NZ HERALD WEEKLY COLLEGE SPORT COLUMN

Rising stars of golf and athletics take top honours

It was more of the same with golf and athletics again the big winners when the ASB Young Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year were handed out at the awards dinner.

Lydia Ko (Pinehurst) followed Cecelia Cho (Pakuranga College) as the overall sportswoman of the year while Joshua Hawkins (Sacred Heart) followed world junior shot put champion Jacko Gill (TGS) in taking the sportsman trophy. Both received $500 ASB bank accounts.

Ko was a standout after a stellar golfing year. She won the New Zealand women's strokeplay and matchplay championships and at the NZ Women's Open finished fourth overall and was the top amateur.

Across the Ditch, Ko finished 11th overall and was again the leading amateur in the Australian Women's Open.

Further afield, Ko finished equal fourth at the British Open Amateur Championships and also represented New Zealand at the Astor Trophy where they finished second overall.

To top a great year, the Pinehurst School pupil was the first recipient of the Mark H.


McCormack Medal as the world's top-ranked amateur woman.

Hawkins, too, had a year to savour.

Ranked No 1 in New Zealand in the under-16 age group for 100m, 200m and 110m hurdles, he also won the national under-19 200m championship and the under-18 200m and finished second in the 110m hurdles at the Oceania and Australian Championships.

Hawkins finished second in the 110m hurdles at the World Youth Championships and is only the second New Zealand sprinter to receive an IAAF world youth ranking - appearing on this list twice - ranked No 3 in the 110m hurdles and 19th over 200m.

While Ko was seen as a clear winner for the Young Sportswoman award, the overall standard was very high and led to a close contest before Hawkins emerged as the winner.

More than 500 attended the awards dinner at Eden Park where over 160 students were recognised for excellence in more than 30 sporting codes. Forty schools were represented on the night. Rangitoto College topped the tally with 15 students on the shortlist. Auckland Grammar came next with 12 being acknowledged 13 times - Adam Smith made the shortlist in two sports.

AGS also had the two services to sport winners.

Casey Redman (Green Bay High School) was Puma Sport Educator of the Year. She won Puma gear for her and her school totalling $1500.

Taylor Flavell won a $5000 scholarship to attend Unitec.

The Auckland Business School also awarded three randomly selected prizes in three categories, each winning short courses worth $2000 each. Those winners were: Russell Nathan-Wong (Lynfield College) family member, Matthew Oxley (Massey High School) student and Tasha Sofaea (Carmel College) staff award.

Diocesan also shone, with four of its eight finalists winning individual awards. Rising cycling star Georgina Wilson won after an outstanding year on the road and the track which included being selected for the Junior World Track Cycling Championships in Moscow, where she finished fourth in the team pursuit and eighth in the individual pursuit.

Danielle Sutherland won the hockey award after a stellar year including selection in the victorious Auckland team in the National Hockey League. She was also selected in both the Junior Black Sticks and New Zealand under-18 squads.

Georgia Farmer claimed the underwater hockey award after a solid year which included winning the New Zealand SS Championships. She also played in the New Zealand under-23 team who won the World Championships in the Netherlands.

Caroline Baddock won the swimming category after a great year in which she won New Zealand long-course age-group titles in 50m and 100m backstroke, and silver in the 50m and 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.

The four other Diocesan finalists in their categories were Georgia Child (underwater hockey), Rebecca Burridge (triathlon/duathlon/multisport), Sammy Lane (mountain biking) and Georgia Wetzell (swimming).

Diocesan's director of sport, Chris Wilson, said having eight finalists and four winners at the awards was an impressive effort for the all-girls independent Auckland school.

"The number of finalists reflects the depth of Diocesan's sports programme and the variety of sports codes we offer our students," said Wilson.

Now in their 21st year, the awards have in the past hailed a long list of outstanding young sportspeople including Jonah Lomu, Valerie Adams, Beatrice Faumuina, Sarah Ulmer, Terenzo Bozzone and Ryan Archibald.

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