Kaua‘i athletes honored at season-closing ceremony

LIHU‘E — The 3rd annual Kaua‘i Coaches Sports Appreciation event honored several local athletes and sent one home with a hefty scholarship last week.

The event, held at the Aston Aloha Beach Resort on June 13, featured the naming of the Kalapaki Joe’s Student Athlete of the Year award and the two runners-up.

Kaua‘i High School’s Aniase Soltren, a softball player for the Red Raiders, received the most online votes and was awarded a $1,000 scholarship for being named athlete of the year. Soltren was a pitcher for the Red Raiders and hurled a no-hitter in March.

“As a coach of many years, I have watched Aniase play four years of softball,” Former Red Raider coach Shelly Samiano said. “She is very humble, coachable, always eager to learn and will to do everything to make herself better than she is now.”

Kapa‘a’s John Das was named the first runner-up for the award. Das, a quarterback on the KIF champion Warrior football team, led Kapa‘a to success the school hasn’t seen in over 20 years.

“John is a special young man and I am proud to have worked with him and his teammates in bringing such a memorable year to the Kapa‘a community,” Kapa‘a head coach Keli‘i Morgado said.

Keoni Ana, a football player for Waimea High School, came in third in the voting.

“Keoni was an integral part of our team this past year,” Waimea head coach Keali‘i Aguiar said. “The success he had this past season as an All-KIF Football award recipient was a direct result of hard work on the field, in the weight room and in film sessions. We are proud to have had the privilege of coaching a fine young man in Keoni Ana.”