Dr. Kim: Former Franklin High athlete coaches alma mater, owns physical therapy practice

Life has come full circle for Kim Manlangit.

She is living out her dream as a physical therapist at a practice she owns and doubles as the third-year varsity girls basketball coach at her alma mater, Franklin High School of the Elk Grove Unified School District.

Walking through the campus hallways, entering the gym, warmly welcomed under the bright lights amid a sea of purple on game days — these are familiar sights and sounds to Manlangit. She suited up for the Wildcats when she was a four-year varsity player from 2006-10.

Even then, it was a goal for Manlangit, 31, to return to her roots to coach while also working as a physical therapist to help others regain their form.

As she continued her basketball journey at Delta College in Stockton and UC San Diego, Manlangit never lost that aspiration to teach the next generation of athletes how to play the game. She also offers insights on how to maneuver through the game of life, and to do so pain free when working with patients.

“I’m really lucky,” Manlangit said. “I coach basketball. And my day job, I’m super passionate about it. I’m just living it right now.”

Part of the living includes pushing herself. She will run the floor in basketball practice if Franklin is short a player or two. She is preparing for her second half-marathon, this one in March. She works long hours as a physical therapist to get people of all walks back in action. Manlangit hasn’t slowed down a bit.

Lakas Physical Therapy & Performance

Manlangit’s day job is helping other athletes heal their injuries and gain confidence to get back to their peak performance. She received her doctorate of physical therapy from University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in San Marcos, which set in motion her career dream.

On March 11, 2022, Manlangit opened her own practice, Lakas Physical Therapy & Performance, located in Sacramento’s midtown. A Filipina, Manlangit was specific in what she wanted to name her practice. Lakas is a Filipino word meaning strength, force or vigor.

To patients, she goes by Dr. Kim, and she greets them all with a reassuring smile.

Manlangit said her practice’s mission is to help individuals restore movement in their life and become active with confidence. Her work roster consists of three staff members — Jasmine Currimao, Lisa Pelegrin and herself.

Manlangit can relate to her patient’s aches and pains from her days as a student-athlete at Franklin. She suffered torn ACL knee ligaments in both knees in separate years, sidelining her for months at a time. She said she received subpar care that prolonged her recovery time. Those experiences inspired her to make a change.

“Being an injury prone high school kid with big hoop dreams and only playing two full years in high school, that definitely set something in me,” Manlangit said. “My experience of rehabbing my own injuries was the seed that catapulted me into this career now. I just knew I wanted to impact people in this manner, knowing what they feel emotionally, mentally from being out of their sport. I thought it was important for me to give back in a sense.”

Manlangit said she relates to those she helps, and not just young athletes.

“That’s my super power in this job,” she said. “I’ve walked that road. I can talk them through these things, of getting stronger, of those mental hurdles. I feel qualified to talk to them about it, the mental block of not being able to be with a team or able to compete. That’s hard for anyone. I know how tough it can be, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Manlangit said she was anxious when she first opened her practice. What if nobody shows up?

“Nerves? Absolutely!,” she said. “When you start a service-based business, it’s built on reputation. There are people who know about you and then you have to keep that ball rolling. I stuck to my guns, continued to refine my craft in this field, giving patients the outcome they’re looking for so they can return to the activities that they want to do. We treat runners and all sorts of athletes (and) everyday adults.”

Manlangit even treats rival athletes. In the world of physical therapy, everyone is on the same side, seeking positive results. A year ago, Manlangit was approached by Davis High coach Heather Highshoe, who was looking for someone to help rehab Blue Devils player Alia Cardone, who suffered a torn knee ligament.

The teams played on Jan. 17, and Davis won 42-39 as Cordone showed that she had bounced back. She scored nine points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Cardone and Manlangit embraced after the game.

“She was the difference in the game,” Manlangit said. “I was so happy for her.”

Back to old stomping grounds

Before becoming Franklin’s coach, Manlangit worked as an assistant coach at Elk Grove High School from 2015-17.

Her mentor was the late-Larry Price, a spirited and beloved coach who died of cancer in 2018. His influence inspired her. Manlangit helped coach Elk Grove to a 24-11 record in 2016. As a No. 12 seed, the Thundering Herd went on to win the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section and Northern California Division II championships. Price encouraged Manlangit to get into coaching.

