The recipients of this year’s Wayne “Big Dog” Joseph Scholarship were announced last week, as four high school senior runners were awarded $1,500 scholarships — and a fifth received the “Most Inspirational” award from Sunrise Athletics, along with a $500 scholarship— last week during the Central Pacific Bank/BIIF Track and Field finals at Kealakehe High.
The scholarship, which has awarded nearly $70,000 dollars to Big Island high school runners over the years, was created by — and perpetuated in honor of — the late Wayne Joseph, a teacher and cross country coach.
This year’s scholarship recipients are Waiakea High’s Micah Tajiri and Malia Hill, Kea‘au High’s Daphne Igloria and Hilo High’s Mia Lavarias.
Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i senior Kahiau Poe was named Most Inspirational.
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MICAH TAJIRI
Tajiri didn’t get into cross country until his sophomore year of high school, and he hated it.
But, that’s exactly why he kept running.
“I fell in love with the pain of running and used it to channel the stresses and hurdles of my life into a productive and beneficial activity,” Tajiri wrote in his scholarship application. “I was one of the slowest runners on the team, but I didn’t care. I was there to grow, not to win. I carried this mindset throughout the following two years of my high school career and saw incredible growth in all areas of my life.”
Tajiri placed No. 13 in the BIIF Open Championship race at Hawaii Preparatory Academy in late October.
He plans to attend UH-Manoa to study mechanical engineering — and has set a goal to earn a master’s degree in four years. Though the Rainbow Warriors don’t have a cross country team, Tajiri is going to keep running — and aims to run the next Honolulu Marathon as well as the ‘Ohi’a Lehua half-marathon in Volcano.
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MALIA HILL
Hill is a multi-sport athlete, longtime runner and aspiring Air Force pilot.
Playing soccer and running for both Waiakea’s track and cross-country teams, Hill stays active year-round and is passionate about athletics.
“Running has brought me solace,” Hill wrote in her scholarship application. “It’s given me a sense of accomplishment, an outlet, a new community, novel goals, foolish aspirations, and the ambitions that come along with it. I’ve been running since elementary school, but it wasn’t until high school that I realized how much freedom there is to gain by running.
“I’ve formed unbreakable connections, experienced the relief, exhilaration, and pain that comes after a tough run, grown in ways I didn’t know were possible, and learned that ‘almost there’ does not mean that I am almost there.”
Hill intends to study nueroscience in college, with the goal of returning to the Big Island to work as a neurologist or a neuro-ophthalmologist.
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DAPHNE IGLORIA
Igloria’s running prowess has earned her multiple trips to the BIIF and HHSAA champions, as well as status as one of the Cougars’ top runners.
Throughout her high school career, she has balanced three-sport participation with jobs and a plethora of extra-curricular activities.
“In the years that I’ve been running, I’ve learned patience, contentment, perseverance, and so much more that’s allowed me to overcome challenges, be kinder, and appreciate where I am,” Igloria wrote in her scholarship application. “I wouldn’t be able to carry as many responsibilities as I do, if I didn’t learn to stick through the uphills of life.”
In college, she plans to study psychology and nursing.
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MIA LAVARIAS
Whether it’s track, soccer or cheerleading — Mia Lavarias is a passionate and consistent athlete.
In addition, she takes part in many clubs and extra-curriculars — and is a futsal referee.
This fall, she will head to Weber State University to pursue a major in exercise science, with the goal of becoming a physical therapist.
“Running didn’t always come easily to me when I first started on my running journey,” she wrote in her scholarship application. “However, as I stayed committed to being the best runner I possibly could, the results slowly started to show. The biggest impact was that it translated into the different sports that I took part in throughout the year and it showed when I started running. In my senior year of high school, I was able to take home multiple BIIF championship titles and these achievements strongly affected me because I realized the impact (that) hard work can have.”
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KAHIAU POE
As a highly versatile athlete, Kahiau Poe has spent all season dominating the ranks of BIIF jumpers and runners.
At the BIIF championship last week, he took home gold medals in the long jump (20-4.75 ft), the 100 meter dash (10.96 sec) and the 200 meter dash (22.71 sec).