Mark Rodrigues, a baseball pitcher with a great — if reconstructed — arm, and Kanoe Kamana'o, a setter with maybe the sweetest hands in the Rainbow Wahine's storied history, can't imagine a future outside their sport. Basketball player Brittany Grice wants to rule the world.

Yesterday morning, the trio shared the University of Hawai'i athletic department's most prestigious honor. Rodrigues is the male winner of the Jack Bonham Award and Kamana'o and Grice share the female honor.

It is the first time since the women's award started in 1979 that there have been co-winners. The Bonham Award, named after the late assistant athletic director, began in 1974. It is given annually to the top male and female senior student-athlete who "best exemplifies the ideals for which Jack Bonham stood in the areas of athletic excellence, academic achievement, public service, leadership and character."

The announcement was made at the annual Scholar-Athlete Breakfast at Stan Sheriff Center, where 135 student-athletes were honored for earning a grade point average of at least 3.0 or better this school year.

All three Bonham winners graduate next month. Rodrigues' major is sociology, with a minor in American studies. The Kaua'i High graduate hopes to get drafted. Kamana'o is majoring in communications, and will probably play overseas before giving the national team a try.

Grice graduates next month in political science and history and will attend Notre Dame Law School in the fall. Her focus will be international human rights, with an eye toward working in government and politics.

Would she consider asking Kamana'o to join her in a run for governor here at some point?

"I can't think of a better person," Grice said. "Everyone here loves her. She's such a nice person, a four-time All-American, what can you not like about her? She's just incredible. Her humility ... so many people look up to her. We'd win by a landslide."

Politics is not in Kamana'o's shy nature. The 'Iolani graduate dreamed much of her life of playing for the Rainbow Wahine and quietly shattered every school setting record when she got here, finishing seventh on the NCAA career assist list and taking the 'Bows to four regionals and a final four. She is only the second to earn four All-America honors, after 1997 Bonham winner Angelica Ljungquist.

Kamana'o, a three-time WAC Player of the Year, missed yesterday's event because she had an opportunity to watch her boyfriend, 'Iolani grad Kala Ka'aihue, play for the Atlanta Braves' Class A Myrtle Beach Penguins in South Carolina.

By phone, she credited their high school for helping her make the tough transition to college academics, and becoming involved in community service. She carries a 3.47 GPA and was a three-time academic all-district selection, despite doing much of her studying on an airplane and in a hotel.

"I wanted to do well for myself and the team — they recognize the team's cumulative GPA. And I knew if I did good (academically) I would play. I didn't want there to be any doubt."

The respect between she and Grice is mutual. Kamana'o admires Grice's leadership qualities on the court and in the community and school government, where she is heavily involved.

Grice, called "Google" for her vast knowledge, was given an emotional introduction by coach Jim Bolla yesterday. "It was very touching," Grice said. "It makes you feel good to know that you meant so much to the program because the program meant so much to me."

She played her final season through back and knee injuries. A late-season stress fracture turned into an ankle fracture and she still asked to play in the 'Bows' final game. Beyond that, her mother Dianne has battled cancer in California during her daughter's collegiate career.

Rodrigues, an all-state baseball and volleyball player from Koloa, Kaua'i is also involved in community service, particularly camps on Kaua'i. He has also had his share of adversity.

After transferring to UH from Los Medanos (Calif.) JC, he needed elbow surgery and was out two seasons. Now he is the 'Bows' "Friday starter," with a 7-2 record, 3.25 earned run average and hopes of being drafted a third time.

"The toughest part was rehabbing my elbow," Rodrigues said. "Mentally I wasn't really here. In the back of my mind I wondered if I'd ever step back on the mound. Once I got on the mound, the feeling started to come back."

NOTES

There were 226 student-athletes who earned GPAs of 3.0 or higher during the fall semester, which is 48 percent of all student-athletes ... The women's cross country/track and field team boasted the highest team GPA of 3.88.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.