All-American in a uniquely classic way, he is.

Saxoni Frank is, arguably, the most athletic tumbler in high school competitive cheer, with the 3.87 grade-point average and a commitment to join the team at Purdue. He turned down an opportunity at Ohio State and 21 other universities.

Frank doesn’t consider himself a prototypical student-athlete. He says he isn’t the quiet type — just painfully shy, but becoming a bit more outgoing every day.

He isn’t the standard 6-foot-plus base on the mat, throwing and catching flyers. He’s a whirlwind, a Tasmanian Devil with the discipline of a martial artist, one with an incredible vertical.

He became an Nfinity All-American as a freshman, working constantly, living every day as if he was an underdog with something to prove. From Guatemala to Red Hill, from a baby with deep health issues to eye damage as a teenager, Frank was built to fight adversity. Even now, with the Zippy’s/HHSAA Competitive Cheer State Championships set for Wednesday, he has a sprained ankle and toenail that was ripped off after a minor accident with the garage door at home on Friday.

The thing is, he doesn’t talk much. He just turns every challenge into fuel.

In 2007, Bo Frank saw something different on TV. That moment changed his life and the life of a baby named Jose.

“My dad said it felt like it was his calling,” said Saxoni Frank, now 17 years old. “He got in touch with the agency. He had two choices, two Joses. One of them was very cute. Fat baby. I looked like a goblin because I was malnourished and skinny.”

The baby’s family was struggling in their town. Jose’s mother wanted a better future for him.

“I don’t think her family approved of her having a kid,” Saxoni Frank said.

The process was a long trail of ups and downs. December 2007 was the last time babies from Guatemala would be adopted by families overseas.

“I think I might have been the last one,” Saxoni Frank said.

The long trip home from Central America began. Bo Frank and Tom Luna became first-time dads. They have adopted two more children since. Saxoni is the quiet, observant oldest sibling. He was dealt a tough hand early in life but sees why his mother made her decision.

“He would always tell me. He never kept a secret. ‘You’re adopted, Sax. You’re from Guatemala.’ We would talk to my mom. She has Facebook, so I message her. We have this translator and we would always be in contact with him,” Saxoni Frank said. “She always wanted me to have a better life. She was poor.”

When he was 11, they returned to Guatemala to visit his family. They brought a new phone for her.

“I have a sister there. We got my mom a phone. She lives in a cement block, kind of. No running water. They light a fire for the stove. They raise their own goats and a pig. I don’t speak Spanish, so I have to use Google (Translate) to talk to her,” he said. “When we visited her, I didn’t know what to feel. It’s like meeting a stranger. It was relieving to know they’re doing OK. They’re happy.”

The massive amount of red tape couldn’t stop Bo Frank. So many sketchy characters, indeed.

“We had to pay thousands of dollars to get him through different court systems in Guatemala,” he said. “The Hague convention was used to shut down international adoptions on Dec. 30, 2007. As of Dec. 12, we still didn’t have clearance to go to Guatemala and pick up Saxoni even though the government already finalized the adoption. It was crazy and stressful.”

Bo Frank’s persistence made the difference. They brought Saxoni home on Dec. 20. He was thin, malnourished. He was in his new home.

“I would do it all over again. It was crazy but well worth it to provide a family and love to a child who probably would’ve died if he wasn’t adopted,” Bo Frank said. “Sax is an amazing young man and we are very proud of him.”

In the old country, Saxoni Frank might make it out of poverty. He might not. In America, he is a scholar-athlete on his way to Purdue after graduation.

“I did feel bad when we went to her house and her neighborhood,” he said. “I remembered what I have at home in Hawaii.”

***

“It was really close and, unfortunately, we were second. We decided to go to nationals. We worked our (tails) off. It was short notice and we fundraised. We had a lot of injuries, but we figured it out.”

—Emma Hood, on Radford’s 2022 state tournament

She remembers it well. In December 2022, Hood was a sophomore when Radford went to the state championships and finished runner-up. For the competitive cheer dynasty, it was a bitter end to the season. The pain of a letdown, a blemish on their legacy. Perhaps overblown, but the Rams couldn’t swallow it.

The team decided to extend its season and do the improbable: find a way to the national championships.

The fairy-tale comeback didn’t go as smoothly as hoped. In Dallas, site of the annual NCA Championships, Radford was competing against the nation’s best for the first time in years. Coach Bo Frank had taken a five-year break before returning in 2021. No trip to nationals that year.

A year later, their new goal came down to Dallas. Those nationals were in January 2023. Hood and Coach Bo’s oldest son, Saxoni Frank, their All-America tumbler, were the base in their routine.

