Coming in second was Napier Girls' High School student Ruby McKnight, known as Ruby Tuesday. The two solo-duos will now put 15 minutes of their best material together to submit for selection as national finalists.
Twelve bands were also selected to go on to the final - they will play-off for top two places, and other awards at the Hawke's Bay final next month.
A wide variety of talent was showcased, with bands coming from schools across the region - with two bands from Napier Boys' High School, and three from Havelock North High School amongst their ranks.
Another winner was Hastings Boys' High School's island jazz fusion band Horizon. Made up of Year 12 and 13 students, the band won the Smokefree Pacifica Beats - which is run alongside rockquest and reflects the cultural identity of Aotearoa and the Pacific.
In their first time entering the competition, vocalist LJ Crichton said their win could be down to how relaxed they were when they were on stage performing.
"The confidence takes over when we perform and we go with the flow," he said. "The emotions come through when we are on stage and we just do whatever comes naturally. We are all focused on sharing our music and we believed in what we played."
His band mates are Jordan Fuimano (electric guitar, keyboard), Victory Peni (drums) and John Sali (bass).
Founder and director Glenn Common said the level of performance at the heats seemed to keep improving every year, and encouraged the winners to keep working hard.
"Between now and the regional final, their preparation work is part of the process that makes Smokefreerockquest and Pacifica Beats such valuable learning experiences for young people," he said.
The Smokefree Pacifica Beats national final is on Friday, September 1 in Auckland, followed by the Smokefreerockquest national final on Saturday, September 2.
The Hawke's Bay final will be held at Napier Municipal Theatre on Saturday, June 10 at 7pm. Tickets are available from Ticketek, $20 adults and $10 students.