Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawaii women’s soccer goalkeeper Kennedy Justin

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawaii women’s soccer goalkeeper Kennedy Justin

Aug 13, 2025

Hawaii sophomore GK Kennedy Justin boots a punt during a home match for the Rainbow Wahine. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawaii women’s soccer goalkeeper Kennedy Justin

BY PAUL BRECHT  |  HONOLULU
PUBLISHED AUGUST 13, 2025

HONOLULU – Super expectations are nothing new for Kennedy Justin.

The University of Hawaii sophomore standout is an only child and comes from a family where education is the main focus. In her family, your best effort is the baseline for any activity you partake in.

Kennedy Justin never wanted to be average and blend into the background.

She recalls when her youth soccer coaches asked for volunteers to play goalkeeper, nobody raised their hand. When they added that the keeper gets a different colored jersey, her interest had been piqued.

A challenge with a chance to stick out. She would develop into a star at the position as she matured, turning sights to taking her athletic career to the next level.

Justin took home All-Moore League Goalkeeper of the Year honors to finish her career at Long Beach Poly High School, an impressive feat in the hot bed of high school soccer in southern California. Plenty of colleges knocked on her door, including some future foes, but she knew which program stuck out to her most.

“I definitely had a lot of opportunities, but none like the University of Hawai’i, for sure,” the rising sophomore said.

She redshirted her first college season and spent it working on her game while taking care of business in the classroom. Justin landed on the Big West Commissioner’s Honor Roll list with honors as an electrical engineering major after the 2023-24 school year.

So, of course her expectations were high when soccer returned.

When she came back to the field for her redshirt freshman campaign, she found herself in a position battle for the starting job with junior Brianna Chirpich. Going into the 2024 season-opener against Georgia Southern, Justin had worked her way towards playing time but knew Chirpich would get the first nod.

Still, the redshirt freshman keeper hoped to see the field in the UH opener. When a competitive contest broke out against the Eagles that saw the Rainbow Wahine punch in two goals within six minutes of each other to take the lead late, it looked like she would have to wait another day to take the field.

“I was like, oh, okay, there’s one minute left [in regulation], I’m not going to play [today],” Justin recalled of her Rainbow Wahine debut.

Suddenly, the redshirt freshman keeper heard her coaches barking her name.

“Kennedy, get in!”

After making six saves in her own first career college start, junior keeper Brianna Chirpich had suffered a season-ending injury with just over 90 seconds remaining in regulation and Hawaii leading, 3-2. Georgia Southern’s attack was in an all-out blitz with desperation to tie the match before the final buzzer and Justin would get no time to warm up.

“Thirty seconds later, they’re taking a shot on goal,” Justin chuckled. “I was like, oh my God, I already made my first college save, everything [happened] in like one minute.”

The Rainbow Wahine went on to close out the Eagles in the final 1:38 of regulation in the first magical win of a season filled with dynamic victories.

It wasn’t a year without obstacles. Hawaii did lose six of the next seven games, failing to generate much offensive success while Justin experienced her own growing pains in the net.

“I shamefully will admit, go ahead and look back, my first six starts were not very good,” said Justin.

She credited the coaching staff for helping dig out of an early rut while the Rainbow Wahine went through a gauntlet of non-conference opponents. Justin pointed specifically to head coach Michele “Bud” Nagamine’s energy as a key factor to lifting her up and turning around the year.

“Those [moments] are what define coaches that are just there to coach and coaches that actually care about their players,” explained Justin.

With belief that there were no tactical issues to gameplans, players called a team meeting on the road after falling at Eastern Washington to pinpoint how they could connect better.

“After that meeting, we didn’t lose a single game for a month,” Justin recounted.

Hawaii rolled through Big West play, going 6-0-1 across the first seven conference matches as a part of a bigger nine-game stretch without a loss. The redshirt freshman set a new program record during the streak as she went nearly 500 minutes without allowing a goal, posting five consecutive clean sheets in the net to help the Rainbow Wahine race up to the top spot in the standings.