“We dropped Taejah (Telles) and got a deduction on that. We had to keep pushing through the routine. I remember that night we were disappointed,” Hood recalled. “We went immediately back to the house after the comp. We didn’t shower or anything. We still had our makeup on, our hair up.”

The team headed upstairs.

“We kept repping that stunt we just dropped. It was the same routine the next day,” she said. “We were tired for sure. We all had to suck it up. We wanted to go into the next day with no regrets. We really tried our hardest.”

Frank remembers doing 20 reps of that stunt with Hood and their teammates.

“We didn’t want to worry about it. That’s one of the worst things you can do. We did have a little tumbling fall (on day two), but we did all our skills and got our points. We made it on top,” he said. Radford won the national title.

“Once the announcers said we were the national champions, we said, ‘Good job.’ This is what we trained for.”

Nothing, of course, is automatic. Last season, Radford won another state championship but did not win the national title. The Rams find themselves training regardless of accomplishments. Their drive is endless. With Hood, Frank and the senior class, their final go for a state title is on Wednesday. In January, one last run at a national crown.

“It feels a little different because it’s my last one. Our last ride,” Frank said.

The toe injury is irrelevant, he says.

“It was kind of like a crime scene, but I didn’t really feel it,” Frank said of the toenail accident. “I feel great. I take some Advil before practice. I doesn’t hurt that much.”

* * *

“One time I slept over at their house. We were the only guys on the team last year. I was cooking steak on the Blackstone grill. I turned it on. Darn, this thing is not cooking. After five minutes, Sax came outside and said, ‘You’re stupid! You have to lift up the cover.’ So we lifted it up and the grill was super hot. We cooked the steaks. They were perfect, medium rare, perfectly seasoned. Garlic salt, pepper and a special seasoning. So every day before comp, I go over there. That’s our thing. Coach Bo gets rib-eyes from Costco.”

— Zy Telles-Kuwahara

With an older sister who was the first in their family on the Radford cheer squad, Telles-Kuwahara is the second sibling entrenched in the life. His younger sister, Sabre, is a freshman on the squad. He is a middle infielder, outfielder and pitcher on the baseball team. He dabbled in football this year, playing safety, outside linebacker and wide receiver.

Competitive cheer, Telles-Kuwahara said, is a good way to stay in shape for baseball.

“I feel there’s a lot of burnout in baseball. A lot of shoulder injuries. It’s good to do other things. I get a lot of core work, a lot of stretching,” he said. “I saw Sax doing all these flips. This guy is really talented and good. My sister (Taejah) and Sax both said, you’re strong, you should try out. I can do the flips, just not as good as him.”

It won’t be long before Frank’s days in the black and red come to a close at Radford.

“Man, it’s going to be a lot different. He brings a lot of intensity, a lot of talent to the team. He’s always in it. Never lazy. That’s how we run it,” Telles-Kuwahara said. “You can’t just do half-(baked) over here.”

Frank won’t forget that bond.

“When me and him walk into a room, we’re the hardest workers in the room,” he said.

Frank’s work ethic in the classroom is a major reason why he committed to Purdue, which has the top college aviation program in the country. This is where Frank’s dream and the nightmare of Red Hill intersect. His family lived there through the disaster of tap water poisoned by jet fuel. The leakage problem caused health issues for families at Red Hill.

Frank and his siblings had frequent bloody noses, but the damage was worst for Frank. His eyes became damaged because of the poisoned water. Keratoconus, an eye disease that causes the cornea to thin and budge, caused his perfect 20/20 vision to degrade to 20/300. Surgeries and treatment brought his vision back to an extent, to 20/30 vision.

“It was my dream to become an airline pilot,” he said. “Now what do I do? I don’t know.”

* * *

“It’s something I knew I wanted to do. When I was really young, I would watch the ‘Bring It On’ movies. I told my grandmother I wanted to be one of those girls. At first, she didn’t really understand competitive cheer pushed those boundaries. She thought it was sideline cheering.”

—Kirstin Gilkey

Frank isn’t the only Ram who grew up with the hope of being the best in the sport. Gilkey began at 6. By the time she was at Aliamanu Middle School, she was in club cheer with Frank.

“We’re like siblings. When we would have down days, we would sit down and talk about it before practicing. One of the big things is not to go into practice with negative energy. As a leader, Sax is more quiet. He’s an observer. For when we do stuff on the mat, I’m the louder one and will reach out to our teammates. When it comes to before and after the routine, he’ll gather everyone.”

To this day, Gilkey has props for her unofficial brother.

“Sax is a very inspirational person to be around. He’s very uplifting,” said Gilkey, who plans to major in nursing at the University of Hawaii.

