Distinguished Kaimana Scholarships recipients pose for a picture. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kaimana Awards recipients pose for a group picture. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Brien Ing | SL

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HONOLULU — A year ago, Kashannah-Bee Manawis was in a fight for her life. Saturday morning, the recent La Pietra graduate was among 30 student-athletes that were honored at the HMSA Kaimana Awards and Scholarship Program awards luncheon at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Manawis, who competed in cross country, volleyball and track and field at La Pietra, received one of five Distinguished Kaimana Scholarships less than a year after winning her bout with cancer.

"I was diagnosed in the beginning of my senior year and what had really inspired me were the children who I shared a diagnosis with and fought cancer with," Manawis said. "As a teenager, there's a lot to be sad about, but when you see the little kids and just how they make everyday a special day and have fun, you forget any reason to be sad for yourself and move on and I want to fight for their love of life.

"I think this is a huge stepping stone and lets me know that as long as I am confident in everything that I'm capable of and all my abilities, I can achieve anything that I want to and I'm going to just keep moving forward from here," said Manawis, who will pursue pre-medical studies at the University of San Diego in the fall.

Manawis was also vice president of the Red Cross Club, co-leader of the Interact Club, member of the Leo Club and has volunteered at Straub Hospital — where she, herself, was a patient.

Four others — Xrystina Bicoy, Alexandra Pardico, Kristiana Van Pernis and Max Vinci — were also chosen for Distinguished Kaimana Scholarships.

HMSA presented each of the 30 honorees — who represented all five leagues in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association — with a $3,000 scholarship. Distinguished recipients received an additional $2,000 of aide. Among the qualifications were a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.75 and participating in one or more league-recognized sport throughout high school.

Bicoy participated in basketball, cross country, paddling, swimming, tennis and track and field at Molokai, where she earned Principal's List honors all four years and was the valedictorian of her senior class.

"Athletics kind of helped me a lot with academics, because it was a great way to get out a lot of my energy and to keep my body active and when your body is active, your mind kind of keeps up with it, so it was a great way to motivate myself to do better in athletics and academics," said Bicoy, who will study nursing at the University of Wyoming. "It's just such a good feeling to know that you're good enough for something like this and that all the hard work that you put in all four years of school paid off."

Pardico lettered all four years in judo at Maui High in addition to a bevy of volunteer work in her spare time. She gave her time at the vision center of her local Walmart, at her church and to tutor elementary-school students at a homeless shelter.

"It's really rewarding for me to help the little kids, because I know that I'm making a difference in their future," said Pardico, who shared in receiving the scholarship with her family. "It's not just for me, it's more for my parents, I think, because it took a load off for them and everything I do, I try to do for them, so I'm just glad that I was able to make them proud."

Pardico plans to major in biology at Gonzaga University this fall.

Vinci, who competed in both football and wrestling, attended Kailua for three years before transferring to Castle in order to take conceptual physics and advanced-placement biology classes that college admissions counselors recommended for his intended major of astrophysics.

"It was a choice that I didn't really want to make, but it had to be done if I wanted to succeed for college and I'm happy I've done it, but I've enjoyed both schools greatly," said Vinci, who was born with a hyperthyroid disorder and cognitive delay that hindered his ability to speak in complete sentences until he was six years old.

"I started off in special education actually and I worked my way up to where I am now," Vinci said.

Furthermore, his father has endured more than a dozen surgeries in the past nine years, his sister is recovering from a proactive brain tumor and his brother has epilepsy.

"All of this has kind of, in a sense, solidify my character and solidify the fact of 'don't give up, keep working hard,'" said Vinci, who will attend Occidental in Los Angeles. "One of the biggest things that I tell my friends is you can do anything if you keep working hard. Some people are born with it, but everyone is born with determination — it's just whether or not you want to use it or not."

Van Pernis competed in cross country, soccer and track and field for Hawaii Prep. She won the league individual cross country title and finished runner-up in the state meet last fall. Van Pernis, who was unable to attend the luncheon becausee she is participating in the Semester at Sea program and currently circumnavigating Iceland, will attend Brown University with a concentration in biology and genetics.

In addition to the individual honorees, HMSA recognized 10 schools statewide that excelled in athletics, academics, sportsmanship and community service.

Kealakehe (Division I) and Hawaii Prep (D2) took top honors in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, Sacred Hearts (D1) and Hawaii Baptist (D2) finished atop the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Lahainaluna (D1) and Maui Prep (D2) took the Maui Interscholastic League awards, Mililani (Red), Anuenue (Blue) and Kailua (White) won from the Oahu Interscholastic Association and Island School claimed the Kauai Interscholastic Federation award.

In all, HMSA awarded $88,000 in scholarships after sifting through 344 applications. The selection committee was comprised of Chris Chun, executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, Robert Kekaula, Sports Director of KITV4, Debbie Nakanelua-Richards, director of community relations for Hawaiian Airlines, Dana Takahara-Dias, vice principal at Stevenson Middle School and Elisa Yadao, senior vice president of consumer experience at HMSA.

"We really believe in contributing to a healthy community and we mean healthy in the largest sense of the word," said Yadao. "These are young people who have done so much to give to their communities, to achieve in athletics, and to be academically excellent and they've made such an investment in contributing to the community that we really want to be sure that we support what they do, what their parents do, what their coaches do and what their schools do and it's probably some of the best money we'll ever invest."

It was the ninth consecutive year that HMSA has teamed with the Hawaii High School Athletic Association for the Kaimana Awards.