Similar to the opening game of the season, UH clinched the regular season conference title in comeback fashion. After seeing UC Santa Barbara pocket a goal in the 20th minute, Fabiola Zamora and Nalani Damacion punched in second-half scores and Justin helped lock down the net to clinch the Rainbow Wahine’s first Big West regular season title and fourth regular season conference crown in program history.

“I think when that final whistle blew, it was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders,” grinned Justin.

The historic campaign for Hawaii resulted in a bevy of individual accolades from the Big West, earning seven all-conference selections and four of the six major individual awards. Among the honorees, Justin became the second player in Rainbow Wahine history to be named the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year.

She also was the first freshman from any school to earn the Goalkeeper of the Year honor for the Big West, setting the stage for a much-anticipated encore season.

On August 1, Justin was selected as one of 13 players for the 2025 United Soccer Coaches goalkeepers watch list and was one of two players from the West region to be placed on the preseason list. She returns to a Rainbow Wahine roster that brings back nearly 20 players from last season’s regular season championship squad, which helped earn UH the top spot in the Big West’s 2025 preseason coaches’ poll.

“The Rainbow Wahine, we’re so back,” Justin said ahead of Thursday’s road opener at Long Beach State. “I know you guys expect the best from us, but I promise that we’ll prove you guys right. We’re the same team, if not better this year so I’m so excited to see you guys back out there and I hope you’re excited to see us as well.”

The sophomore keeper makes just one request to fans in return to her big promise: come out and support in person, especially when the Big West conference slate begins.

Mana Wahine Wednesday: University of Hawai’i cheerleader Rachel Radona

Mana Wahine Wednesday: University of Hawai’i cheerleader Rachel Radona

Mar 26, 2025

Mana Wahine Wednesday: University of Hawai’i cheerleader Rachel Radona

HONOLULU – Happiness comes in all shapes and sizes. 

Look no further than University of Hawai’i senior Rachel Radona, a 4-foot-10 ball of energy on the cheer team who is known by some as the “Chee Hoo Queen” and by others as a rising star in the art world.  

From bringing the charge to sold-out sports arenas to adding some extra artistic beauty to scenes on an everyday O’ahu walk, the local girl has a knack for producing big smiles and standout memories for all – and that’s by design. 

Radona has always had an affinity for being cheery, but she didn’t start out as a cheerleader – her background was in band as she grew up in the Kamehameha Schools system. After getting into middle school, she was drawn to the positive energy that radiated from the KS-Kapālama cheer team and quickly joined the program. 

Rachel Radona (back right) pictured with teammates from KS-Kapalama | Photo Credit: Rachel Radona

She helped power the passion at many different nights of high school competition, but her positive reach started to spread further than the local gyms and football fields as she took her artistic abilities outside of her own house. 

The daughter and niece of a variety of artists, Radona had been honing her skills for years while making connections with local community members. As she got older and her skills matured into deserving even bigger audiences, she started to do projects for local businesses while continuing with other works. 

Some of her creations can be found on her Instagram account, @raay.chel_art, illustrating a grasp on a variety of different pieces and designs. When asked about her style, Radona described it as “art that really pops” with a few common themes intertwined. 

“I love fun, bright colors because people are fun and bright,” she said smiling.  

Another common theme in her art is to add in traces of her cultural backgrounds, sharing mo’olelo [stories] with Hawaiiana and Japanese heritage-inspired murals and pieces. To Radona, it’s part of her responsibility as an artist. 

“Art is about sharing mo’olelo, and you can share mo’olelo culture about everything,” Radona said. “That’s what really drove me to this passion of art … the art that I do also focuses on the cultures that I have and that I want to share. My mission in art is to contribute to the lāhui of Hawai’i.” 

With that desire to continue representing and sharing culture through art, a foundational group of people that already were familiar with her work and a chance to be close to her family, staying in Hawai’i for her college education was an easy choice. 

“I understand that a lot of artists move away to the mainland for bigger opportunities,” Radona said when asked of her decision to attend UH. “Honestly, I found the most opportunities here because of the lāhui of Hawai’i. Everybody knows everybody, so if you do one thing for someone, somebody else is talking around the corner and will hire you again.” 

