Michael Julian was surprised to hear that he had been named as a state finalist for the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award. “They didn’t call me or anything,” said the 17-year-old senior from Kaua‘i High School. “But, wow, that’s pretty
Michael Julian was surprised to hear that he had been named as a state finalist for the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award.
“They didn’t call me or anything,” said the 17-year-old senior from Kaua‘i High School. “But, wow, that’s pretty cool.”
More than 32,000 seniors applied nationwide and from that group, 9,000 winners were selected and Hawai‘i’s state finalists were chosen.
Julian applied for this scholarship award last month.
“Out of the whole state, I thought my chances were about one in 1,000 or even 10,000,” Julian said.
Julian is more than a member on the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation’s championship football team. The 5-foot-8, 257-pound outside linebacker is a valuable member of Kaua‘i’s Mock Trial team. During his freshman year, the mock trial team was ranked second in the nation. Last year, the Red Raiders won their ninth state title in 10 years. This year, Julian received the Best Witness Award.
Julian was also a part of a team selected by Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative for the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. He was selected again by KIUC to attend this year’s Youth Leadership Council.
He takes care of all his student activities all the while maintaining a 4.1 grade point average. His ability to be an all-around student is an attribute Kaua‘i’s head football coach Derek Borrero admires.
“There’s nothing negative I can say about that guy,” Borrero said. “He’s a real self-achiever. In fact, I gave him a couple of days off because he’s sometimes up till 1:30 or 2 a.m just studying.”
Nearly two weeks ago, Julian played in the KIF championship game in which Kaua‘i beat Waimea to win its fifth straight KIF title.
Julian registered two tackles in that game.
“He’s a big part of our defensive line and a big part of our success,” Borrero said.
Julian has applied to Massachussets Institute of Technology but is also considering going to school in California.
Others named as finalists were, Nina Ho (Kaiser High School), Mana Hopkins-VandenAkker (Konawaena HS), Shayna Obrero-Zablan (Lana‘i HS), Kylie Miyashiro (Mid-Pac Institute), Chloe Maeshiro (Pearl City HS), Stephanie Chu (Hilo HS), Mishon Kawaguchi (Radford HS), Megan Lipinski (St. Andrew’s Priory), Yacine Meyer (Seabury Hall), Jessica Pajo (Waiakea HS), Billy Oden (Kailua HS), Gideon Logan (Kamehameha Kapalama), Gabriel Fernandez (Mid-Pac), Kevin Donahue (St. Louis), Micah Hirayama (Moanalua HS), Cheuk Kong (Pearl City HS), Jeffrey Spraker (Radford HS), Eric Tatsuno (St. Joseph’s School) and Gilbert Menor (Waialua HS).
From this list, Stephanie Chu of Hilo High School and Kevin Donahue of St. Louis were named the winners.
Chu and Donahue will compete against other winners from other states for a chance to be named one of 12 national finalists. One male and one female from each of six regions will be announced as finalists in mid-November.
These students will travel to New York in December to participate in the Heisman weekend festivities and awards ceremony.
One male and one female will be named the national winners and presented with the Wendy’s High School Heisman trophy during a ceremony televised on ESPN2 on Dec. 9.
Wendy’s also donates $10,000 to each winners respective high school.
All 12 national finalists will be featured during the Dec. 9 ceremony and will receive a gold medal and $2,000 for their schools.
• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
