Lydia Ko. Photo / Brett Phibbs
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.
CRICKET
WAIKATO: Sometimes the margin between victory and defeat is so slight it hardly tells the real story. Just ask the players in the Matamata College first XI.
It has been that kind of season for them. They have competed well in every match, but have somehow managed to lose them all in tight contests.
Their last round game with top-of-the-table St Peter's was no different.
Matamata outplayed St Peter's in almost every facet of the game, and somehow still managed to lose.
St Peter's won the toss and opted to bat. They lost their first wicket when Sam Pulis fell to a brilliant diving catch by Timo Brooky at second slip.
The score then reached 57 before a mini-collapse sparked by the introduction of newcomer Michael Hollier.
He removed Eddie Walker (10) caught and bowled and followed that with the prized scalp of Tim Seifert - bowled without scoring. The St Peter's middle order all made starts before succumbing to some good bowling led by Brooky (2-18 off 7 overs) and leg spinner Hayden Waugh (0/24 off his 10). The pressure continued to build.
Off-spinner Joe Freeman replaced Waugh and immediately reaped the reward of that pressure to claim the last four wickets with outstanding figures of 4-7 off 4.2 overs as St Peter's were dismissed for 148 believing they were at least 30 runs short of what they saw as a winning total.
The Matamata innings could not have had a worse start with Joe Freeman bowled first ball by Pulis after Freeman had scored 80 and 90 in his previous two matches.
But this pressure did not last as St Peter's bowled loosely including a number of wides. Taylor Douglas batted positively and the Matamata score quickly reached 44 before off-spinner Alex Lunn was introduced in his last game for the school.
He immediately had success, bowling Scott Semmens in his first over for seven and then having Douglas stumped in his second over for 23.
This brought Ciaran O'Malley to the crease. He batted well in partnership with Nick Perring as they put on 42 runs to advance the score to 93.
Left-arm spinner Jono Whitley then made a breakthrough to have Perring caught at slip for seven. Brad McKenzie continued where Perring had left off by providing good support for O'Malley. They advanced the score to 127 - 22 runs short of victory and with 20 overs in hand.
Whitley had McKenzie caught behind for 12. What happened next defied belief and reminded everyone of the unpredictable nature of sport.
Pulis returned to the bowling crease. He bowled Hayden Bell for one to have Matamata at 128/6. O'Malley helped move the score on to 141 - just eight runs short of their target.
Pulis watched in delight as O'Malley was caught when he skied a shot in attempting to pull away. His great innings ended at 60.
Pulis bowled Taylor Green's next ball for one - 141/8. From the next ball - bowled from the other end by Whitley - Hayden Waugh departed without scoring. Whitley conceded three runs from the remainder of his final over to finish with 3-35. Pulis continued at the other end and after conceding one run left Matamata just one boundary short of victory.
On 145, Pulis bowled Michael Hollier for two to leave Matamata an agonising three runs short of their target and St Peter's to celebrate their unlikely victory and the retention of the coveted Dave Hoskin Trophy. They claimed the term four championship by five points from St Paul's.
Elsewhere, there were more runs but not as much tension as St Paul's, playing Cambridge High, won the toss, batted first and, on the back of 105 not out from Scott Finlayson and 81 from Freddy Walker, posted a decent 228/4 with Nik Boyle, 4-47, taking all wickets.
Boyle then top-scored for Cambridge with 47 but he lacked support and the innings ended 80 runs short as Walker, too, completed a good double in claiming 3-16.
St John's College won the toss and decided to bat first and struggled to post a decent score in the face of some very good Hamilton BHS bowling backed up by some wonderful catching.
Thanks in the main to Damian Sun (32) and Sam Geenty (23) St John's put up a target of 156 but used 48 overs to do it. Danyn Stewart, 3-29 from seven overs, bowled very well.
Mitchell East (65) and Matthew Lowe (63 not out) batted efficiently to make short work of the target with HBHS getting home in the 33rd over for the loss of only one wicket.
In the only 1B game played on the last day of cricket for the year, Morrinsville College beat Fraser High by five wickets to join Hillcrest, who won by default, at the top of the table.
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