* * *

“It’s been a little more than a year. When it happened, I was in shock. When I was around my family, I kept my composure. I wanted to comfort them, not myself. I just miss not spending time with him. I wasn’t a big talker, which I kind of regret. Every time we would leave, he would give me a handshake and challenge me to squeeze his hand as hard as he can. He had cancer. He was in pain. We could see it in his face.”

— Saxoni Frank, on his grandfather, Lawrence Frank

Lawrence Frank was a basketball coach, an assistant to Eddie Maruyama at Moanalua back in the day. He is why Bo Frank also played hoops at Moanalua during an era when Na Menehune won a state title.

Saxoni Frank has taken an interest in photography, video, even designing T-shirts. Stuff that preserves the moment and celebrates life in big and small ways. He misses his Papa.

“I wish I could have sat down and had an actual conversation with my Papa before his passing,” he said.

* * *

“Sax taught me how to back-flip. I didn’t know how to tumble or flip at all. I’m a soccer player, so I have no experience whatsoever.

I do cheer because of my older sister and brother. I saw the level of their comp and said that’s crazy. I didn’t want to do it until high school. I got there and this is a LOT. But it’s fun and good for my training. You have to be athletic and be in shape.”

— Sabre Telles-Kuwahara

She is a freshman, but the nerves aren’t quite as powerful thanks to her experienced teammates. Sabre Telles-Kuwahara is a base right now, but learning to become versatile.

“When we travel, I’m going to tumble. Sax is building up my confidence. I trust him spotting me, so that’s really good,” Telles-Kuwahara said.

She needed help, so Frank stepped out of his shell.

“It’s kind of like my first time teaching things. I’m not really good at talking and explaining things, but I’ll spot her and show her,” he said. “Sabre learns really fast and she’s landing on her own. It’s been a learning experience for both of us.”

Q&A

Saxoni “KJ” Frank

Radford High School • Senior • Cheerleading

Favorite movies

1. “The Truman Show”

2. “Spider-Man: No Way Home”

3. “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (TV)

Favorite food

1. Steak

2. Laulau

3. Lilikoi

“My grandma used to grow lilikoi in her back yard. I just recently started growing it. I got seeds from a farmer’s market.”

Homemade cooking

1. Dad’s mapo tofu

2. Dad’s baked spaghetti

3. Dad’s pot roast

“It’s just by feel. My dad (Bo Frank) will work with whatever’s in the fridge. I haven’t attempted to, but I could probably make the baked spaghetti.”

Favorite artists:

1. Josh Tatofi – “Pua Kiele”

2. Bruno Mars – “Locked Out of Heaven”

3. Three Days Grace – “Riot”

Favorite athlete: Danell Leyva

“I just remember always watching the YouTube videos and watching him in the Olympics.”

Funniest teammate: Zyon Telles-Kuwahara, Jaja McFadden

“Zy is always cracking jokes at practice. Most of the time, he’s in a good mood and brings a lot of energy to practice. Jaja was on the team my freshman year. He was a senior. We would always crack jokes and make fun of each other.”

Smartest teammate: Jannea Aquino (4.5 GPA)

GPA: 3.87

“I struggle with time management sometimes. I’m a very big procrastinator. If I really need to, I’ll do work when there’s free time.”

Favorite teacher/class: Mr. (Duane) Eldredge, seventh/eighth grade (Aliamanu Middle).

“He was my advisory teacher. We could all relate to him. He’s pretty local, talking to us in pidgin and cracking jokes. I saw him as an uncle, not as a teacher.”

Favorite quote: “One more” — my Papa (Lawrence Frank).

Hidden talent: Using a camera and Adobe platforms

“I taught myself how to operate a camera. Take videos and photos, make T-shirt deigns. I made my own senior shirt. I made the design and sent it to one of my friend’s dads to print.”

New life skill: Working on my communication

Bucket list: “Do a bodybuilding competition. Do one boxing tournament. Visit the Maldives. Visit Japan for my birthday, which is cherry blossom season. The Maldives is really peaceful. Traveling has been part of my life since birth.”

Travel history: Japan (Nagoya, Osaka), Guatemala, California, Washington, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee.

“Some of it was with dad to his competitions, and mine, and vacations.”

Youth sports: Soccer, gymnastics

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self? “Don’t always keep to yourself, express yourself and talk to the people who care about you. And to work hard no matter what life throws at you.”

Shoutouts: “My Mimi (grandmother Colleen Frank), my Papa, my fathers, two siblings, family, Zyon, Jaja, all the people who has supported me through all of my years. My auntie lives with Mimi. Everybody cooks. She makes a great beef stew.”