For the 11th consecutive year, HMSA recognized a number of extraordinary student-athletes at its annual Kaimana Awards luncheon at the Hawaii Convention Center Sunday.

Fifteen recent high school graduates each received a $5,000 scholarship from HMSA, which has awarded a total of 220 scholarships worth more than $500,000 in the history of the program. Taken into consideration by the seven-person selection committee were athletics, academics, community service, healthy activities and sportsmanship.

Among those honored Sunday was Molokai's Cendall Manley, who is the third member of her family to receive a Kaimana Award, joining brother Colton, a 2009 recipient, and sister Charisse, a 2012 honoree.

"It's such a huge honor," Manley said. "I just feel like I'm living up to that legacy of my brother and sister, which are really big shoes to fill, so it's such an incredible honor. Besides the monetary amount, which is a huge factor in me being able to go to college, but just the honor of receiving an award like this is just so exciting for me."

Manley competed in cross country and volleyball for the Farmers, but excelled most on the wrestling mat, where she captured a state championship in the girls' 168-pound division last February.

Manley, one of nine valedictorians at Molokai this year, said wrestling has been a big part of her life.

"I gave a speed at graduation and I said how this next step of life is like us stepping out onto the wrestling mat of life," said Manley, whose father, Randy, served as her high school coach. "Wrestling has taught me so much about character and being a good sport and losing graciously. There's so many parts of wrestling that parallel to real life that it's just helped me so much and it's really shaped me into the person I am today. I just love using what I've learned from wrestling and applying it to every aspect of my life."

Athletics, however, is just a small part of every day life for Manley, who served on her school's student council as vice president and was a member of the community service and environmental clubs. She also created the PEPP (Peers Encouraging Positive Participation) Club and is an active member of her community church.

"I've been able to go to Haiti three times on mission trips over there after the earthquake just to help," Manley said. "That was such an incredible experience being able to help the Haitian people. I really just love helping people so I try to get involved as much as I can."

With so many activities on her plate, prioritization went a long way for Manley.

"Organization is kind of a hard thing for me, so I really had to sit down and sort it all out, but still just try to enjoy the moment rather than getting overwhelmed by how much needed to be done," said Manley, who drew her biggest inspiration from her parents.

"They always try to do as much as they can for whoever they can," said Manley, who will attend Liberty University in Virginia, where she plans to pursue a path in science or education.  

Another one of the honorees, Kaimuki's Emily Wong, also credited her parents for their role in her upbringing.

"They immigrated from somewhere else, they didn't speak English and they didn't have these opportunities that I do," said Wong, who participated in cross country, track and field and was a captain of the Bulldogs' soccer team. "All I want to do is make them proud and right now I'm so, so happy to see that smile on their faces when I tell them that I got an award, or I did this — just to see them smile like that, I know everything is going to be worth it."

Wong juggled a hectic extracurricular schedule that included volunteering with the Special Olympics, the Hawaiian Humane Society and the Hawaii State Library. In school, she was a member of the band, president of the National Honor Society and served as a student athletic trainer.

Like Manley, Wong said time management was instrumental to handling all of her duties.

"I guess sometimes there is no sleep, but usually I try to get some friends and we'll all go together, so that I'll be able to hang out with my friends and then we'll do the volunteer activity after, we'll probably do some kind of a study group, go to dinner, rest and then plan out the next day," Wong said. It was kind of crazy to juggle everything, I guess."

Wong, who will attend the University of Northern Colorado to pursue a degree in biology, also took a full load of college classes at Kapiolani Community College and had already accumulated 31 college credits before even graduating from high school last month.

"I thought that was really cool that they had a program for that, to offer college classes for us high school seniors to take," said Wong, who also taught ocean safety to children through the American Red Cross. "It was pretty challenging juggling being president of the National Honor Society, still helping out the community and doing other things like soccer, that took up a lot of time."

Wong said that her time as a student-athlete was a pivotal part of her high school experience and taught her numerous valuable lessons.

"Athletics definitely played an important role for me," Wong said. "It taught me how to work with other people, teamwork and leadership, for sure, being co-captain. Especially because our team is very small and this year we had a new coach, we definitely struggled with a lack of players, but to always be able to push through with that group of girls, it just felt good."

The Kaimana Award and accompanying scholarship will allow Wong to become the first in her family to attend school on the mainland.

"I'm really grateful for this scholarship and I hope that in the future more kids will be able to win a scholarship like this because this is amazing and I am so thankful right now," Wong said.

HMSA also honored nine schools with Kaimana Awards. They are:

Big Island Interscholastic Federation
 > Small school: Parker
 > Large school: Keaau

Interscholastic League of Honolulu
 > Small school: Hanalani
 > Large school: Hawaii Baptist

Kauai Interscholastic Federation
 > Waimea

Maui Interscholastic League
 > Small school: Lanai
 > Large school: King Kekaulike

Oahu Interscholastic Association
 > Small school: Kailua
 > Large school: Kapolei

For a complete list of winners and biographies of each individual, visit HMSA.com/Kaimana.