When the chance to coach at Franklin came up in 2020, Manlangit applied. She got the gig.

“I’ve always wanted to round out coaching at Franklin,” Manlangit said. “It was cool to coach against Franklin, but I always knew I was going to find my way back here and when the opportunity came rising after COVID and all that, yeah, I went ahead and took the job.”

Manlangit said Price is still with her in spirit. She thinks of him often.

“In coaching, there are some good days and not-so-good days,” she said. “Larry is always on my mind. His voice is still in my head. I even have some of his mannerisms.”

Manlangit didn’t settle on returning to coach at Franklin alone. She brought another familiar face back to the campus located at 6400 Whitelock Parkway. Manlangit has one of her best friends and former prep teammates, Monalisa Santos, by her side on the bench.

Coaches will tell you they are only as good as their staff and roster. The reunion started as a playful joke between two friends both back in town.

“We had dinner with one of our former teachers and she said, ‘Hey, the spot’s actually open, so why don’t you guys actually look into it,’” Manlangit said. “It worked out well.”

Their dynamic didn’t skip a beat, seamlessly transitioning from teammates on the court to coaches on the sideline.

“Mona and I have always been yin and yang as players,” Manlangit said. “I’m the more serious one. She’s the more happy-go-lucky one. And it’s the same who we are as coaches, too. The girls also respond to her. She brings life to the party.”

Alicia Nakamura, a longtime math teacher at Franklin, recalled Santos’ and Manlangit’s playing days and their academic excellence. She said she is delighted to see the growth of her former students.

Nakamura has been more adamant about showing up to support the team during their games since Manlangit and Santos returned to coach. She sits behind the Wildcats bench and can’t help but smile when she hears the coaches repeat some of the same things they were taught at Franklin nearly 15 years ago.

“That cycle of teaching, learning, passing on knowledge, traditions to the next generation, I think it says a lot about what we have here at Franklin in terms of (former students) wanting to come back to their school to do and share the things that they love,” Nakamura said. “Whether it’s teaching or coaching, we have a lot of former students that come back here as teachers. I love that.”

Franklin athletic director Mike Cody said it’s still “weird” in the most complimentary sense to have alumni return as coaches or teachers because of how relatively new the school is.

Franklin opened in 2002 and graduated its first senior class in 2005.

“I love it,” Cody said of the alumni coaches. “We’re still a young school, so we don’t get that many alumni, but it’s nice for the alumni to come back.”

‘The Franklin way’

Franklin’s biggest victory of the season was a 54-53 effort over longtime regional powerhouse St. Francis on Jan. 12. Junior guard Aletha Singleton scored the final point on a free throw with 20 seconds left and the Wildcats made a defensive stand to seal it, setting off a team celebration.

And there was coach Manlangit, looking like a kid all over again, jumping for joy.

Franklin on Jan. 19 rolled Elk Grove 59-16. The Wildcats played what Manlangit called “The Franklin Way.” The Wildcats showed discipline, never stopped running and sprinted back on defense. Some dove into the stands when the ball was loose, much like Manlangit did in her day, bad knee or not.

Senior Olivia Nicholas led the way against Elk Grove with 24 points. She will play at William Jessup University in Rocklin next season. Senior Jasmine Clee and Singleton combined to score 16 points for Franklin to move the Wildcats to 4-2 in the Delta League and 13-10 overall.

The goal is to win the Delta League and be a dark-horse contender in the Division I playoffs.

“We just had to keep everything under control,” Singleton said. “We go through it at full speed and make sure there’s no errors.”

“I think we still have a fighting chance to win Delta,” Manlangit said. “Things have to fall into our favor for other teams to lose certain games, but we’re going to do the best we can. We just want to peak at the right time, at the end of the season, and go into the playoffs.”

The Kim Manlangit story in brief: High school star overcomes two blown-out knees and bounces back to play four years of college basketball; opens her own physical therapy practice; returns to her alma mater as a coach; gets married on a beach setting; and now trains for another half-marathon.

Living out her dreams with endless enthusiasm and a smile.

“I definitely feel like I’m in my element on both sides of the coin,” Manlangit said happily. “Physical therapy is exactly what I wanted my career to look like, and being a coach, coming full circle ... it’s definitely all feel good.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 5:00 AM.