Despite a dedication to cheer in high school, Radona did not plan on continuing her career once she got to the University of Hawai’i. The focus was going to be on her career and continuing to improve her skills in the art world. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Radona

After taking a year off from her sport though, one of her friends convinced her to attend an open gym by UH cheer team and she quickly felt her love for the sport rush back. 

“It was just so much fun,” Radona recalled. “I felt like I was back in high school again … all of the aloha that [the team] had made me feel like I was at home already so [joining] felt like the right thing to do.” 

It provided another outlet and more opportunities for the Waipahu native to spread her positivity to everyone she could. While most of her memories in a Hawai’i cheer uniform come within the friendly confines of the Stan Sheriff Center or the Clarence T.C. Ching Complex, the most memorable and noteworthy moment came all the way out in Baton Rouge. 

Traveling with the Rainbow Wahine basketball team for the 2023 NCAA Tournament opening round, Radona and the cheer squad stepped into a raucous arena with fans of the LSU Tigers ready to cheer against anything in green. Despite knowledge of the hostile environment, her team went into the day with the goal of contributing to a bigger, more fun atmosphere for everyone in attendance for the first-round game. 

It was noticed by the LSU fanbase, too. 

“I think they were really surprised that a team that was going against their team was trying to be nice to them and sharing aloha,” Radona remembered of the opposing fans. “Even though we lost, as we were running out, the whole arena like stood up and started clapping for us … They all wanted pictures, and they were just saying how awesome it was to have those spirits so high. They said how they had never felt that much energy before [from an opposing team] and that’s honestly what we’re striving for at Hawai’i cheer.” 

That same positive energy is continuously exuded by Radona as she continues expanding her knowledge about art and culture. Despite a variety of outstanding works, the senior doesn’t have a favorite piece of art – at least not yet. 

“I don’t think that I’ve made it,” Radona said. “I don’t think I ever will [have a favorite] … well, until I’m old and tired.” 

(Radona did say that a small mural at the Beer Lab that she did on Beretania would rank towards the top of her projects that have been completed, if she was forced to give an answer.) 

To Radona, every day is another opportunity to push her creative boundaries and share the positivity of life through art.  

It just so happened that cheer became another outlet for her to spread that same wonder. 

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F sprinter Isabella Kneeshaw

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F sprinter Isabella Kneeshaw

Feb 13, 2025

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F sprinter Isabella Kneeshaw

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 13, 2025

HONOLULU – From off the radar to undeniable. 

University of Hawai’i sprinter Isabella Kneeshaw turned in one of the greatest single-season performances in UH track and field history in her first go-round with the program last year, becoming the third-ever Rainbow Wahine athlete to earn a major postseason Big West award as the conference’s Co-Freshman of the Year honoree. It went alongside her Big West title in the 400-meter, which she won with a blazing time of 54.01 seconds – the second-fastest mark in program history in the outdoor event. 

Add in multiple other titles and broken records and you see that Kneeshaw’s first year in Hawai’i was something ripped out of a movie script. The anchor of the 4×100 relay team for the Rainbow Wahine, a group that broke a program record in the event that stood for nearly 40 years three separate times last year, the now-sophomore sprinter recalls how it all seemingly came together in a flash. 

“It’s always been a dream of mine since I was young, to be a college athlete,” Kneeshaw said. “Originally, I really wanted to do soccer, but I ended up sticking with track and honestly, my senior year of high school was very chaotic. I didn’t run my best times until the last couple meets of the season, so I was behind in the recruiting process.” 

From Oregon, Kneeshaw began looking into schools on the west coast and more specifically, in the Big West. Even after her research, the sprinting star did not know where her next home would be to continue her education and athletic career as she walked across the stage and graduated from high school. 

“It was a very stressful little time in my life,” Kneeshaw recalled. 

