University blue awarded to kickboxing champ

Riley Phillips-Harris (blue headgear) of Kawakawa competes in both kickboxing and taekwon-do.

The University of Auckland has named Far North taekwon-do and kickboxing champion Riley Phillips-Harris as its Sportsman of the Year 2016.

He joins the likes of pole vaulter Eliza McCartney and Black Stick George Muir as the recipient of a prestigious University of Auckland Blues award.

He received the accolade last month at the 2016 Blues Awards Ceremony, which is held annually to recognise students who achieve in sports, the arts and service and leadership.

Riley Phillips-Harris (right) being awarded University of Auckland Sportsman of the Year.

Riley, 21, lived on a farm midway between Kawakawa and Opua and attended Kerikeri High School before going to university, where he is four years into studying for bachelor of laws (honours) and bachelor of arts degrees.

He competes in both kickboxing and taekwon-do. His sporting achievements in the past 18 months include gold at the Taekwon-do International Federation World Cup, the International Sports Kickboxing Association World Cup and US Open.

He was also a quarter-finalist at the 2015 Taekwondo World Championships
Earlier this year he beat Jamaican Kenneth Edwards, an Olympian and world champion karateka.

The Blues awards are part of a tradition originating in England, where the blue colours of Oxford and Cambridge Universities came to symbolise sporting excellence.

In total 152 awards were bestowed last month, with students recognised for pursuits ranging from kapa haka and poetry to the card game bridge and the sport of polocrosse.