Fourteen of the 15 individuals honored at the annual HMSA Kaimana Awards luncheon at the Hawaii Convention Center last Saturday. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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For the quartet of Alexa Narayan (left), Joey Pantil (center left), Kiarah Gomard (center right) and Kacey Wong (right), athletics was but one of the many tasks they had on their plate in high school. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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For the quartet of Kiarah Gomard, Alexa Narayan, Kacey Wong and Joey Pantil, athletics was but one of the many tasks they had on their plate in high school.

The four recent graduates were among 15 individuals honored at the annual HMSA Kaimana Awards luncheon at the Hawaii Convention Center Saturday.

For the 12th consecutive year, HMSA partnered with the Hawaii High School Athletic Association to highlight the achievements of a group of well-accomplished students — both in and out of the arena of athletic competition.

Gomard competed in bowling and sailing at Sacred Hearts. Despite transferring from Aiea midway through her junior year, Gomard maintained a 4.0 grade point average through four years of high school.

"I wasn't feeling academically challenged enough and it was really hard for me at first because Sacred Hearts is a private school compared to Aiea, which is public, so it was hard to keep up with the academics, but I also really liked that challenge," said Gomard, who credits her mother for making her education a priority.

"It was tough at first having to pay for tuition but she reminded me that that's not my problem and that she would take care of it and even when I was applying to college, she said ‘Don't worry about it, we'll figure out a way to help you in whatever you want to do,' and so I'm really grateful for her and everything that she's done," said Gomard, who intends to study animal science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Wong, Gomard's classmate at Sacred Hearts, saw her soccer career cut short after sustaining a series of concussions that forced her to the sideline for good.

For the quartet of Alexa Narayan (left), Joey Pantil (center left), Kiarah Gomard (center right) and Kacey Wong (right), athletics was but one of the many tasks they had on their plate in high school. Greg Yamamoto | SL    Purchase image

"I sustained three severe concussions and I couldn't play soccer anymore so it really shaped the way that I academically had to change myself and I focused more on my school career, but I was able to join more clubs and become more academically-oriented," said Wong, who was a member of the National Honor Society.

Wong's passion on the pitch transferred to a passion for the medical field. She volunteered at a physical therapy clinic that she was once a patient at and has a desire to one day become a physician.

"Because of everything that happened to me, I feel like a lot of people helped me and I want to give back to them," said Wong, who will study biology at Concordia University in Portland, Ore. "People who are in similar situations like mine, because of what I went though, I can relate to them and I feel like I can best help them."

Despite a hectic schedule, Narayan also found the time to volunteer at a Maui adult day care center — one of the many extracurricular activities she kept busy with.

"I think about the saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child,' and there's just so many people that have supported me along the way that I think it's important to give back equally, if not more, because there's a lot of people who need help out there," said Narayan, who participated in four sports at Maui Prep.

In addition to being a member of the school's cross country, track and field, swimming and diving and surfing teams, Narayan also founded the Science Olympiad, was president and founder of the Vegan Cook Club, vice president of the National Honor Society, treasurer of the Rotary Interact Club and served as senior class president.

Narayan, who moved from Pennsylvania to Hawaii in the fifth grade, said she draws inspiration from her grandmother.

"Her parents were Slovakian immigrants and she grew up on a farm. None of her siblings had gone to college and she sold eggs door-to-door to fund her first year of college, she went and got a job at a grocery store after that. She's doing well today and she still works — she's 70 and still healthy — so she's kind of been a big influence in my life," said Narayan, who plans to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering with a minor in nutrition sciences.

Juggling a full slate of activities was also a common theme for Pantil, who volunteered with a number of programs — including the Next Step Shelter, the Weinberg Village of Waimanalo, the Hawaiian Humane Society and the Laulima Giving Program among others — while participating in soccer all four years at Nanakuli, where she also served as National Honor Society president.

"At Nanakuli you have to take advantage of all the opportunities given to you because you have so many and at a small school it's open for you. Especially coming from a community, where it's close-knit and we all know each other, I think it's important to immerse yourself into every opportunity you're given," said Pantil, who graduated with a 4.4 GPA earlier this month.

Pantil wants to work to break the negative stereotype surrounding her community.

"Coming from a community where we're looked down upon, I just wanted to make my home a better place and let people know that we're capable of doing great things," said Pantil, who also credits her mom for paving the way for her success.

"My mom is also the most influential person because she's my rock and everything that I am is because of her. Growing up she didn't have a mom — her mom passed away at eight — and I think that her strength that she shows in her life, that's one that I want to emulate because I don't know how she did it because she's my everything," Pantil said. "I'm actually the first person in my family to go to college. I have three older siblings and my parents, they never went to college, so I used that as my inspiration to work hard and be a well-rounded student."

Pantil will attend Chaminade with the hopes of becoming a nurse practitioner or a doctor.

The opportunities forthcoming are certainly not lost on this group.

"We're all successful and we're all at the place that we are because somebody helped us and I think that it is important to give back to others so that you can help others get to where you are and to get to even more success," Pantil said. "You find the time by just putting others before yourself and telling yourself that ‘This is for the greater good and I need to do this,' and so you make a lot of sacrifices."

Gomard said time-management and prioritizing her tasks helped keep things in perspective.

"You have to go out there and make the time. For me it's a priority, so I make sure to schedule my week in accordance to what I want to do and community service is a part of that," Gomard said. "I believe it's important to give back to our community because we're all a part of it, so people give to us and we should do the same by giving to others and we all live on this earth and it's our job to take care of it."

Other scholarship winners were Rudy Galapon (Keaau), Sabrina Marvin (Hawaii Prep), Devin Eng (Mid-Pacific), Charles Fox (University Lab), Vanessa Hernandez Jimenez (Kapaa), Carolyn Price (Island School), Dorian Raboy-McGowan (Kamehameha-Maui), Michele Fujita (Pearl City), Elray Santiago, Jr. (Campbell), Kanani Uluave (Kahuku) and Ryan Watanabe (Pearl City).

Each honoree will receive a $5,000 scholarship. Since 2006, HMSA has awarded 250 scholarships worth nearly a million dollars through the Kaimana Awards program.

A total of 377 student-athletes applied for the scholarship this year and were judged by a selection committee on academics success, athletics participation, sportsmanship, healthy activities and sportsmanship.

In addition to the individual scholarship recipients, nine schools were selected for Kaimana Awards. Schools earned points for academics, athletics, community service, healthy activities and sportsmanship.

School winners were from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation were Parker (small) and Keaau (large). Le Jardin (small) and Hawaii Baptist (large) took top honors from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Lanai (small) and Kamehameha-Maui claimed the Maui Interscholastic League awards, Kalaheo (small) and Waipahu (large) were the recipients from the Oahu Interscholastic Association and Kapaa was the winner from the Kauai Interscholastic Federation.

For more information on the program and profiles of this year's winners, visit HMSA.com/Kaimana.