ScoringLive staff
June 9, 2014, 6:04am
HONOLULU – Over 15 student athletes were honored at the first ever ScoringLive Distinguished Athlete Awards Ceremony Sunday afternoon.
A crowd of about 100 were on hand at Ala Moana Centerstage to witness Mid-Pacific’s Joshua Terao and Punahou’s Jasmine Mau become ScoringLive’s inaugural Distinguished Male and Female Athlete of the year.
Terao’s storied prep career was one for the ages. The Mid-Pacific senior became the first prep athlete in state history to win four individual championships in wrestling and judo. Terao beat out Kamehameha Schools’ Ryan Stack and Punahou’s Larry Tuileta for the award. He will be joining older brother David on the American University wrestling team next year.
While Terao was the king of the mat, Mau was the queen of the pool. The Punahou senior did her best Michael Phelps impersonation during her career, winning 14 gold medals in girls’ swimming events. She beat out Seabury Hall’s Dakota Grossman and Mililani’s Alyssa Tobita for the award. Mau will be swimming for the University of California-Berkeley next year.
All six finalists for the Distinguished Athlete Award were also inducted into the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Hall of Honor just a week ago.
Another piece of hardware that was handed out was the Pizza Hut Newcomer award. To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete had to have been participating in their first year of play in varsity of athletics. Saint Francis’ freshman Taylor Lau won the award with her upset win over Tobita, a three-time defending state tennis champion. Lau beat out 19 finalists for the award.
Players of the Year from ScoringLive’s inaugural All-Hawaii teams in Football, Girls and Boys Basketball, Softball and Baseball were also honored at the ceremony.
Distinguished Male Athlete of the Year finalists:
Ryan Stack, Kamehameha Schools - nine gold medals in boys’ swimming events
Joshua Terao, Mid-Pacific Institute - four-time state champion in wrestling, four-time state champion in judo
Larry Tuileta, Punahou School - state champion in football and three-time state winner in boys volleyball; 2013 All-Hawaii Offensive Player of the Year (Football)
Distingushed Female Athlete of the Year finalists:
Dakota Grossman, Seabury Hall - four-time state cross country champion, four-time state champion in 3000 meters, two-time state champion in 1500
Jasmine Mau, Punahou School - fourteen gold medals in girls’ swimming events
Alyssa Tobita, Mililani High School - three-time state champion in girls’ tennis, four-time OIA champion
2013-14 All-Hawaii Players of the Year
Football
D1 Offensive Player of the Year: Larry Tuileta, Punahou
D1 Defensive Player of the Year: Kelii Padello, Mililani
D2 Offensive Player of the Year: Thomas Buntenbah-Leong, Kaiser
D2 Defensive Player of the Year: James Bukoski, Kauai
Girls Basketball
D1 Player of the Year: Chanelle Molina, Konawaena
D2 Player of the Year: Casey Poe, KS-Hawaii
Boys Basketball
D1 Player of the Year: Joshua Burnett, Maryknoll
D2 Player of the Year: Matthew Nuumanaia, Saint Francis
Softball
D1 Player of the Year: Nicole Lopez, Mid-Pacific
D2 Player of the Year: Alexis Paulo-Meyers, Nanakuli
Baseball
D1 Player of the Year: Jordan Yamamoto, Saint Louis
D2 Player of the Year: Joshua Muneno, Maryknoll
Pizza Hut Newcomer of the Year: Taylor Lau, Saint Francis