Four deserving winners of this year’s Wayne “Big Dog” Joseph Scholarship were announced at last week’s BIIF Track and Field Championships, as four local seniors were awarded $2,000 for outstanding excellence in academics and community service while being involved in track or cross country. This was the 20th year of the prestigious award.
The basis of this recognition is to aid these qualified runners to pursue their endeavors in higher education and make a difference in the local community. The scholarship has awarded over $96,000 to Big Island runners over the years, and was created by the late Wayne Joseph — a former cross country coach and educator.
The 2025 scholarship winners are Waiakea’s Shane Tominaga, HPA’s Tiffany Ravaglia, Waiakea’s Nova Strickley and Isabel Camp — the first Parker student to be selected for the award.
Additionally, a $500 “Most Inspirational” award was donated by Sunrise Athletics, given to an athlete that exemplified actions of courage, hope and strength in character. That honor was given to Waiakea’s Jaime Labasan.
Shane Tominaga
Balance has always been key for Tominaga.
The four-year cross country and track star stacked plenty of achievements across his Warriors’ tenure, but also in service ventures such as co-chair WHT Key Club Run-4-A-Cause Bubble Run and packing food for people in need for UH-Hilo. He also played soccer.
On top of his extracurriculars, Tominaga still maintained a 3.5 GPA while taking a handful of honors and advanced-placement classes.
“With being involved in club running, three sports and service clubs I learned from a young age about building character, developing a strong team mindset and giving the same respect equally to everyone,” Tominaga wrote in his scholarship application. “What I learned and gained building stronger and more connections with people other than my family and my team. This has helped me get along well with people at my school or with anything I participated in.
“At the same time, all the things I have been involved in and the people I have met have helped me follow the values that I believe in.”
Despite such a busy but fulfilling time at Waiakea, running has always kept him grounded and focused.
“Since running has been a passion of mine from a very young age, it has been one of the ways to help me relax and calm down when I get stressed during the school year,” he wrote. “The running community and my teammates around me have also increased the love for what I do. We are always encouraging and respectful to one another, no matter what level a person is at. I like the comradery of a team which always overcomes the conflicts and hardships.
“It is always fulfilling to see both men and women supporting each other during meets and practices, because we are all facing everything together.”
Tominaga plans to continue his cross country and track career at the Division-II level at Concordia University-Irvine, where he will study mechanical engineering.
Tiffany Ravaglia
Running has opened so many doors for Ravaglia.
Coming from a family of runners, she competed in her first 50K at age 10 — learning the grit and resilience of the sport from a young age.
Becoming a state champion with Ka Makani, the sport opened up other avenues for Ravaglia — such as running three marathons, a 50-mile race, numerous 5K and 10K races, Lavaman and the World for Olympic distance triathlon. Ravaglia placed seventh in her age group at Triathlon Age Group Worlds in Australia and fourth in nationals. She has been a 91直播 triathlete age-group state champion twice.
In the Maui Marathon, Ravaglia was named first in her age group and third in her age group at the Honolulu Marathon. She even ran a marathon at the geographic North Pole with her father.
Ravaglia is currently training to qualify for the iconic Boston Marathon.
“Running has taught me seemingly everything and influenced almost every aspect of my life,” Ravaglia wrote. “I plan to continue running and likely will be focusing on marathons.”
Outside of running, Ravaglia has amassed a number of academic scholarships and awards — such as the Hiatt Scholarship for Academic Initiative and Creativity, Thomas Webb Mar Physics Award, Free Thinker Award, James J. Rizzuto Riemann Sum Award and was a member of the Cum Laude Society. Her non-school honors include the Scholar in Columbia Undergraduate Scholars Program, National Merit Scholarship Finalist, the 2025 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing High School Award 91直播 Affiliate Honorable Mention and AP Scholar Award.
Post graduation, Ravaglia intends on pursuing a college education in operations research.
Nova Strickley
Strickley has always been a leader.
Whether it was raising $10,000 for local charities through running, co-founding Key Club’s Run-4-a-Cause or founding Waiakea’s Health Occupations Students of America, helping others has always been at the forefront of her intentions. Strickley plans to continue her leadership interests into her field of college studies.
