SAN ANTONIO – Meet Instant Replay’s newest Scholar Athlete of the Week: Noelani Ajel of Steele High School.
Noelani is a four-year member of the varsity basketball and varsity soccer teams. She was named First-Team All-District for basketball and Academic All-District for both sports. Noelani is a member of the National Honor Society and the Air Force JROTC where she earned the Tuskegee Airman Certificate of Achievement Award. She maintains a 4.0 GPA and is ranked in the top 12 percent of her class. Noelani has accepted a scholarship to play collegiate basketball and soccer for Texas Lutheran University, where she will major in Kinesiology.
WHAT MEMORIES DO YOU TAKE AWAY WITH YOU AS YOU LEAVE HIGH SCHOOL?
“My favorite memories have to be my sophomore year - our playoff run. We went all the way to the fifth round and all of that was very memorable for me.”
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS?
“Be in class, pay attention and turn in all of your work.”
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER YOU GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL?
“I’ll be going to TLU to play soccer and basketball and will major in Kinesiology to become an athletic trainer. My sophomore year I hurt my ankle and watching the trainers tape my ankle, I was like ‘I want to learn that’ and when I did, I started getting really good at it, it was fun.”
WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR PARENTS OR TEACHERS OR COACHES?
“To my parents - thank you so much for supporting me and cheering me on through my journey. To my coaches - thank you so much for believing me and getting me to where I am now. To all my teachers - thank you so much for educating me, to be as smart as I am now.”
Daniel P. Villanueva has worked with KSAT 12 for over 20 years and is an award-winning producer. To submit story ideas, email dvillanueva@ksat.com