Maui students recognized as top finalists for prestigious Duke Award

Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation (ODKF) gifted 32 scholarships to students from across the state who are making waves in ocean and water sports.

Two of Maui’s high school students were top finalists for the Duke Award, including:

• Kainalu Teeters, a senior at Maui Preparatory Academy, who transferred schools this year due to the Maui wildfires but still considers himself a “Luna for Life.”
• Max Moquin, an accomplished ocean athlete graduating from Seabury Hall.

“All of the students honored at Duke’s Night embody the spirit and passions of Duke Kahanamoku,” said Sarah Fairchild, executive director at ODKF. “They are our next generation of Ambassadors of Aloha, teaching their peers, co-workers, and competitors about Hawaiʻi and the aloha spirit.”

Makana Fake, a student at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, received the Duke Award, the evening’s top student scholarship award of $12,000 in recognition of an exceptional Hawai’i high-school senior who exemplifies the character and values of Duke Kahanamoku.

Born and raised in Kailua, Fake has competed in water sports since she was six years old, including beach and indoor volleyball, surfing, and water polo. She has been honored as a USAWP Nick Johnson Inspiration Award Recipient, USAWP Academic All-American, 6-8 Sports Most Goals Blocked at USAWP National Championships, a contributing member of the Hawaiʻi Girls Water Polo State Champions 2023 & 2024, and USAWP ODP Hawaiʻi Zone.

Passionate about Hawaiian culture, volunteer work, and the ocean, she co-founded the Mālama Papahānaumokuākea Club for interested marine science students at her school. Fake plans to major in Marine Biology at UCSD as she aspires to be a marine mammal veterinarian to preserve Hawaiian ocean ecosystems for future generations.

For the first time, Duke’s Night, the event that celebrated the scholar-athletes, included the Duke Lifesaver Award, honoring a young person from Hawaiʻi who has demonstrated a meritorious act in or around the water to prevent drowning or injury. Kamehameha Schools Kapālama student Camden Fong received the award after sacrificing his chance to score points during a surf meet at Maili Point to help a surfer on the rival team who had lost his board.

The evening also recognized the other Duke Award finalists, including:

• Kainalu Teeters, a senior at Maui Preparatory Academy, who transferred schools this year due to the Maui wildfires but still considers himself a “Luna for Life.” Teeters has paddled for over ten years and plans to study at UCLA with a major in Biochemical Engineering or Chemistry in hopes of becoming a cancer researcher in honor of his late mother.
• Max Moquin, an accomplished ocean athlete graduating from Seabury Hall on Maui. As captain of the paddling team, he steered his crew to two consecutive undefeated seasons in the MIL, and was named MIL Paddler of the Year as a junior. In school, Max has maintained straight A’s, founded a student chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, and been a competing member of the surf team. He has volunteered with restoration efforts on Kahoʻolawe, and travels internationally as a sponsored hydrofoiler. Most recently, he was named Seabury Hall’s Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2024. Max will study Architecture at California Polytechnic State University next year, hoping to return home after college to create sustainable housing communities on Maui.
• Leināʻala Wong, a senior at Kamehameha School Kapālama, who is committed to the University of California at Davis’ swim team. She plans to travel with Kamehameha Swim Club to the Futures meet in Sacramento, California this summer. She also plays water polo and was an awardee of the Evan Cousineau award in 2022, the most valuable player to her ILH and State Champion team in 2023, and a vital member on the 2024 State Champion team. Wong aspires to be a broadcast journalist or news producer, and she is studying communications in college to begin her career path.
• Evan Wong, a swimmer from Oʻahu specializing in middle-distance freestyle events. Wong has attended ʻIolani School since the sixth grade and has been a part of the ʻIolani swimming community for over ten years. Throughout his high school career, Wong has represented ʻIolani at national level meets, won numerous ILH championships, brought multiple state championships back to ʻIolani, broken HSAA records, and won ILH swimmer of the year, all while maintaining straight A’s in the classroom. He will continue his swimming journey at West Virginia University.

The Duke’s Night program featured a panel highlighting Hawai’i athletes who have excelled at the highest levels, including Mark Towill, Wyatt Jones, and Shelley Oates-Wilding. The three panelists shared advice the students could carry into competition and throughout life.

Hawaiian Native Corporation was the event’s title sponsor, alongside the presenting sponsor, Outrigger Canoe Club. Numerous other sponsors also supported Duke’s Night, including Bennet Group Strategic Communications, Hawai’i Pacific Health, First Hawaiian Bank, Graystone Consulting – The Parks Group, and Raising Cane’s. Duke’s Night partners included Florence Marine X, Hawaiian Lifeguard Association, Kona Brewing Company, Vertaccount, Event Accents, Johnson Brothers Wine, The Twin Fin, and Wai Kai.

With the support of generous contributions, ODKF has given more than $3.7 million in grants and scholarships since its inception in 1986. To learn more about ODKF’s mission and impact, visit www.DukeFoundation.org.