Just got back from the annual OIA Awards Banquet, the seventh one I attended since 2001 (missed ‘02 while in Disneyland).

It’s a function I am grateful and honored to be invited to every year, because despite what some haters on this blog like to believe, I actually have been a big fan of the OIA since the late 1970s. I looked up to and idolized guys like Cliff Kaneaiakala (Kaiser), Kurt Gouveia (Wai’anae) and Lakei Heimuli (Kahuku) just like I did the ILH guys like Leroy Lutu (UHS), John Kamana (Punahou) and Kaulana Park (Kamehameha).

Anyway, the OIA is a massive league with 23 schools, almost all of them with a medium-to-large-sized enrollment. The OIA banquet brings all of them together under one roof, at the Ala Moana Hotel.

HHSAA team champions and runners-up are recognized, as are long-time employees and KSSK Coaches of the Year. There also are OIA Special Awards in recognition of outstanding service to the league.

OC16 put together a nice video highlight package showing great clips from throughout the year, in football, volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball.

This year, there was a pleasant surprise to the program when OIA executive director Dwight Toyama presented grants from the fledgling OIA Athletic Foundation to two schools.

Kaiser, which plans to build an equipment storage facility for its new softball field, was awarded a check for $7,000. Wai’anae, which plans to upgrade its weight training facility into a fitness center that can be used by the Leeward community, was awarded $20,000.

After the fast-paced banquet program, many of the attendees migrate to a hospitality room where people from all schools get to socialize and catch up with each other.

I really do admire the OIA, because like Anuenue principal Charles Naumu said, it’s a league that is not exclusive, but INCLUSIVE. Their schools take in all kids from the community and provide them with opportunities, highlighted by the many dedicated coaches and administrators.

And as exemplified by the banquet, the competition within the league is fierce but afterward there is a bond and pride that is shared by all.

From Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto on down to the athletes, there is a “can-do” spirit that says the OIA should take a back seat to no one, and that is very true.

The league had 10 team state championships and dozens of individual state titles this year to prove it.

We all should cheer for the OIA because the OIA is about communities, and we all are part of a community, no matter what school we or our kids go to or graduated from. Me, I always cheered for Farrington.

The OIA is a great league with great people, and the OIA banquet is a refreshing and enjoyable way to celebrate just how great it is.

I never competed in “timed” sports like swimming or track, or even paddling, and I’ve only run a few casual 5Ks, so I haven’t had much exposure to training with set times as goals.

Swim practice, in particular, always looked to me like so much work and not so much fun. Especially compared to basketball practice, which I actually loved and looked forward to every day.

But a few years ago, one of my friends — a pretty good basketball player who probably could have played small college ball somewhere — told me he also swam in high school. I was suprised, not just because it seemed like kind of a strange sports combination, but also because I thought a basketball player would be bored by swim practice.

But he said he also coached a club swimming team for several years, and he told a story about this one relay team that was mediocre at the beginning of the season but ended up winning a championship by season’s end.

“When they touched the wall first,” he said, “that was one of the best moments I experienced in sports.”

Of course, they didn’t win that championship race by accident. It took hours and hours of practice in the pool. Which goes back to so much work that doesn’t look like much fun.

As mentioned in a previous main blog post, climbing the Koko Crater trail is a lot of work and doesn’t seem like much fun when you’re gasping for air and feeling the burn in your legs. The spectacular view at the top is a good reward, especially the first time, but when you’re doing it to get into shape, you start paying attention to your time from bottom to top to measure your progress.

The first time I went, I didn’t mark the exact time but it was a little more than an hour. The second time, 57 minutes, the third, 56 minutes, the fourth, about the same, 56 minutes.

Then last Friday, I kind of noticed the strides being just a little easier — though it still was not easy by any means. I didn’t look at the cell phone clock on the way up, as usual. I finally huffed and puffed my way to the top, then checked the time.

49 minutes!

It was a different kind of sports rush that I can’t really say I’ve had before. Different from winning a game, from hitting a home run over the fence, from swishing a 3-pointer, from making a nice catch or throwing someone out at the plate, from surfing a nice wave.

But looking at that clock and seeing that time definitely was a huge rush, and made me understand better why swimmers and track runners are willing to put in all those hours of grueling practice.

Now, for perspective, 49 minutes is actually pretty slow. I have two friends (female) who do it in half an hour or less, and I met a 58 year-old man (going on 59) who has done it in 16 minutes.

