There was no need for Orewa to pick Makaea up in February, when she won an amazing nine medals, six of them gold, at the under-14 surf lifesaving nationals in Mt Maunganui, helping Orewa to third overall.
That ranks as her career highlight.
"I just tried to have a clear, positive mind, not thinking about what the competitors are doing. I was really happy. All the training just paid off in the end."
Makaea thrives on the hard work, and you will frequently find her in the pool working on her swim technique - that is if she is not up in Orewa or playing netball for the Year 10 A team at Avondale, where she darts around the court from the centre position. Also part of the sports academy, Makaea loves being active. But behind that smile and slightly reserved personality lies the heart of a competitor.
"I'm really competitive when it comes to sport," she admits.
"Surf lifesaving is pretty tight [in races]. It's about how fast you can get up and your acceleration off the mark."
Her favourite race is the Ironman, which has a swim, run, then board paddling before the sprint finish.
"I get such an adrenalin rush from it, because you get to do everything in it."
Next on Makaea's horizon is the Mount Monster event in a few weeks, back at Mt Maunganui, which has the elements of an Ironman, but with a ski thrown in. Do well in that, and she can approach the next summer season in confident mood, against the under-16s age grade competitors - and have a crack at the New Zealand youth team to go to Australia to take on their close and fierce rivals.
That will expose her to top international competition for the first time. She is already well-known around Avondale College, but reach that level and even more of her fellow students will come up and say hello and wish "that surf lifesaving girl" well.
ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year 1991-2014
Each week until the annual ASB YSPOTY awards dinner in November, we will profile past winners as we count down to the 25th annual event which honours the top young college sportspeople in the region.
Phillis Meti (Epsom Girls' Grammar) 2004Like Nicola Kaiwai a decade before her, Phillis Meti was a brilliant allrounder at Epsom Girls' Grammar.
"2004 was a very busy year for me. I had the outrigger canoe world champs and the Commonwealth youth athletics, plus I also played rep, club and school netball. On the golf front, I had a lot of events come up all over the place, and there was school as well. I don't know how I did it all," says Meti.
"Winning the award that night was surprising, because I was up against some good competition like Maria Tutaia, who is a friend of mine, and was in the New Zealand Under 21s netball and on the way up. But the whole year was my highlight."
Now 27, she plays as a professional on the Asian Tour, and is in Indonesia this week for a tournament. But one of her big moments came in 2006, when aged 19, she won the world longest drive competition (her longest off the tee is a crushing 392m) in Nevada. She has played on seven different tours in her time, spending roughly half the year on the road and the other half in Auckland, where she works at a golf club.
One of Meti's career highlights was playing with former world No1 Laura Davies.
"She is the pinnacle of golf, but she's not your average athlete. She's a great role model for those who don't do golf the conventional way. She said 'Whatever you need to do, you just keep going'," says Meti.
Daniela Teutau (De La Salle) 2003
De La Salle won their first 1A First XV championship in 2003 and central to their success was halfback Daniela Teutau, better known now as Taniela Moa.
A prodigiously skilled and talented footballer, equally effective at No9 or 10, Moa was crucial for a strong De La Salle unit and then won selection for the NZ Schools later that season, alongside four other First XV teammates, including Isaia Toeava. Kieran Read, out of Rosehill, was another in that NZ Schools team. Moa was the top tryscorer on the tour to Australia, with three.
A professional with the Blues and Chiefs, having represented Auckland and the Bay of Plenty, Moa was, in 2008, on the verge of an All Blacks call-up, but has since played for Tonga, including at Rugby World Cup 2011. Now plying his trade for Pau in France, the 30-year-old is not done yet with rugby.
He is the second supreme winner from the south Auckland school, and the most recent from the national sport.