Talent certainly wasn’t the issue – the youngest child of two college track and field athletes (Dad competed at the University of Montana, Mom was a sprinter at the University of Idaho), Kneeshaw had natural talent shining through daily while she collected major hardware in high school. She was named a USATF All-American in 2022 in both the 4×100 and 4×400 before earning 2023 Nike Indoor Nationals All-American honors in the 4×200 and 4×400 events, all leading up to her coronation as an OSAA 6A team state champion to close her prep career.  

“I ended up reaching out to [Hawai’i track and field head coach Madeleine Carleton] after looking into just Big West schools in general,” Kneeshaw said when asked about how Hawai’i got on her radar. “She was the first coach that I feel like really cared about me as a person, not just me as an athlete, and that made such a difference.” 

From the first phone call between the two, a partnership between Kneeshaw and Hawai’i seemed to be destined. One of her cousins living in the islands after getting married certainly didn’t hurt Hawai’i’s chances in cementing itself as a comfortable landing spot for the talented sprinter. 

After a little more thought, Kneeshaw committed and got ready to make her way to the islands herself. Since then, it has only been an upward trajectory from the start of the ride. 

“I feel like it all really worked out and I ended up where I’m supposed to be,” the sprinter smiled. 

The work began immediately, introducing Kneeshaw to better preparation for her events that she quickly implemented for a successful first year. While success did come fast, a more important lesson was learned: trust the process, prosper at the end of the year. 

As a first-year student-athlete at the Division I level, Kneeshaw wanted to go for personal records and push her limits every single time that she could – sometimes to her own detriment. One of the most memorable takeaways from her first season working with Coach Carleton was that the program prepares and plans out training for the athletes to peak at the right times. 

The proof of concept for Carleton is there for all the athletes to see, watching accolade after accolade and win after win roll in for the Rainbow Wahine last season as they followed intently behind their leader.  

“Learning to trust that she has a bigger plan and a process for us I think has given me a lot more confidence,” Kneeshaw said. “It always pans out well, so I think she’s a coach I can really trust and that’s made all the difference.” 

The difference ended up being multiple records, titles and a taste of what is to come for the University of Hawai’i women’s track and field team. Kneeshaw expects more of the same this season, part of the higher standards she has long held herself to, but knows she has to remember to have fun with it every day while she continues to trust her training. 

After competing in the U20 World Track & Field Championships in Peru and representing the USA over the summer, Kneeshaw is back and already making burning up the track on the indoor side of things. The sophomore sprinter set the 600-meter school record on the first day of competition of 2025 and helped the 4×400 relay team finish with the second-fastest time in Hawai’i indoor program history on February 1 in Seattle during the UW Invite, closing out a 3:45:69 performance that trails only last year’s MPSF title run by the Rainbow Wahine. 

She and her relay teammates will look to repeat the feat next week on February 21 and 22 in the MPSF Indoor Championships in Spokane, Wash., before closing out the indoor season in the middle of March at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The talent is undeniable, it’s about trusting the process. 

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F high jumper Lilian Turban

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F high jumper Lilian Turban

Feb 5, 2025

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F high jumper Lilian Turban

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 5, 2025

HONOLULU – It almost feels like it happened by accident. 

University of Hawai’i high jumper Lilian Turban has never had a doubt about her love for track and field. In a way, the senior was born to be a star in the sport – the question that always lingered was where it could and would take her in life. 

From an admittedly “tiny” Eastern European country located up near the polar lines named Estonia, Turban grew up in a Hall of Fame track and field house as the daughter of two stars of the sport. Her father, Marko, competed in the 1996 Olympic Games as a high jumper and holds the Estonian national record for the event to this day with a leap of 2.30 meters. Her mother, Anu Kaljurand, was a star in her prime as well, competing at BYU and winning the gold medal at the 1992 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship for the women’s heptathlon before going on to finish 17th in the 1992 Summer Olympics in the same event. 

While her parents made their names known in the track and field world, Lilian Turban’s first sport was the opposite of both the track and field. The high jumper started her athletic career in the pool as a swimmer before attempting to play tennis, which she struggled with due to her consistent desire to have her feet off the ground. 