But 49 was my personal best, granted out of only five trips. It was seven minutes off my previous best, and gave me a new target to shoot for the next time, which was today (Thursday).

Went up with strides similar to last Friday, seemed like I was making decent time, the sun was going down so heat was not as much a factor.

Made one last push toward the top, trying not to stop for rest. Got to the summit, looked at the clock.

50 minutes.

Oh well. Back to the trail next time, back to try for that big rush one more time …

Attended the HHSAA Foundation/Advertiser Hall of Honor banquet Sunday night, the eighth straight one I’ve had the privilege of going to.

It’s always an impressive event, and the most impressive aspect always is the 12 inductees. Every year, the group embodies the ultimate in the high school sports experience. They have achieved greatness at such a young age, athletically, individually, within the team realm. On the field, on the court, in the water.

While going through the applications to get information for the bios, it always amazes me how these student-athletes can accomplish so much. As even emcee/former Miss Hawai‘i/Miss America runner-up Kanoe Gibson and UH football coach said Sunday, these teenagers are inspiring.

Reading and listening to their achievements makes you think of what can happen if total, focused effort is put forth. Of course, having talent helps, and no question just about every inductee was born with at least some natural ability.

But you don’t get to where these kids have climbed without investing in a lot of hard work and sacrifices. And this Hall of Honor is just one of many ways in which all that hard work and sacrifice paid off.

And the best part is the bright future they have set up for themselves with the foundation they have built. It is exciting to think of what they might accomplish in college and beyond, whether it’s in sports or not.

I see these 12 inductees and their predecessors as future leaders in our community, and that gives me hope.

I couldn’t help but tell my mom about some of these kids, what they achieved and how some overcame adversity by staying focused on their goals.

“This is one of the best parts of your job,” Mom said.

I agree. One parent Sunday night said she was so impressed by the 12 honorees, but regretted not seeing many of them play.

I’m usually the lucky one who has followed many of their careers since their freshman or sophomore years. I’ve seen them do great things, but going over their applications and seeing all their achievements on paper, reading the letters of recommendation, learning what kind of classes they have been taking, what kind of community work they have done … I get to see the greatness wrapped up in the total package and then shared with the public in one heart-warming and inspiring coronation.

Like Mom said, it’s one of the best parts of the job.

Already received my first official reader complaint Sunday about our baseball All-State selections and page layout: Basically, the guy (anonymous, of course, with no callback number) grumbled, “Where are they? What’s taking so long?”

The short answer is, hopefully by the end of next week. Hopefully.

The longer answer, and explanation, is this:

1. We — or more specifically, I — firmly believe in giving the O‘ahu league all-stars in the most popular sports a display page with pictures of the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year for each league. This goes back to when I was growing up here, when both daily papers would do these display pages for football, basketball and baseball. These pages were so highly anticipated by me and my friends and I’m sure many others, they were part of the reason I got hooked on high school sports.

I still remember scotch-taping The Advertiser’s 1980 ILH Basketball All-Star page (Eric Morales, Jimmy Kalaukoa, John Kamana, Leroy Lutu, Dan Hale) and All-State page (Morales, Lutu, Hale, Reed Sunahara, Sam Johnson) to my bedroom door, right below the nerf hoop. These guys were like idols, along with Tony Dorsett (poster on my wall) and Walter Payton (Sport magazine cover).

Somewhere in the late 1980s or early 1990s, both daily papers here kind of got away from that, to the point where some all-star lists were run in small print only, without any pictures.

One of my goals here, as stated during an informal job interview with The Advertiser in January 2001, was to restore the big all-star layout pages of the past.

2. Assembling these all-star pages, however, turned out to be much more difficult than it looks.

In the 1970s and 80s, the sportswriters of both papers selected their own league all-stars. This means they could select the teams even before the state tournament, and they could limit it to nine baseball players, for example.

In the late 1980s, however, the leagues assumed control of the all-star selection, which is fine because we don’t see all the players in every league. But this also means we are on their schedule as to the release of the selections, and we have no control over the amount of kids selected.

For baseball now, there were 13 players selected to the ILH first team. That’s fine, but if we were to do it the old way, that’s 13 photos we need to take and process, as opposed to nine. And that’s just for the ILH. There’s also the OIA East, West and White, which we never had until this year.

