Amanda Kirkeby, Cole Moody are California's top scholar-athletes

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — From a pool of 432 candidates, representing 1,554 California Interscholastic Federation member schools and 800,000 student-athletes, Mammoth (Mammoth Lakes) senior Amanda Kirkeby reluctantly took the call.

She and her family were at home watching "Unbroken," the inspirational tale of remarkable teenage Olympian and World War II veteran Louis Zamperini.

It was from CIF representative Jade Chin, who let Kirkeby know that she was the CIF/Farmers Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

"I was in shock," Kirkeby said. "I didn't know what to say. When I hung up my mom told me to call my grandparents, who were shocked too. They wanted to make sure it wasn't a hoax and that someone wasn't trying to get me to Sacramento to kidnap me."

Kirkeby and male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Cole Moody, of South Fork (Miranda, Calif.), were kidnapped alright —  by the CIF — which hosted a memorable half-day celebration at the State Capitol that will no doubt be remembered for a lifetime.

The beaming three-sport duo, with their prideful families joined at the hip and heart, were introduced and awarded resolutions on the Senate and Assembly Floors.

Moody met with Senator Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood, while Kirkeby exchanged pleasantries and stories with Senator Tom Berryhill and Assemblyman Frank Bigelow.

Congratulatory handshakes, photos and endless applause and smiles prevailed.

"It still hasn't all sunk in," Kirkeby said at the end of an honorary luncheon, where the top duo received a $5,000 scholarship from Farmers Insurance representative Dan Lewis. "It was amazing to not only receive the award, but to see how the state government works, and go on the senate floor and the assembly. It's pretty amazing experience.

"I don't think a lot of people get to do that."

Said Moody: "It doesn't get any better."

That's what CIF Executive Director Roger Blake says. When introducing the winners at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, he said:

"Out of the 800,000 student athletes in CIF you are the cream of the crop," he said. "On our worst day, students like you remind us why we love high school sports."

Besides their scholarly and athletic ways, what set Moody and Kirkeby apart is the small, rural communities they come from.

South Fork is a school of 200 in the town of Miranda (population 530) on the Southern tip of Humboldt County. Getting to league games take typically 90 minutes to two hours and its furthest foe Hoopa Valley is at least a four-hour trip.

"Hard work pays off," said Moody, a football, basketball and baseball standout. "Spending hours at the field, working extra hours shooting hoops in the gym, then staying up late Friday nights getting your work done rather than going out — it all pays off."

Mammoth Lake is a ski resort town, also known for its fishing and outdoor living. It's a place where many Southern Californians in the Los Angeles region drive five or six hours to get away. The shortest trek for a league opponent is four hours.

"You get a lot of your school work done traveling to games," Kirkeby said.

Mammoth principal Christopher Powell said the awards of Kirkeby and Moody were extra meaningful because of the remote regions each athlete called home and the "unique challenges" they faced.

Speaking of Kirkeby, he said: "At CIF, we talk about how character counts and pursuing victory with honor. She models off of those things. She works hard, she doesn't complain. Things don't always go her way but that's perfectly fine. She takes it in stride, learns from it and does better in the next opportunity, no what it is.

"She's a leader on campus, a leader on her teams. Players look up to her and respect her work ethic. She's a great model for our upcoming student athletes."

South Fork principal Lisa Gray mirrored her comments about Moody.

"Cole cares about his school and community. He is not only an excellent student-athlete, but is truly a wonderful human being."

Said Moody's baseball and football coach and South Fork athletic director Andrew Olsen: "He has excelled like none other in both the classroom and on the athletic fields."

Powell, who made the six-hour drive with the family, said both student-athletes were great examples for rural-area kids who can emerge from obscurity to reach great heights.

"Just because we're small and on the wrong side of the mountain, we're not cut off," he said. "There's no limit, no ceiling to what we can accomplish.

"To have that torchbearer is great. Amanda was that great person for us, as I'm sure Cole was for his school and community."

2015 CIF/Farmers Scholar-Athletes of the Year
($5,000 scholarships from Farmers)
Amanda Kirkeby
School: Mammoth
Sports: Nordic Skiing, Track & Field, volleyball
GPA: 4.25
SAT: 2160
Clubs: ASB, Interact Club, National Honor Society
College: Middlebury College (Vermont)
Career interests: Environmentally friendly sustainable energy sources
College major: Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Studies or Physics
Advice for aspiring three-sport scholar athletes: "Try a lot of new things. Don't be stuck in your ways and really work hard. When you're in it, some times you wonder why it has to be so hard and hectic. But after you get on the other side, it's all worth it."

Cole Moody
School: South Fork
Sports: football, basketball, baseball
GPA: 4.00
SAT: 1580
Clubs: ASB, Interact Club, CSF, Spanish Club
College: Pacific University (Forest Grove, Ore.)
Career interests: Physical Therapy, massage therapy, chiropractor
College Major: Kinesiology
Advice: "It's all about time management. Get your work done immediately, then move on to the next thing. Reward yourself with some down time, but after that, get right back to doing the next thing."

2015 CIF/Farmers Section Scholar-Athletes of the Year
($2,000 scholarship from Farmers)

Central Section
Emma Horanic, Liberty (Bakersfield)
Matthew Bravante, Redwood (Visalia)

Central Coast Section
Isabella Shahmirza, Saint Francis (Mountain View)
Cooper Scherr, Saint Francis (Mountain View)

Los Angeles Section
Tessa Belle Weinberg, Granada Hills
Xiangyang Liu, New Open World Academy

North Coast Section
Victoria Roderick, Middletown
Ryan Cheng, Acalanes (Lafayette)

Northern Section
Abigail Folchi, Portola
William Harris Gentry, Mercy (Red Bluff)

Oakland Section
Reva Swiedler, Oakland Tech
Matthew Elderkin, Oakland Tech

Sac-Joaquin Section
Lauren Kroeger, River Valley (Yuba City)
Gregory Devine, Jesuit (Carmichael)

San Diego Section
Claire Nussbaum, Parker (San Diego)
Alexander Barone, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)

San Francisco Section
Talia Moore, Washington (San Francisco)
David Mai, Lowell (San Francisco)

Southern Section
Vianney Munoz, California Military Institute (Perris)
Matthew Orgill, Crean Lutheran (Irvine)