LIHU‘E — King Auto Center demonstrated its commitment to excellence in youth by presenting its first KIF King Auto Center student athlete of the month awards on Wednesday.
Jose Aguayo of King Auto Center said there have been a lot of negatives surrounding the island’s youth, and in making the presentations, hopes that some recognition will come to those students who do good.
The award was taped by Wala‘au Productions for airing on local community television, and the athletes have been featured in radio and newspaper ads that have appeared since the decision on the awards were made.
Aren Racca and Shauna Tachibana, both seniors at Kaua‘i High School, were the first recipients of the award made Wednesday afternoon at the auto dealership.
Racca, a starter for the KIF champion Red Raider football team, was accompanied by his coach Kelii Morgado, who noted that the starting offensive right guard and defensive tackle maintains a 3.1 grade point average, and creates havoc against the running and passing schemes of both Waimea and Kapa‘a high schools.
Noting that the selection of their opponent in Division I football is yet to be determined by this weekend’s skirmish between Kahuku and Kailua, Racca said if they had a choice, they would rather play Kahuku because they want to go up against the best.
Morgado feels that with the talent on this year’s team, the Red Raiders have a good chance of scoring against either opponent with the key being in the ability of the boys to run four quarters.
Healthwise, the Red Raiders may be nursing some bangs from their last game against Waimea, but with time between now and their Division I opponent, Morgado feels the boys will be up to the challenge.
Tachibana, the top female runner in the KIF cross country program that concluded Saturday, was accompanied by her coach Debbie Engdahl who noted that Tachibana maintained a 4.0 gpa and, despite being sidelined last year by knee surgery, got help from her family and church to rebound to the top of the 32-member Red Raider roster for this year.
Tachibana will be one of five runners in the girls team that will make the trip to Maui next week for the state cross country championships.
Engdahl said the five girls making the Maui trip include Tachibana in the lead slot, Kassy Morishige, Amanda Savage, Corey Mann, Chelsea Smith, and Jacey Ageno and Jean Juliano running as alternates.
Engdahl also added that the boys, despite losing the KIF championship to Island School, will also be sending five runners to Maui in addition to the five boys that will be representing Island School.
The five Red Raider runners include Ross Brandenburg, Chad Naganuma, Cody Kimura, Aaron Fujimoto and Lucky Andres.
Aguayo explained that the program will feature a male and female student athlete each month who will qualify to become one of two athletes of the year that will be named some time in May following the last of the KIF Spring sports.
The selections are made by the athletic directors of the high schools, Aguayo said, with coaches free to nominate an athlete of their choice. The final selection is determined by the athletic directors who present the names to King Auto Center.
In addition to the trophy of recognition each athlete receives, Aguayo said King Auto Center will install a perpetual plaque where the names of each month’s student athlete will be inscribed so all of their customers can see their achievements.