She maintained a 4.4 GPA while scoring in the 99th percentile in both the SAT and ACT.
“I have always wanted to become a doctor, and I plan to pursue a major in college that will prepare me for medical school and support my long-term goal of entering the medical field,” Strickley wrote. “I am drawn to medicine because of the opportunity to help others in meaningful, lasting ways, and I am committed to the dedication and discipline required to achieve that path.
“After I graduate I want to give back to my community in 91直播.”
Strickley medaled at BIIFs and qualified for cross country states during all four years with the Warriors, and also went to the state track and field meet in 2025. She served as a team captain for two years, which taught her “resilience, discipline, and how to keep moving forward even when faced with setbacks…”
Running has also motivated Strickley to try things she never imagined, including competing in the Hilo to Volcano 50K and the Big Island International Marathon — where she was the only under-18 finisher.
While she may not continue running at the collegiate level, Strickley still intends on continuing that passion in her free time. After all, it’s become therapeutic for her.
“Running will always play a significant role in my life and overall college experience,” she wrote. “I plan to continue training and setting goals for myself. including completing more marathons and ultramarathons.
“Running is more than just a physical activity for me — it is a source of consistency, resilience and personal growth. It allows me to step away from academic pressures, clear my mind and return to my responsibilities with renewed focus and energy.”
Isabel Camp
Growing up on the Big Island, Camp learned the importance of giving back to her community.
With less than 50,000 practicing optometrists in the United States, Camp recognized the national need in the field, and began shadowing a local optometrist during her sophomore year at Parker. It was then when Camp discovered her life calling by giving back in the medical field.
“Throughout my life, I’ve watched family members lose their vision and slowly their independence,” Camp wrote. “They no longer do things like cook for themselves, walk downstairs, and interact with the world around them. This deterioration of their vision could have been potentially minimized had they had more readily accessible healthcare, particularly eye care.
“In 91直播, healthcare is often limited due to a lack of healthcare providers in rural communities and cost barriers.”
Camp plans to study kinesiology with a pre-optometry track at Pacific University in the fall. She will also join the track and cross country team after being a top runner on the girls track and cross country Bulls teams.
“As an optometrist, my goal is to provide accessible, compassionate eye care for individuals from every walk of life,” she continued. “By helping individuals maintain their vision, I empower them to maintain their independence to freely interact and engage with the visual world.”
Being a community-first individual, Camp has also been a part of her school’s conservation club, where she learned about the intricacy of beauty of her home island — while also learning how to protect it. She worked on countless restoration projects in the community with outside organizations such as the Waimea Nature Park, Waimea Trails and Greenways, Waikoloa Dry Forest Restoration Project and Parker Ranch.
Throughout all of her high school endeavors, Camp has always looked at running as a crutch to help her get through the craziness of life.
“Running taught me to test and alter my limits – proving I can endure more than I thought possible,” she wrote.
Jaime Labasan
Before joining Waiakea’s track and cross country teams, Labasan had no athletic background.
While joining running was intimidating, Labasan learned not just about the ins and outs of the sport, but a lot about himself.
“I quickly learned that running was much more than simply getting to the finish line; it required discipline, mental toughness and an understanding of my limits,” he wrote.
“My athletic achievements weren’t just about PRs or medals; they were about becoming someone who doesn’t quit when things get hard. Running shaped my resilience, strengthened my work ethic and played a major role in the accomplishments I achieved throughout high school. More than anything, it taught me to cross the finish line no matter how I felt during the race, knowing that what mattered most was giving my best effort and refusing to give up.”
Outside of Waiakea, Labasan interned at 91直播 Island Community Health Center, where he learned about the importance of service to his community. This newfound passion helped inspire him to study nursing in college.
“Growing up surrounded by nurses in my family, I saw first-hand how compassion, cultural understanding and patience can change someone’s life.,” he wrote. “I want to continue that legacy in a way that allows me to give back to 91直播 Island, especially to the kupuna and families who often hesitate to seek care because of fear, cost or a sense of being a burden.”
