College sport: Young athletes compete for awards

Talented athletes from many schools and sports will vie for Auckland's College Young Sportsperson of the Year awards this week.

More than 650 people will attend Friday night's dinner at Eden Park, with last year's winner, Valerie Adams, one of the guest speakers.

One of the favourites for the award is triathlete and multisport competitor Terenzo Bozzone from Rangitoto College. He has been unbeaten for more than three years.

Strong competition will come from rugby's Chris Aho, of Kelston Boys High, St Paul's College league player Jerome Ropati, and others.

Netballer Rachel Rasmussen, of Avondale College, tennis player Marina Erakovic, of Glendowie College, and King's College's April Brough are three strong contenders for the Young Sportswoman title.

The awards, which began in 1991, have featured numerous athletes who went on to win Olympic and Commonwealth Gold medals. Previous winners include Jonah Lomu, Daniel Slater, Beatrice Faumuina, Emily Drumm, Sarah Ulmer and Sarah Macky.

CURLING

The Birkenhead College Girls' curling team of Catherine Vaka, Natasha Dallow, Caroline Slooten and Roz McKenzie have won the inaugural New Zealand Curling Association's girls curling championships, held in Queenstown.

In the final against Otago's Maniototo Area School, the Birkenhead team had steals on the second and third ends, virtually wrapping up the game. Vaka and Dallow were chosen as part of a team to compete at the world junior B championships in Denmark in January.

WAKA AMA

Gisborne Boys and Girls High Schools excelled at the first national Smokefree secondary schools Waka Ama invitational regatta, winning three golds each.

The boys also won three silver medals and one bronze, finishing as the top medal-winning school.

Penrose High School was the best-performing Auckland school, winning three golds and one bronze, just ahead of McAuley High School.

McAuley's Sarah Tahaafe gave a top individual performance, winning the single outrigger race in the under-16 250m, then winning the under-19 race over the same distance.

Taipa Area School from the far north came away with a silver and bronze.

Waikato's Campion College sent just one paddler, Puaolani Tureia Siataga, who won the under-19 singles race.

AWARDS

Tomorrow night's North Harbour sports awards feature strong nominations for the junior awards.

Nominees for the Junior Sportsman of the Year include rugby's Luke McAlister, North Harbour rugby's most promising player of the year and a linchpin of the NPC side this season.

Another former Westlake Boys High student, Thomas Ashley, recently named Young Sailor of the Year, is also nominated. He is the ISAF youth world champ in the mistral class at the under-20 Mistral world champs.

Terenzo Bozzone, of Rangitoto College, is the third nominee.

The Junior Sportswoman of the Year finalists are former Westlake Girls High student and gymnastics representative Alethea Boon, Long Bay College student and sailor Kelly Riechelmann, who was third at the world champs and first in the world youth champs, and former Diocesan School for Girls student, triathlete Debbie Tanner.

Maureen Mulcahy, of Pinehurst School, Hamish Grant from Mahurangi College and Peter Harwood, of Rangitoto College, are the nominees for the Service to School Sport award.

Rob Nicol, of the Cornwall Cricket Club, won Junior Sportsman of the Year at last week's Sport Auckland awards.

The Junior Sportswoman of the Year award went to sailor Miranda Powrie from the Kohimarama Yacht Club.