Otumoetai College paid tribute to the school's outstanding sporting talent at its annual awards night held last week, with 260 students rewarded for excellent results and high performances in an extensive range of sports.
James Gilling won the Sports Boy award after an amazing year of success.
He was a member of the senior A boys' basketball team and attended the nationals in Nelson, and was also in the school's skiing team. In athletics, he competed well at the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools in the shot put and came second in the BOP Schools doubles at tennis.
But in volleyball, he really made his mark. He was a key member of the school's senior A team that came fourth in the Bay and fifth at the nationals. James was selected in the BOP under-19 team that placed second and the Tauranga men's team that came third at the club nationals.
In beach volleyball, he came fifth at the Beach Volleyball NZ age group under-19s and was a silver medallist in the senior boys' division at the NZSS Beach Volleyball nationals. James played on the New Zealand Pro Tour, with a best result of fourth.
Holly Boyle and Abi May shared the Sports Girl award.
Holly was a high achiever in both forms of volleyball. She was in the senior A girls' team that came second at the NZSS national tournament and went to the US High Performance Volleyball Champs in Des Moines, Iowa.
She was co-captain of the North Island secondary schools team to play in the transtasman quadrangular tournament, and made the New Zealand test team which beat Australia. She played for the Tauranga women's team that was second at the VNZ Club National Championships and went with the New Zealand under-19 team to the Asian Champs in Thailand.
In beach volleyball, she won gold at both the Bay of Plenty and New Zealand senior girls' beach championships, and came third at the national age group under-19 champs. She played on the NZ Pro Tour with a best result of fifth.
In swimming, Holly was first in the senior girls at the school's swimming champs and at the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools Champs, she won four gold medals and three silver.
Abi May was also in the senior A girls' volleyball team but really shone at netball. She was captain of the Premier One team and was in the Bay of Plenty under-17 Premier team.
Abi was in the New Zealand talent development squad, the Bay of Plenty under-19 team and a leader of the school's high performance netball programme.
She was also part of the Otumoetai College sevens rugby team.
Liam Matheson won the Crowther Cup for Excellence in a Single Sport (beach volleyball), while Amy Hunter won the Bob Addison Cup for Excellence in a Single Sport (indoor volleyball).
Elite Blues award recipients for outstanding achievement, representative honours, attitude and contribution were - Basketball Theo Johnson; BMX Luke Roguski; boardsailing Bradley Nixon; equestrian Mary Mitchell; football Xavier Pratt; golf Chris Charlton; kayaking Andre Sperling; netball Abi May; rugby Mark Nicholls, Neal Redward, Ryan Henstock, Billy Carter; beach volleyball Holly Boyle, Charles Clague, James Gilling, Liam Matheson, Katie Wood; boys' indoor volleyball Charles Clague, Adam Morgan, James Gilling, Liam Matheson; girls' volleyball Julia Hartley, Abbie Meredith, Amy Hunter, Holly Boyle.