So now we’re talking about up to 50 photos, not including the four Coaches of the Year.

Logistically, not feasible.

At the same time, I still believe that if you make ILH or OIA East or West Player of the Year, you deserve to have your photo in the paper, and the first team should be displayed prominently with a short write-up. So that’s what we do.

But even with just the Players and Coaches of the Year, that’s nine photos we have to arrange (around graduation schedules, trips, etc.) and shoot, chasing people down all over the island and whenever a photographer is available.

3. I firmly believe that the league all-stars should be announced before All-State ballots go out, because it rightfully affects the All-State voting.

For example, a player who might not have otherwise been a strong All-State candidate suddenly gets elevated if it is learned he was his league’s Player of the Year. Same with someone who was named first team all-league over another player.

So we focus on the all-league layouts first, then take care of All-State.

4. We plan to do the same thing for softball and boys volleyball, so that means the same process for both.

The process can be painstaking and requires a lot of phone calls, a lot of coordination, a lot of emergency alternatives, a lot of patience.

But to me, the finished products are worth the wait and I am excited to see them come out just like when I was a kid.

I hope the players, parents and readers feel the same way.

High school graduation no question can be one of the happiest days of a person’s life; I certainly consider it to be one of mine.

I cannot imagine what it feels like to win a league or state championship, but I felt like my classmates and I won something huge on that June Saturday many years ago. It was a day and night of pure joy and emotion, and you could not wipe the smiles off our faces.

The elation can carry over to the next day, the next week, the whole summer really as you attend one graduation party after another and share classic memories with people whom you may not see again for years but will remain lifelong friends.

But along with all that joy comes the reality that for most grads, the end of high school also means the end of competitive sports. Usually high school summers mean conditioning, playing in summer leagues, attending camps and clinics, mentally preparing for the school sports year ahead.

For those few fortunate enough to have a college sports career to look forward to, they can continue that routine after graduation, even needing to step it up a big notch to prepare for the next level.

But for the majority, graduation is a billboard-sized sign that your sports life really is changing and that a new chapter is beginning.

For me, that meant getting a new summer job and saving money for my first semester of college. It also meant hitting the beach and surfing three or four times a week, not worrying about the next basketball season.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we stopped playing ball cold turkey. We still went to Wilson Park, and to the UH outdoor courts on Sundays.

But it was all purely for fun, with no real goals to set or formal workouts to go through.

The reality hit some faster than others.

“Ho, usually we’d be getting ready for football this time of year …” I remember one of my friends saying in late-July, as a graduation party sped past the midnight hour.

Yup, for most of us high school was the peak of our sports career, and with graduation athletics suddenly became a much smaller focal point of our lives.

There’s college intramurals, parks and rec basketball and softball, pickup games, and yes, taking up golf to look forward to.

But the days of offseason training/conditioning/drills, the excitement/devastation of seeing the roster posted after the final cut, the intense, formal practices, the pride in slipping on the jersey with your school’s name on it, the thrill of playing in front of all your family and friends, the obedience of listening to a coach and carrying out instructions, the rush of playing against a school rival …

All that becomes a thing of the past. At least it was good while it lasted.

Anyway, a heartfelt Congratulations to all 2008 Grads! To all senior athletes, mahalo for the memories!

(And don’t worry, there’s still a lot of great experiences to look forward to!)

As far as being a model for future public school facility projects, it would have been hard to find a more ideal starting point than Roosevelt’s Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.

A lot of things had to happen for it to become reality, and a lot of the right people had to be involved. But if it could be done once, I’m sure it could be done again.

It often takes a “perfect storm” for something like this to fall into place so nicely, and that’s what this was. It was the ideal project to push because it did not involve just one school, but four large urban ones: Roosevelt, McKinley, Farrington and Kaimuki.

That’s why it was targeted. Also, because the stadium sits in a rain belt and suffered from poor drainage.

The kick-start was the NFL’s “Grassroots” program, whose grants usually are limited to NFL cities. Anytime you can get a $200,000 head start, it’s a blessing.

Then there was the fundraising effort by Bert T. Kobayashi and the Roosevelt alumni, which includes some movers and shakers in this town like Kobayashi, Marie Milks, Carol Fukunaga, Larry Price, Danny Kaleikini. It just so happened the fundraising effort coincided with the school’s 75th Anniversary, so there was a timely reason to hold a big dinner.

