Student sporting achievements celebrated

The 2024 Mitre 10 MEGA Whanganui Secondary Schools Sports Awards were held on Wednesday 30 October, celebrating the success of the region’s top sporting talent.

Close to eighty young athletes were recognised for their sporting achievements and leadership at the awards function, hosted this year by Whanganui High School.

Schools from across the Whanganui region were represented in the nominations but Whanganui High School students were dominant on the night, taking out seven of the eleven categories, including official and team of the year.

In the international categories, Lucas Munn took out the Junior International Sportsman of the Year for the second year running for his outstanding results in judo. Pippa McKee was awarded Senior International Sportswoman of the Year for artistic skating, and Jake Newton took the Senior International Sportsman of the Year title for rowing.

Motocross sensation Karaitiana Horne from Ruapehu College broke the Whanganui High School hold on the premier awards, taking away the Junior International Sportswoman of the Year award in an impressive field of nominees.

Senior Team of the Year was awarded to the Whanganui High School Boys Under 18 Novice Coxed Quadruple Sculls crew of Kynan Brewer, Cristian Kiriona, Jordan Hallett, Achilles Paikea and coxswain Lauren Davies for their undefeated run in the 2023/2024 rowing season, culminating in gold medals at the New Zealand Senior National and Secondary School Championship regattas (Maadi Cup). The Junior Team of the Year title went to the Whanganui kayak pairing of Zoe Anderson from Cullinane College and Alexis Toy from Whanganui Girls’ College, (pictured) for their gold medal-winning performance in the Under 16 Women’s K2 200m and 500m.

The awards recognised not only top athletes, but also officials and those who had contributed significantly to their respective codes. Whanganui High School’s Tamelia Blackburn was awarded Official of the Year for her outstanding commitment to basketball, as an official of games locally, regionally and throughout the country at both school and adult level.

The qualifying period for the 2024 awards is 1 October 2023 – 30 September 2024 and nominations must have been submitted by secondary schools in the Whanganui, Rangitīkei and Ruapehu regions.

Photos from the evening will be available on the Sport Whanganui Facebook page and full results are listed below:

Full award winners list: