Locals well represented at ASB awards

The Kerikeri High School sailing team was named Team of the Year for the second consecutive year at the 25th annual ASB Northland Secondary Schools Sports Awards in Whangarei last Thursday. From left are Keri High old boy and Olympic gold medallist Blair Tuke, ASB representative Grant Gilbert then Maeve White, Emilie Jones, Amber Hookway, Chris Geerkens, Frank Dair, Frank Bunce and Francis Cassells with team member Lewis Kidman absent. Photo / Langwoods

The Kerikeri High School sailing team was named Team of the Year for the second consecutive year at the 25th annual ASB Northland Secondary Schools Sports Awards held at the ASB Stadium in Whangarei last week.

The Kerikeri sailors - Jack Bunce, Frankie Dair, Lewis Kidman, Francis Cassells, Emilie Jones, Amber Hookway, Maeve White and Chris Geerkens - earned their award for winning the New Zealand Secondary Schools teams sailing championships.

Also, as part of the annual inter-dominion competition, the team became one of three New Zealand schools at the inaugural Pacific Rim inter-schools team sailing championships. New Zealand won the regatta and Kerikeri High School was placed fourth.

Both ASB Sporting Excellence Awards for high performance in a sport not offered at secondary school level went to Kerikeri High School students - Kyle Chen for boxing and Alex Edwards for spearfishing.

As well as being the New Zealand junior boxing champion in his weight division, Chen is also the Taiwan national champion and the Australian national open gloves champion, while Edwards won the New Zealand under-16 spearfishing championships and was a member of the New Zealand women's team that won the Inter Pacific Championship.

The NorthTec Area Schools Awards were won by Shania Tatana from Broadwood Area School and Sam Mills from Tauraroa Area School who were both selected in New Zealand area school teams.

Whangarei Boys' High School's athletics and rugby star Scott Gregory, and Whangarei Girls' High School's top clay target shooter Caitlin Reed took out top honours at the awards.

Gregory, the ASB Northland Secondary Schools Sportsman of the Year, won gold medals in the junior hammer throw, youth hammer throw, discus and shot put plus silver in the junior discus and bronze in the junior shotput at this year's National Athletics Championships.

He was also vice captain of the Northland under-18 rugby team, became a member of the Auckland Blues under-18 squad and was selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools and Barbarians teams.

Reed, the ASB Northland Secondary Schools Sportswoman of the Year, competed as a member of the New Zealand Ladies Mackintosh clay target shooting team. She was New Zealand's highest overall junior triples champion and the North Island ladies highest overall minis champion.

Other Far North students among more than 60 from Northland secondary schools named as ASB code award winners were:

Bay of Islands College: Ben Armstrong, AFL; Teuarangi Tana, karate; Whitiora Haunui-Tipene, touch.

Kaitaia College: Dakota-Li Lum, crossfit; Andrew Van der Linden, gymsports-artistic; Elleanor Kelly, gymsports-trampoline and tumbling; Tegan O'Callaghan, rodeo; Arapo Kellner, wrestling.

Kerikeri High School: Emilie Gordon, croquet; Bradley Greenwood, martial arts-taekwondo; Lisa Mather, netball; Jodeci Campbell, rugby; Mano Herewini, waka ama.

This year marks 25 years of the Northland Secondary Schools Sports Awards, each year sponsored by ASB. To acknowledge ASB's support over the 25 years, Sport Northland chief executive Brent Eastwood presented the bank with an engraved kauri plaque.

A book of 25 years of the ASB Northland Secondary School Sports Awards will be available for purchase once photographs of last week's awards are included.