HONOLULU — Kauai High School senior Taegan Keep will take her place among the top 12 student-athletes in the state for 2018 when she gets inducted into the Enterprise Rent-a-Car Hawaii High School Athletic Association Hall of Honor June 3 at the Dole Cannery Pomaikai Ballroom on Oahu.
“I just got the notice Saturday night,” she said. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. But I’m happy because the field is well-represented by a lot of the high school leagues. They told me that I’m only the third girl from the Kauai Interscholastic Federation to get this honor in the past 35 years.”
Keep was recognized for her prowess in track and field, where she is the two-time state champion in girls discus after breaking the KIF record during the 2018 championship meet.
She recently signed a letter of intent to pursue engineering studies at Brigham Young University and compete on the Cougars’ track and field team in discus and shot put.
Keep also starred on the girls basketball court as the Red Raiders’ center and strong forward, and did time with the girls volleyball squad as a strong middle blocker.
“I was on the team for all four years,” Keep said. “During my junior and senior year, I played center. We were KIF champs for both of those years, and finished sixth at states.”
As an inductee into the Hall of Honor, Keep will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship courtesy of the HHSAA and Enterprise Holdings, the parent firm of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent-a-Car brands.
This award will be made during the induction ceremony that begins at 5 p.m. at the Dole Cannery. Ticket information for the banquet is available by calling (808) 800-4092.
Keep will be joined by Saydee Aganus of Kamehameha-Big Island, who picked up the honor as the state meet record holder in the 100-meter hurdles, and in basketball; Teniya Alo of Kahuku/Hawaii Technology Academy, who had five gold medals in wrestling and judo; Corey Cabanban of St. Louis High School for wrestling; Andre Ilagan of Farrington High School, who was strong on the tennis courts; Gwen Maeha of Leilehua High School, who bowled her way into the hall and also was a strong hitter for the Mules’ softball team; and Cherilyn Molina of Konawaena High School, who excelled in volleyball, basketball and track and field.
Molina is one of two Wildcats, being joined by Mikayla Tablit of Konawaena, who made marks in volleyball, basketball and track.
Taysia Pimental of Seabury Hall paddled her way into the hall while scoring on the soccer field and in track and field. She is one of two Seabury Hall student-athletes being announced, the second being Veronica Williams, who starred in cross country, swimming and track and field.
Ally Wada of Hawaii Baptist got her ticket in volleyball, basketball and track and field, and Ryan Wilcox of Punahou School rounded out the field for volleyball and kayaking.
The 2018 class of inductees were selected by a 14-person committee of current and former sports reporters, athletic directors and coaches from around the state.
Criteria is based mainly on athletic achievement, but character, sportsmanship, academic record and community service are also taken into consideration.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