It also helped that State Sen. Brian Taniguchi has been a longtime supporter of Roosevelt — being alumni himself along with his two kids — and of athletics in general. It also really helped that he chaired the Senates Ways and Means committee when the request for legislative support was made and voted on.

It helped that HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya happens to live in Roosevelt’s district, and he and wife Bonny offered to donate a $20,000 scoreboard.

It helped that the weather cooperated for the most part — remember the 40 straight days of rain we had in the winter of 2006?

The design firm, Fukunaga and Associates, lead contractor Kaikor and the 14 sub-contractors did a great job finishing the project pretty much on schedule, on budget and in time for Saturday’s graduation.

The project even got a last-minute bonus when Ryan Shigetani of Hawaii 3R’s rounded up dozens of volunteers to paint the bleachers, a job that otherwise would have cost up to $60,000.

The result is a high school stadium as beautiful all-around as I’ve seen in all my travels.

Now, not every public school can get a $200,000 grant from the NFL, or have a huge 75th Annivarsary dinner spearheaded by such prominent alumni, or get a $20,000 donation from the Amemiyas.

But every school has alumni, and every public school plays a significant role in the community it is located in. So I don’t see why the alumni and community cannot get involved at every school.

I donate money (not a lot) to my high school and college every year, and try to support fund-raising efforts at both. It makes me feel good, that I am helping those who followed me just as I was helped by those that I followed. It also makes me feel good because instead of just complaining about increased costs, I feel in some small way I am directly helping to do something about it.

The public schools really need help with their facilities, and as Amemiya said, they cannot realistically get all the help they need just from the legislature. It takes help from corporations, from private donors large and small, from alumni and the community.

Sometimes, it might take a perfect storm.

But as we have seen with Roosevelt, the results can be fantastic.

Now that the school sports year has come to a close, it’s time for athletes of all teams to begin preparation for next season, if they haven’t already. Afer all, the offseason and individual workouts often are where championships and roster spots are won.

I’m long past the days of school competition, but like many people I’ve set a goal to get back into decent shape this summer. I started a few weeks ago with some very light workouts at Mo‘ili‘ili Field, dusted off the surfboard and finally got back in the water for a few sessions after almost two years, and started shooting baskets at Alewa Park in preparation for our upcoming Media League.

Then last Wednesday, I stepped it up a big notch by attempting the Koko Crater Trail for the first time. I’ve always wanted to try it, because a friend had been telling me for a couple years that it’s her main workout spot and a co-worker also mentioned exercising there often. They both live in Hawai‘i Kai, so I guess I considered it kind of a Hawai‘i Kai thing to do and never got around to it.

But then another friend told me she did it with a bunch of co-workers last week, and yet another friend did it separately that same day, so I decided it was about time for me to experience for myself what seemed to be a very popular fitness spot.

I’m glad I did.

It’s not real fancy or intriguing — just a straight line of railroad tracks (maybe 1,000 ties) going almost all the way up to the peak, then a short but steep dirt trail leading to the summit. It starts out with a steady incline of about 500 ties, then there’s a bridge of about 40 or 50 ties over a ravine maybe 10 or 15 feet deep.

The first time across the bridge can be spooky, because your eyes tend to focus in between the ties to the drop below. There’s also a couple missing ties and others that are badly termite-eaten.

After the bridge, the incline gets steeper, and then the last 50 or so ties are at a really steep angle.

I’m still out of shape, so the first time up I took little over an hour and had to stop many times to catch my breath. But stopping also gives you a chance to look back at the view of Hanauma Bay, Hawai‘i Kai and all the way to Diamond Head and beyond. Once at the summit, the view is spectacular, going out to Sandy Beach, Hawai‘i Kai Golf Course and Kalama Valley.

Going down can still be treacherous at times but obviously less strenuous and faster with less stops for rest. I know people who run down, which I still find amazing because the steps are not even and the footing can be slippery.

Anyway, I went back Saturday and it was a little easier this time, though still very challenging and strenuous. Took me 57 minutes to get from the bottom to top. The bridge was easier, since I focused more on the ties and not the gaps in between.

I can feel myself slowly getting back into shape, so I plan on going back this week to see if I can shave a couple more minutes off the time. It’s a good place to challenge yourself and measure progress, and to get motivated about fitness.

