Edison trio honored with inaugural Christina Mauser scholarship

In her time at Edison High School, Christina Mauser was known as a standout athlete who put her team first.

A scholarship has now been introduced in her name, keeping her legacy alive after she was one of the victims in the helicopter crash that killed nine people, including Kobe Bryant, in January of last year.

Mauser was inducted into the Edison Hall of Fame for her junior and senior seasons of basketball. She was also the school’s athlete of the year as a senior, per Edison athletic director Rich Boyce. The 1999 Edison graduate was a coach in the Mamba Sports Academy.

The inaugural Christina Mauser Scholarship was handed out at Edison High School on Monday, an award intended to honor a female athlete at Mauser’s alma mater who embodied her values and work ethic.

Samantha Parcell, a wrestler, Sophia Drake, a soccer player, and Taya Riley, a lacrosse player, were selected finalists after submitting videos to the scholarship committee.

From left, Sophia Drake (soccer), Samantha Parcell (wrestling) and Taya Riley (lacrosse) were selected finalists for the inaugural Christina Mauser Scholarship after submitting videos to the scholarship committee.

(Courtesy of Rich Boyce)

“All three of them, I know … all of their coaches say they always put the team first,” Boyce said. “It’s more important to them that the team is successful than they are successful.

“That’s exactly the way [coach] Dave [White] described Christina. Dave White just said she was the ultimate team player, and these three were the ultimate team players for their teams at Edison.”

Parcell was declared the winner of the scholarship and received $5,000, but Boyce said that the other finalists proved to be impressive, too. In the end, it was decided by Matt Mauser and the committee to award Drake and Riley an additional $2,500 each.

Matt Mauser, Christina’s husband, was on hand to present the scholarships to the finalists.

“It’s just an outstanding thing that Matt and the committee did, and we’re very appreciative of what they did,” Boyce said.

Luke Serven, a basketball and baseball player, and Parcell were named Edison’s athletes of the year.

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