Four graduating seniors at two of Kauai’s high schools joined the state and nation on Thursday for the National Day of Signing, when students sign National Letters of Intent to compete in sports at a college or university.
Two of the students — Carlyn Kamoku-Rapozo and Sienna Yamashita — will be graduating with the Class of 2026 from Kapaa High School. The other two students — Ruby Swartz and Chloe Ayonon — will be Voyager graduates at Island School.
Kamoku-Rapozo signed with Eastern Washington University to play volleyball, and Yamashita put pen to paper during a special gathering at the school’s softball field to continue softball play at Arizona State University.
“The schools are both Division I schools,” said Kapaa High School Athletic Director Greg Gonsalves. “For Carlyn, this is like the Triple Crown after going through the season with an unblemished record. The second crown came two weeks ago when the girls volleyball team took the state Division II championship. Carlyn was voted the Most Valuable Player to the DII All Tournament Team. The third crown is signing to play for Eastern Washington, a Division I college.”
Yamashita is on the Kapaa High School softball squad that took the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II championship in May by defeating the second-seeded team, Pearl City, in a 7 -5 squeaker at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Yamashita was also voted Most Outstanding Player of the DII All Tournament team. She was joined by teammates Karlee Rose Keale, Charlize Kenney and Jacie Martinez. The Warrior wahine were joined by Kamaile Valente of Waimea High School on the All Tournament squad.
Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus, Chloe Ayonon put her signature down to play soccer for the University of Nevada, Reno. Ruby Swartz will be rowing at St. Mary’s College of California.
Through the excitement and joy of these students’ achievements going beyond their high school careers, Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami acknowledged and recognized the Kapaa High School girls volleyball team for the accomplishment of earning the HHSAA Division II championship following a grueling five-set nail-biter over the tournament’s No. 3 seed, Seabury Hall of the Maui Interscholastic League.
“Seven more to go,” said Kapaa girls volleyball coach Paea Tafea. “There were eight seniors on the team. Carlyn was the first to sign. We’ll probably have more signing later. We keep trying.”
Source: The Garden Island