swimming: The backstroke specialist has ruled the pool in the 100 meters since her sophomore year, winning back-to-back state titles and breaking a decade-old record set by Punahou’s Christel Simms. Even though there was no state tournament this year, the senior broke the ILH record in the event on both days of the ILH championships.
Barthel will move on to UC San Diego, where she will study biochemistry.
>> Cayla Cabanban, Sacred Hearts cheerleading: The first competitive cheerleader to be inducted into the Hall of Honor, Cabanban joins her brother Corey (wrestling) in the elite club. Cayla Cabanban was the league’s top flyer as a freshman and rose from there, leading tiny Sacred Hearts to three straight state championships. In addition to her exploits in high school, Cabanban is a multiple time national champion.
She plans to attend the University of Hawaii and major something science related.
>> Alakai Gonsalves, Kapaa basketball, volleyball and cross country: A two-time KIF all-star in basketball, Gonsalves stepped out of Kiran Costa’s shadow to join him in the Hall of Honor. Gonsalves started in every game for the Warriors since his freshman year and was a key member of the school’s HHSAA runner-up volleyball team. He also competed in two state cross-country meets as Kapaa’s best runner.
Gonsalves intends to serve a two-year mission to Greece before attending BYU in Provo, Utah, to study construction management.
>> Shayna Kamaka, Baldwin wrestling and volleyball: After finishing third in the state as a freshman but celebrating Baldwin’s first wrestling team title, Kamaka went on a tear with successive individual state championships and was poised to be the state’s top wrestler pound-for-pound before losing her senior year to the pandemic.
Kamaka intends to attend the University of Hawaii and study nursing.
>> Caleb Lomavita, Saint Louis baseball: Lomavita’s recent ILH championship led to a career honor. The captain of the Crusaders baseball team was named first-team all-state as a sophomore and then had his junior year wiped out by the pandemic. He rebounded with an ILH title during a shortened senior season and showed that his skills actually increased during the lost year.
Lomavita will attend Cal Berkeley as a biology major.
>> Koby Moananu, Kaimuki football, basketball and baseball: Moananu excelled at the three traditional major sports for the Bulldogs, serving as captain for three years in each of them. He made his most noise in football, where Scoringlive.com judged him the best player in Division II and first team on both offense and defense. Moananu will attend Oregon State and study biology with the hopes of becoming a pharmacist.
>> Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, Campbell football: There has rarely been a wide receiver/defensive back with the achievements, accolades and attention of the 6-foot-1, 175-pound playmaker. After being offered scholarships from 20 Division I programs, he signed with UCF, where former all-state quarterback Dillon Gabriel starts.
As a junior, Mokiao-Atimalala had 62 receptions for 1,136 yards and 18 receiving touchdowns. In 2018, as a sophomore, Mokiao-Atimalala hauled in 75 passes for 1,385 yards and 14 TDs.
He also had big plays as a safety last season, returning five picks for touchdowns.
>> Branden Pagurayan, Kapolei wrestling and judo: Pagurayan was on his way to becoming the state’s next slammer in wrestling with state titles in his first two years before losing in the final as a junior and having his senior year wiped out. He added to those accolades by nearly matching them in judo, reaching the state final twice and winning it in his sophomore year.
Pagurayan, who sports a 4.036 GPA, will wrestle and study physiology at Wyoming.
>> Shaye Story, Kamehameha water sports: Story was on her way to water polo greatness before losing her junior and senior seasons to COVID-19, but she had already compiled enough accolades to put her in the Hall of Honor. She was on pace to threaten Nanea Fujiyama’s state record for goals scored through her first two years and added two gold medals in state swimming as well.
Story will attend Stanford in the fall, studying psychology or political science.
>> Lily Wahinekapu, ‘Iolani basketball: The leading scorer of the Raiders girls basketball dynasty never sought attention. The Cal State Fullerton signee was the 2019-20 Star-Advertiser all-state player of the year as a junior after ‘Iolani won its second state title in a row. Wahinekapu averaged 16 points per game as a junior. She was No. 4 on the Fab 15 as a sophomore. The Raiders returned nearly its entire roster in 2020-21, but the season was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In two exhibition wins over Kamehameha in ‘21, ‘Iolani won decisively.
Wahinekapu was also No. 5 in All-Defense voting as a sophomore.
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