“So, I was swimming, mostly because my parents just wanted me to learn to swim,” Turban laughed as she talked about her early sporting careers. “I swam competitively for a few years I would say. Then I tried to play tennis, but the coaches were saying how [I] couldn’t keep [my] legs on the ground and that [I] needed to jump.” 

Around age 10, Turban’s parents relented and allowed her to full dive into the sport that had seen many of their previous successes go into the history books. Similar to her mother, Lilian wanted to live out an “American dream” by competing for a college program in the United States. 

Not as similar, the young high jumper wanted to go to a place far warmer than Utah. 

“I wanted to do the same thing [as my mom],” Turban recalled. “But I knew I wanted to go to a warm place because Estonia in winter gets really dark, it’s almost polar night, no sun and it’s really cold. I’ve always felt like a warm weather person.” 

With those parameters in mind, Turban began researching potential options to continue her track and field career while attending a university in America that resided in a warmer climate. Her first thoughts were to look into schools in California and Florida, but after finding out about a database of all the schools that have certain programs, a new place popped up. 

“I found out that there was a [Division 1] women’s track and field program in Hawai’i,” Turban recalled. “At first, I honestly thought it was a joke or like it must be fake – like there’s no way there’s a D1 college in Hawai’i in the first place.” 

After further inspection and a few messages shared back and forth with Rainbow Wahine track and field head coach Tim Boyce, the islands of Hawai’i suddenly became a real option for the track and field standout’s next step. While she planned to take visits and explore all of her options, the world had different ideas. 

The COVID-19 pandemic took away Turban’s plans to go on a trip to the United States and visit a multitude of colleges that she had talked to about potentially continuing her training at, forcing the high jumper to make a decision without stepping foot on any potential campus first. 

“My thought was if I don’t go to Hawai’i, I think I’ll regret it for the rest of my life,” Turban explained. “It worked out perfectly and now, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” 

PHOTO CREDIT: HAWAII ATHLETICS

She would join the Rainbow Wahine track and field program in 2022, making an immediate impact as she took first place in her collegiate debut in the high jump at the Beach Opener 2022. Turban elevated 5-foot-10 inches (1.78m) in her first competition to hold the top spot, a mark that stood as the best nationally for two weeks. 

That was only the beginning of her ascent up the University of Hawai’i record books, where she now holds the second-highest jumps in Rainbow Wahine program history for both the indoor (1.86m) and outdoor (1.87m) teams as she enters her senior season. Last year as a junior, Turban became the first Rainbow Wahine athlete since 2010 and just the third ever to qualify and compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships. 

After an injury held the star high jumper out for the majority of her junior outdoor season, Turban is healthy and ready to attack another year with the Rainbow Wahine. With the gift of health, another year of high jump greatness should be on the way for Turban. 

Regardless, her dreams have become reality in her preferred warm climate, two things she could not be more grateful for. 

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F thrower Valo Sopoaga

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F thrower Valo Sopoaga

Jan 29, 2025

PHOTO CREDIT: HAWAII ATHLETICS

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i T&F thrower Valo Sopoaga

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JANUARY 29, 2025

HONOLULU – For University of Hawai’i sophomore Valo Sopoaga, getting the “athlete” gene was never a question. 

The daughter of former University of Hawai’i standout and 8-year NFL veteran Isaac Sopoaga, Valo is preparing for her second season competing for the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa’s track and field program. Her first season at UH was a strong foundational year, seeing the 5-foot-8 shot put thrower finish 16th at the MPSF Indoor Championships and set personal records in the Big West Championships in both the hammer throw (43.58m) and shot put (13.20m) to close her first go-round of competition in Hawai’i apparel. 

A 2023 graduate of Kaiser high school, Sopoaga moved around quite a bit during her childhood before settling down in Hawai’i. Born in San Antonio, Sopoaga got to traveling from a young age as her mom’s career in the army and dad’s career as a professional athlete made for movement to feel normal. 

