By Christine Jinbo

The KB Memorial 4-Woman beach volleyball tournament, hosted by the Kim Blankinship Foundation, crowned champions in a Women's Division and a High School Division and awarded scholarships to high school student-athletes.  The foundation hosted the tournament and scholarship fund to honor the memory of Blankinship and her fun loving personality, amazing athleticism and her pursuit of excellence. 

The foundation brings together the community in honor of the memory of Blankinship and pays tribute to her by giving scholarships to deserving student athletes from area Torrance high schools. South Torrance (Calif.) High School won the High School Division with the team of Brooke Fournier, Tessa Fournier, Dessi Koleva and Amanda McArthur.

	Kealani Kimball/ESPN RISE
	South High School defeated North High School for the KB Crown.

Kim Blankinship participated in volleyball, soccer and track at Torrance High, earning four letters in each sport.  This year the Kim Blankinship Foundation gave five $1000 scholarships one to each of the high schools in Torrance: Bishop Montgomery, West Torrance, South Torrance, North Torrance and Torrance High. The foundation also awarded a $500 scholarship to each deserving athlete in each of the sports in which Blankinship participated.

Kim Blankinship Memorial Scholarship 2009 Recipients

Chelsea Tupuola, Volleyball
Chelsea was a four year letter winner earning All league honors in her sophomore and junior years.  During her senior season she was named the Pioneer League Defensive Player of the Year and was named Second Team ALL CIF.  She was a member of CSF and will be attending Temple University on a volleyball scholarship.
 

	Kealani Kimball/ESPN RISE
	Blankinship's legacy grows with scholarships given to high school athletes from area Torrance, Calif. high schools.

Melissa Ramirez, Soccer
Melissa was a four year letter winner earning All league honors in three times. During her senior season she was also named team MVP, ALL CIF and to the Daily Breeze All Area team.  She will be playing soccer at El Camino and plans to major in Business Administration.
 
Mylyn Hosokawa, Track n Field
Mylyn was a four year letter winner in Track as well as a two year letter winner in Volleyball.  She was the blanket award winner in track during her junior and senior years.  A CIF qualifier in the discuss, long jump, triple jump and numerous relays.  She was also an All League selection in Volleyball during her senior year.  She will be attending Sonoma State in the fall.
 
Shelbie Luna, Bishop Montgomery
Shelbie lettered in Cross Country and Soccer.  She was a two time ALL Del Rey League selection.  Her senior soccer season was full of accolades, MVP of the Del Rey League, First Team All CIF selection, first team Daily Breeze All Area selection.  Shelbie was on the Dean's List and was a scholar athlete in both cross country and soccer.  In addition she spent time volunteering at summer camps and an interfaith shelter.  Shelbie will be playing soccer at the University of New Mexico and would like to become a Physical Therapist.
 
Lindsey Walsh, West Torrance
Lindsey lettered in Volleyball, Soccer and Water Polo.  She was an All League selection in Volleyball and was named Most Improved on the Water Polo team.  Lindsey was on the Principal's Honor Roll and Citizenship Honor Roll.  She also found time to volunteer for the Salvation Army.  Lindsey will be playing Volleyball at Cal Lutheran and is undecided on a major.
 
Kara Kalmar, South Torrance
Kara was a three year letter winner in both cross country and track.  She won the coach's award in both cross country and track.  She holds the school pole vault record.  Kara will be attending El Camino College where she will continue to pole vault and plans a career in nursing.
 
Ashleigh Gideon, North Torrance
Ashleigh was a three letter winner in volleyball and soccer and a two year letter winner in track.  She was a two time first team All League selection in Volleyball and a second team All League selection in soccer.  She carried a 4.0 was nominated to the United States Academic Achievement Academy.  Ashleigh will be playing volleyball at El Camino and is majoring in Political Science.  She plans to be a lawyer.
 
Natasha Huey, Torrance
Natasha was a four year letter winner in cross country and track and a two year letter winner in soccer.  She served as a team captain in both cross country and track, earned coach's award in track.  She was the Lion's club student speaker contest zone winner; earned President's Award for Academic Excellence and was a Girl's State Delegate.  Natasha earned a second and a ninth place in the California State Speech and Debate Championship for Original Prose and Poetry.  In addition she volunteered fro Habitat for Humanity, organized Torrance High's participation in AIDS walk and was a peer counselor at Tech Trek Camp (math/science camp for girls).   Natasha will attending CAL and is undecided on her major.

By Christine Jinbo

Beach volleyball tournament aids scholarships and honors the memory of All-American volleyball player Kim Blankinship.

The KB Memorial, a 4-Woman tournament hosted by the Kim Blankinship Memorial Foundation, features an array of activities and engagements.  The event includes a silent-auction/raffle, a pre-event

	Bill Jinbo
	Kim and me, hanging out at a club tournament, waiting for the next wave of matches.

In order to more closely honor Blankinship's life the tournament changed its original format.  The format will now host two divisions: a women's division and a high school division, where athletes enter along with high school teammates to compete at the event. 

The event aims to reflect Blankinship's fun loving personality, her amazing athleticism in high school and pursuit of excellence in college and in her career.

The foundation brings together the community to honor the memory of Kim Blankinship and pays tribute to her by giving scholarships to athletes who live the gift, which she did throughout her short life. 

The foundation, supported by friends, family and the Torrance community raises funds for four scholarships given to multi-sport high school athletes at area schools, selected from applicants by a scholarship committee.

If you would like to participate, donate or register for the event:

Phone or email:
310.791.1142 xt. 4440 or John@StudentSports.com

Tournament:
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Torrance Beach, Calif.
Limited entries, $25/per player

Tournament Check-in:  
Friday, July 10  
6:00-8:00pm

Party:
Friday July 10, 8:00 pm
Redondo Beach, Calif.
HT Grill

Kim Blankinship held 12 varsity letters at Torrance High School.  She played volleyball, soccer and track and went to Loyola Marymount University (LMU) on a full athletic scholarship for volleyball. 

The multi-sport star played volleyball for the Lions from 1993-1996 and led them to three West Coast Conference titles and three NCAA postseason appearances. As a junior, Blankinship was named WCC Defensive Player of the Year.  In her senior year, Blankinship earned All-America honors, only the third athlete in LMU history to do so. She also earned LMU Female Athlete of the Year and WCC Co-Player of the Year honors that year.

Kim Blankinship was not just a great athlete, she was my friend, my teammate and I miss her dearly.