Michigan State-bound Burnett among 15 Punahou signees at event

Feb. 8—The road to success involved a mile or two for Kekai Burnett.

The road to success involved a mile or two for Kekai Burnett.

Given the opportunity to become a two-sport student-athlete at Punahou, the once-gangly hoopster transformed into one of the top football players in the state.

On Wednesday at 7 a.m., the 6-foot-3, 245-pound senior signed his National Letter of Intent with Michigan State at the Education 1st /Aloha Leadership Foundation signing ceremony. At a young age, he has embraced the path to take on the biggest challenges. Those included Punahou and now, the Big Ten program in Lansing, Mich.

"I feel good. Two of my sisters actually came over here and signed." he said of Kiana and Kaila Burnett.

The daily trek from Nanakuli to school required the devotion of his parents.

"I'm blessed to be here. It felt good to put pen to paper, " Burnett said. "My parents, all those late nights, early mornings, all the sacrifices they made, it finally paid off."

Burnett wore a forest green Michigan State aloha shirt with his Spartans hat, draped in lei.

"The relationship I built my my coaches is strong. Michigan State is in the Big Ten, so that's big time, being able to play with Big Ten players, " he said.

BYU, he added, was tough to turn down. At Michigan State, he is eyeing a degree in business administration.

Burnett is a center on a Buffanblu basketball team has qualified for the state tournament. Two of his two-sport teammates, Noah Macapulay and Dillon Kellner, also signed on Tuesday to play football at the next level. In all, nine Punahou football players signed. The total of Buffanblu student-athletes at the ceremony : 15.

One of those Buffanblu signed with the hometown team, Hawaii.

"I feel great. All the years going into this day, it's really special, "said linebacker Alika Cavaco-Amoy. "Doing this for my family is a dream come true. The coaches are a big reason I want to stay. They made me feel like I'm really wanted there. The ability to trust them is really important to me, getting the opportunity."

It is, as Punahou diver and national champion Katherine Taylor said, a perfect time to strive for more. Instead of stressing about mistakes and failure, she listened to her coach when times are tough.

"He said, 'It's OK to give yourself permission to fail, '" she said in her keynote speech.

Big schools, small schools, private schools, public schools. The list of signees was comprised of 33 student-athletes who gathered at the Elks Lodge in Waikiki, located near Diamond Head. Among them was Hannah Hirata of La Pietra, a volleyball player who is heading to Wells College.

"Time flies by. It feels like I was a freshman in high school yesterday, " she said. "I'm thinking of possibly pre-med, becoming a doctor one day. Still kind of thinking about what I want to do."

Hirata helped coach the Panthers' sixth-grade team as a student assistant.

"The support of the people around me got me to where I am today. My parents, my family, my coaches, my teammates. I wouldn't be here without them. I'm a very driven person, so when I really want something, I'm a go-getter and a hard worker, " she said.

Rylie Magariaga was surrounded by a large contingent after the ceremony. The Mililani softball player signed with Puget Sound.

"I planned for this. I wanted to play softball in college. My parents made it happen. They helped me, " the outfielder /second baseman said. "We made all these trips for college coaches to see me. I'm going to try to make senior year the best year."

Puget Sound also landed a baseball player in Pearl City pitcher Jayden Mizuno.

"This is the final chapter I needed to sign my signature on paper, to say I'm going to the college I want to go to, to further my education, " Mizuno said. "Puget Sound, the campus is really nice. There's plenty of Hawaii people there to make you feel at home. It's a really great culture all around there. The biggest change will be stepping away from everyone I know, immersing myself in a new environment and making some new friends along the way."

Ciera Fujiwara, a Punahou swimmer, made the most of her options. She signed with American University in Washington, D.C.

"I feel really excited. My coaches, my parents, my family. I want to do business. I also might do military, " said Fujiwara, who is part of the ROTC program at Punahou.

Fujiwara was 8 when she became a competitive swimmer.

"Swimming is really painful sometimes and there's a lot of struggles, but it all pays off at the end. Your teammates are always there for you. It makes it something to look forward to when you go to practice, " she said. "I really like the capital. There are opportunities in the city."

Perhaps the road least travelled among the future college student-athletes was taken by Alana Lei Uehara. She signed her NLI with Santa Clara. Hawaii doesn't have rowing as an official sport at the high school level, but she trains with Ikaika Hawaii as a coxswain.

Her high school : Dwight Global.

"Dwight Global has an online version and an in-person version. There are multiple locations around the world, but the main one is New York, " said Uehara, who began with the school as a freshman. "I definitely prefer in-person, but I like the flexibility that online school gives me. My teachers are really supportive. Whenever I have races or I'm training, I have the support of my teachers."

Ikaika Hawaii offers rowing via kayaking, but also has rowing clinics. That's where Uehara met Kana Barlag of Sacred Hearts and Sabrina Graves of La Pietra. Barlag signed with Gonzaga and Graves signed with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical.

NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT SIGNING Hosted by Education 1st /Aloha Leadership Foundation Wednesday Elks Lodge Name, high school, college, sport Kana Barlag, Sacred Hearts Gonzaga Rowing Luna Ann Brown, Kaiser Ithaca College Volleyball Kekai Burnett, Punahou Michigan State Football Alika Cavaco-Amoy, Punahou Hawaii Football Maya DeGuzman, Mid-Pacific La Verne Water Polo, Swimming Jayden Fargas, Kailua Southern Oregon Football Ciera Fujiwara, Punahou American Swimming Sabrina Graves, La Pietra Embry Riddle Aero. Rowing Astin Hange, Punahou Air Force Football Hannah Hirata, La Pietra Wells College Volleyball Caleb Rhinelander, Punahou Pacific Lutheran Football Daphne Ibrao, Sacred Hearts Lewis & Clark Volleyball Charis Kai, Mid-Pacific Pepperdine Volleyball Dillon Kellner, Punahou U. of San Diego Football Noah Macapulay, Punahou Claremont McKenna Football Rylie Madariaga, Mililani Puget Sound Softball Ty McCutcheon, Punahou Utah Tech Football Lauren Miller, Roosevelt Kean Volleyball Petar Miocinovic, Mid-Pacific Vassar Volleyball Kacie Mizo, Punahou Whitworth Soccer Jayden Mizuno, Pearl City Puget Sound Baseball Dylan Morris, Mid Pacific Orange Coast Coll. Water Polo, Swimming Caleb Rhinelander, Punahou Pacific Lutheran Football Alexa Siu, Mid-Pacific Pacific Lutheran Softball Megan Sugano, Maryknoll Westcliff Softball Katherine Taylor, Punahou New York U. Diving Rylie Teraoka, Punahou Puget Sound Soccer Reese Teves, Punahou Long Island Volleyball Tayson Tiitii, Punahou Air Force Football Alana Lei Uehara, Dwight Global Santa Clara Rowing Ala 'i Williams, Punahou Utah Tech Football Amber Wolfe, Sacred Hearts Queen College Volleyball