The family spent time in San Jose while her father played for the San Francisco 49ers, moving to the east coast around her third-grade year as her dad spent two years between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots before retiring. After the elder Sopoaga’s retirement, the family returned to California until a vacation to Hawai’i turned into much more. 

“We actually were here in Hawai’i for vacation and my dad was helping coach the football team at Kaiser,” Valo recalled. “It was at the beginning of the school year and then it just got extended and we’ve been here for about nine years now and it’s been so much fun.” 

PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Yamamoto / ScoringLive

She started playing organized sports in sixth grade, giving basketball an extremely brief try before finding a love for volleyball. Sopoaga immediately got involved with club volleyball and worked constantly to improve, attending the Rainbow Wahine summer volleyball camps up through her senior year of high school as she pursued a college roster spot. 

With club volleyball winding down to close her 12th grade year, Sopoaga decided to give track and field a try. She recalled her mother always talking about her time competing in track and field during her middle school and high school years while her dad dabbled in track and field as well when he wasn’t dominating on the gridiron. 

The love for the sport grew rapidly as she found fast success in the shot put despite never competing for an organized team in any organized events prior. In her first and only season competing in high school track and field, Sopoaga swept the trifecta of the 2023 OIA East Girls title, All-OIA Girls title and HHSAA state championship in girls’ shotput. 

While she had committed in the fall to go to a school in Oregon to continue her volleyball career, she had started to chat with the University of Hawai’i track and field coaching staff throughout her senior year. While they did not actively push her to decommit, Sopoaga certainly knew there would be interest in having her on the Hawai’i track and field team if she decided to instead go to UH. 

“She understood how important volleyball is to me,” Sopoaga recalled of her conversations with UH throwing coach Sabrina Mendoza. “But I was just set on going to school on the mainland, I was preparing emotionally because I knew I’d be away from my family.” 

The decision was no longer as cut-and-dry as it once had seemed, though.  

Oozing potential as a thrower with high-level success with only one season of training, Sopoaga saw a chance to stay closer to family while pursuing a sport that had rapidly tracked down volleyball as her favorite activity. As the summer chugged along, Sopoaga says she prayed (and cried) a lot to try and choose a path. 

There were creative options, like trying to do both by spending two years with her original choice of volleyball before coming back home and potentially giving another shot to shot put. There was the thought of following through on her original commitment and leaving her family behind as she had tried so hard to prepare for emotionally. 

And, of course, there was the option of staying home. 

“I think when I finally received reassurance and an answer to what I wanted to do for college, thinking about UH, I just felt so happy,” she said. “I’d be able to stay home, be with my family.” 

Plus, the summer and the process reminded her of one particularly important detail. 

“Thinking about going away, I know for me, I get homesick very easily,” Sopoaga chuckled. 

The decision delighted Sopoaga’s parents, who like many parents had begrudgingly prepared for their daughter to leave the protection of home for the continent. As they prepared to say goodbye, Sopoaga excitedly broke the news. 

“They were so happy,” she remembered. “I’ve been loving every second here at UH since then.”  

The University of Hawai’i’s track and field team has loved having the talented thrower as well. While year one introduced her to the college scene with a major focus on getting the key basic techniques down, her growth promises to extend each season with her standout strength. 

She’s a natural. Now watch her work. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Valo Sopoaga Instagram (@juiceelyfee)

Mana Wahine Wednesday: HNN Digital Sports Reporter Cienna Pilotin

Mana Wahine Wednesday: HNN Digital Sports Reporter Cienna Pilotin

Dec 18, 2024

HNN digital sports reporter Cienna Pilotin interviews Campbell QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. | Photo Credit: Cienna Pilotin

Mana Wahine Wednesday: HNN Digital Sports Reporter Cienna Pilotin

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 18, 2024

HONOLULU – It’s always normal to feel a bit sentimental during the holidays. 

In her third year with Hawaii News Now, digital sports reporter Cienna Pilotin thinks back on the little girl from Maui that would ask during Christmas time for a trip over to O’ahu to go to a game at the University of Hawai’i. While sports media was not the original plan, she is grateful to have ended up in the field as a lifelong sports fan. 