Which brings me to another interesting thing about the place. There was a box at the base of the trail Saturday, with a petition inside asking people to sign in support of keeping the trail open. Apparently the City Parks and Rec department closed the trail very briefly in February and still is looking into possible closure in the future, citing maintenance and safety issues with the shooting range nearby.

I signed the petition, which supposedly will be brought to a Neighborhood Board meeting tonight (Tuesday).

In two visits to Koko Crter trail, I’ve become a fan and see it as a valuable spot for the community. There’s people of all ages and fitness levels using it, including a 58-year-old guy who reportedly can get from bottom to top in 16 minutes. Then there’s slow pokes like me.

But I even see it as a good place for high school athletes to get in shape and develop their leg strength and stamina and mental toughness. It is a physical and mental challenge to get to the top, especially if you set time goals, and there are benefits for both aspects once you get to the top or complete the hike back down.

I’ve never lived in Hawai‘i Kai so I don’t know how popular the trail is with high school athletes there, but if I were one of them I definitely would take advantage of the proximity.

If you are a football or volleyball player, I can see it as a great spot to get yourself into prime condition for practices starting in a couple months.

For this weekend warrior athlete and out-of-shape adult, it’s a great fitness venue that I hope to frequent in the next several weeks in the hope of trimming pounds off the body and minutes off the time.

I hope they keep it open.

OK, I finally got my hands on the Sports Illustrated issue with the article featuring Punahou as the nation’s No. 1 athletic program out of more than 38,000 high schools in the United States of America.

BTW, I was puzzled as to how the rest of the country had the issue on their newsstands Wednesday but even at 7:30 p.m. Thursday it was nowhere to be found at Borders Ward Centre or Barnes & Noble Ala Moana. The copy I have is on loan, from the bunch FedExed to Punahou from SI’s offices in New York.

I don’t subscribe, and my dad canceled his subsciption in March after more than 50 years (no time for us to read it as much nowdays).

Anyway, I wanted to wait until reading the article and seeing the actual layout in the hard copy (instead of just reading the on-line version) before commenting on it as a blog topic.

Overall, I think SI did a pretty good job educating the country on what Punahou is all about. The two-page introductory photo spread was fantastic, and reporter Austin Murphy seemed to grasp both the big picture and the minute details and put them together for a concise, well-written story.

I also give SI credit for legitimizing Punahou’s achievements, because I’m sure there are readers in New York or Texas or Florida who might question how hard it is to win a state championship in Hawai‘i. Some in those states or Michigan or Ohio or Pennsylvania might equate a Hawai‘i state championship as being the champ in Guam, or Rhode Island or Alaska.

Which brings me to why I think Punahou is worthy of the ranking, and why my only big regret with the story is I wish the reporter and photographer also got to spend some time at Kamehameha, ‘Iolani or even Mililani. As impressive as Punahou is academically, athletically and campus-wise, I don’t think those three schools are too far behind.

HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya suggested as much with his comments in Tuesday’s Advertiser article, but at least one person has told me they thought his comments had no merit.

But honestly, I would have to agree with Amemiya that Punahou would not be No. 1 if Kamehameha, ‘Iolani, Saint Louis, Mid-Pacific or even Mililani, Baldwin or Waiakea were not giving the Buffanblu serious competition in nearly every sport across the board. Punahou has to strive and maximize its performances, otherwise they’ll lose.

The article portrays Punahou as the ultimate destination for prospective athletes and students, which might be true, but it ignores the fact that Kamehameha is statistically harder to get into, or that ‘Iolani’s selectivity in admissions is more than comparable.

If Punahou is indeed the “Harvard of Hawai‘i” that a lot of parents want to send their kid to, as Kapolei football coach Darren Hernandez is quoted as saying in the article, then what does that make ‘Iolani, which annually produces twice as many National Merit semifinalists with half the enrollment?

This is no knock on Punahou, because there is no question it is an outstanding school with a fantastic athletic program. I think it deserves the No. 1 ranking, but other schools in Hawai‘i are not very far behind.

Punahou is No. 1 largely because it has to compete in girls volleyball against Kamehameha, which was ranked No. 3 in the nation last season. It has to compete in boys basketball with ‘Iolani, which won seven of the past eight ILH chmpionships. It has to compete in football with Saint Louis, which has won 21 of the past 24 league titles.

