Meet Ma'ne Manaea

Whiz Kid's name: Ma’ne Manaea

Whiz Kid's age: 18

Whiz Kid's school: Lakes High School

Whiz Kid's accomplishment: Ma’ne is finishing his days in blue and orange as a runner, IGNITE mentor, and, of course, a football player. The safety helped the Lancers into the 3A state quarterfinals during a senior season in which he amassed 42 tackles, four interceptions, 34 receptions for 555 yards and seven touchdowns, eight carries for 192 rushing yards and two touchdowns and 26 punt returns for 283 yards.

He was the South Puget Sound League player of the year, News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year and a Seattle Times Red Chip.

Next year, Ma’ne will play football at the University of Idaho, where he plans to major in civil engineering. He said that the decision to become a Vandal was borne of a desire to make a “major impact” on the gridiron. Other schools from which he received interest included Colorado, Nevada, Montana and Portland State.

“I also fell in love with (Idaho’s) engineering program,” he said, adding that he has friends right across the border in Pullman.

“All in all, I can really see myself living there for four or five years,” he said.

Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness: Ma’ne, the youngest of five brothers, said that the key to his awesomeness is his twin, , who is Lakes’ senior class president.

“He pushes me to do better than him,” he said with a laugh. “Everything we do is a competition.”

Ma’ne is also enjoying the perks of being a senior, especially having a late-start time.

The most memorable moment of his high-school days came last week as he signed on with his longtime friend , who will play football at Central Washington.

“We’ve been together in football since second grade,” he said.