A former volleyball player, Pilotin grew up loving all kinds of sports in a family that enjoyed everything from the field to the court. Much like most Hawai’i sports fans with professional teams, her loyalties reside in different cities for a multitude of reasons and her heart remains passionate for athletics. 

While she was a volleyball player, she remembers growing up in the prime Kobe-Los Angeles Lakers years and cheering along with her dad as her love for hoops expanded. Her football team – the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs – is a love that came at a younger age as she followed along in her aunt’s path of cheering the Chiefs. 

“All these people think that I’m a bandwagon, I promise you I’m not,” Pilotin laughed as she explained. “My mom’s sister actually lived in Kansas City for a while, so she’s like a huge Chiefs fan, raised her whole family to be Chiefs fans and so I just followed with her – and I went through all the times of them not being good.” 

She continued to get more into football in high school and even found herself becoming a bigger hockey fan during her time in college at UNLV with an expansion franchise overlapping with her stay in the Ninth Island. While she loved sports, it wasn’t the path she had chosen for her undergraduate studies – that would be business, with an interest in marketing of course. 

Pilotin during her graduation from UNLV. | Photo Credit: Cienna Pilotin

That led her back to Hawai’i, more specifically O’ahu, where she then interned at Hawaii News Now. That experience changed the calculation for Pilotin, sending her back to school to get her master’s degree in journalism as she went from the business side of things to the world of media. 

“I look back and I wouldn’t have done it any other way, but I can’t imagine what I would be doing in business,” Pilotin said. “I knew I liked marketing, so within business that was like my focus. So, I took a lot of marketing classes, and I really liked it, and I think that kind of helped me to where I’m at today. I learned a lot from it so I wouldn’t change a thing.”  

She has worked at HNN since 2022, continuing to create her own niche in a world that is oversaturated with voices and outlets to consume information from. Whether it be in tandem working with Kyle Chinen in the field or on HNN Overtime or doing postgame after Hawai’i football home contests, she has worked hard to be essentially everywhere at the same time. 

Hawai’i high school football remains above all though for Pilotin. She has seen the elite showmanship of a Las Vegas Golden Knights home game, been to the Super Bowl for work and watched her own team win it and experienced dozens of other environments throughout the sports landscape and yet, it is the Hawai’i high school football scene that has captured her interest the most. 

“Nothing compares to high school football here … when it’s high school football season, it’s just so fun and you have social media [with it],” Pilotin said. “I’ve kind of just been on TikTok recently, I’m trying to make myself versed with the kids, I guess. So, I see a lot of discussion on TikTok during high school football season and I’ve just done a whole deep dive. The fandom here is so entertaining and nothing comes close to it.” 

Her recent enjoyment for the overwhelming entity that is Hawai’i high school football has not stopped her from coverage of anything and everything having to relate with the islands. Pilotin continues to expand her portfolio with coverage of the NFL Draft for players with Hawai’i-ties, the Olympics, the Super Bowl, University of Hawai’i athletics and nearly every high school sport there is. 

Pilotin on-site for coverage of Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and 49ers. | Photo Credit: Cienna Pilotin

As one of only a handful of women in the industry in the local market, Pilotin says she has had nothing but kindness shown to her by most of her male colleagues, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting to see the continued influx of young female talent into a field that has long been dominated by men. 

“You would like to see more females working in this industry,” she said. “I think that’s kind of what we are headed towards, but it’s hard to get your foot in the door and stay there. It takes a lot of sacrifice.” 

It takes weekend, holidays, late nights and lots of work, but Pilotin is happy to do it. She also is more than happy to be a resource for any young women hoping to follow in the path and pursue their sport media dreams – or whatever it may be. 

“I just always want young women – or anybody listening – to feel like they have a voice and if they ever have any questions or are trying to break through into anything, they can reach out to me and I would be happy to help in any way,” Pilotin said. 

At the end of the day, she’s simply happy to be where she is – and is excited to see what the future may bring. No matter what, she’ll be there and will be happy to see anyone else along for the ride.