It has to compete against athletes like Derrick Low, Brian Ching, Jonathan Spiker.

When your competition is that good, it forces you to raise your bar, train harder and play your best.

So, I agree that the No. 1 ranking is deserving, and I also think Hawai‘i’s overall competition level helped Punahou get there.

Especially in this day and age of intense recruiting wars and technology making communication and data more accessible, it still amazes me how some college prospect gems almost fall through the cracks.

Kama Bailey hardly got any Division I offers for most of the football season, which might have been understandable given Damien’s DII status, but I thought for sure the floodgates would open after he racked up 317 yards and five touchdowns against Punahou. Then he had another spectacular performance against mostly DI competition in the HUB All-Star game.

But his best offer turned out to be Idaho. Nothing against the Vandals or the town of Moscow, and a free education is a free education. But I think they got a steal and other schools might end up wishing they offered Kama. And even if he doesn’t end up starting or making All-WAC, he’s a great student and humble kid whom any program should want to have.

And now there is Jamie Smith.

UH offered her early, so props to Jim Bolla for realizing she was the real deal. But Smith understandably wanted to take at least one Mainland recruiting trip to see if she wouldn’t rather go away.

The problem was, the offers amazingly were not pouring in. This despite her proving she could compete against top competition, both with Team Aloha during their championship run at Santa Barbara in Fall 2006 and also against top California opponents in the ‘Iolani Classic last December.

She went on to have a fantastic regular season, then showed her toughness by scoring 17 and 20 points against Sacred Hearts and Kamehameha, respectively, in the ILH tournament despite a broken nose. She also had a great state tournament.

Still, the offers were slow to come, and I don’t get why. Like Bailey, Smith is great student and humble person, the type any program would be proud to have. She showed an ability to adapt and improve her game in the offseason, working hard to develop her ball-handling and 3-point shooting.

Finally, in the last couple months, the visits and offers materialized. One of the last turned out to be the best, soon after Kathy Olivieri took over at UNLV.

Some might think Smith should have taken the bird in hand with UH’s offer, and like I mentioned earlier a free education is a free education. I give Bolla credit again for being patient during the early signing period, but I don’t know how strong the push was after that to keep her home.

But obviously, Smith was curious about the Mainland and there can be a lot of peer pressure to go away when you know over 80 percent of your classmates are headed for the continent. She admitted that she “wasn’t super excited” about the other schools she visited, which I guess includes UH.

Being partial to UH myself, I selfishly wish she could have stayed home to help build the Rainbows program and I see lot of reasons why that could have been a good decision. But the bottom line is what will make her happy, and UNLV is where she wants to be, so I’m happy that she found a place she can be excited about.

I think UNLV, like Idaho, got themselves a steal and other schools will end up wishing they had Smith.

In my six years on the HHSAA Foundation Hall of Honor selection committee, this past weekend’s sessions clearly were the toughest yet as far as coming up with the final 12.

I’ve probably said that before, maybe even last year, but this was the first time I had been involved in so many rounds of voting in order to whittle down the original pool of 55 to the final dozen. We usually get 70 or 80 nominations, so one might think it would be easier to come up with 12 inductees with 15-25 less to choose from.

Not.

This year’s final 12, as usual, are all outstanding student-athletes. But there was only one unanimous choice, and only a couple others who were overwhelming selections. So the votes were spread out, and we really had to analyze who were the most deserving. It wasn’t like other years where there might have been several obvious choices like Derrick Low or Jonathan Spiker.

Different candidates had different credentials. Some were one-sport athletes who were very very good in that one sport. Others were multi-sport athletes who were very talented in each but not quite dominant or All-State first team level in any.

There were some who blossomed late and had an outstanding senior year, and others who were very solid but not spectacular over a four-year career.

There were some who were great athletes on mediocre Division I teams, and others who were spectacular but on a Division II level of competition.

There were some who might not have had glamourous individual statistics, but who played key roles in elevating a program or school into the state’s elite.

In other words, there were many many factors to be weighed and considered and the choices were not easy, which is why it took so long and so many rounds of voting to come up with the final 12.

And the bottom line, as always, is that we ended up with 12 outstanding student-athletes that we and all of Hawai‘i can be proud of.

I will write up individual bios on all 12 inductees for publication in the June 8 Advertiser, and hopefully after reading each one you will see why all 12 are worthy of this prestigious award.