KEY POINTS:
Rebecca Spence and Michael Arms have joined some of New Zealand's top sportsmen and women in being recognised as Auckland sporting stars of the year.
Spence (Rangitoto College) and Auckland Grammar's Arms took the overall honours at the ASB Bank College Young Sportsperson of the Year awards dinner at Eden Park.
Disappointed when she missed out to Lynlee Smith last year, Spence, 18, was happy to have taken the award in her last year at school.
"It is good to be recognised in this way," said Spence, who has had an amazing year. She managed a clean sweep of the Auckland secondary schools triathlon, duathlon and aquathon championships and the national triathlon title.
But it was on the world stage she really made her mark.
After retaining her world under-20 duathlon title, she stunned the cycling world when, in only her second attempt at the event, she won the world junior time trial championship.
Interestingly, Spence, who also won the national under-20 and Oceania under-23 triathlon crowns, said it was a race she lost which taught her most about herself and her sport.
The hot favourite to win the world junior triathlon championship, Spence "bombed".
"I knew after the first five strokes of my swim [the first discipline] that it was not going to be my day," said Spence, who was still sporting sticking plaster on wounds suffered when she crashed in the road race at the world junior cycling championships.
"The world triathlon championships were my only disappointment. But I learned so much from the experience and have taken a lot of positives from it."
Now, with her last exam today and school life about to end, Spence looks forward to life on the road - literally.
She is preparing for January's national road cycling championships, a three-week training camp in Wanaka with triathlon guru Jon Hellemans and then the Oceania triathlon championships where she will chase a top-five finish and with that the vital points needed to allow her to compete on next year's World Cup circuit.
"I need to do that as the first step towards the Beijing Olympics," said Spence who also has her eye on a scholarship to an American university "if I can get hold of the right people".
Arms was one of three Grammar pupils among the seven contenders for Young Sportsman of the Year.
In the end he was a deserved winner in recognition for his efforts at school, provincial and international rowing.
The 17-year-old has had a meteoric rise in his chosen sport.
He has been rowing for less than four years and says it is the first sport he has taken seriously.
At 1.98m (6ft 6in) and 85kg, he is, he admits, almost the perfect build for a rower.
Given his build, he was asked in his very early days at AGS if he would be interested in the sport.
"I was stuck in the middle of a four and an eight and took it from there," said Arms, who like Spence, had to juggle the awards dinner with exams - and the early mornings at Point England on the Tamaki Estuary.
"I had a go in a single and I'm looking forward to doing that again this summer," said Arms.
His prowess soon caught the attention of those in higher places. Although his results on the ergometer were "not too great", he was one of the best for his age.
"They trialled me in different positions in the boat and I finished up in the two seat," said Arms, who went on to win gold as a member of the eight that blitzed the field at the world junior championships after helping his school to success at the national championships.
Rowing has meant a big change in his life.
His days start at 5am and he is on the water by 5.45. Summers are the most intense with 12 trainings a week when he joins the 70-80 boys from the school who are members of the Auckland Grammar Rowing Club.
"Rowing has taught me how to organise myself," he admitted. Like most young sporting people, family support is vital.
Unlike Spence, who was widely touted as a likely winner, Arms said he had no great thoughts about winning the award.
"I was expecting to walk up on the stage and then jump off," he said. "But then they started talking about rowing and I realised it could only be me."
The finalists for the top awards were:
Boys: Mathew Mildenhall (AGS, athletics), Chance Cheng (WBHS, badminton), Misha Koudinov (WBHS, gymnastics), Thomas Reynolds (WBHS, mountainbiking), Arms, Winston Stanley (AGS, rugby), Sam Tuivai (Penrose HS, volleyball).
Girls: Jessica McCormack (Northcote, basketball), Sharon Ahn (Pinehurst, golf), Georgia Cervin (WGHS, gymnastics), Teegan Metcalfe (Diocesan, rhythmic gymnastics), Paula Griffin (Massey, netball), Sophie Shu (Diocesan, table tennis), Spence.
Arms and Spence are in illustrious company. Former winners include Jonah Lomu, Sarah Ulmer, Emily Drumm, Valerie Adams and Ryan Archibald.
Beatrice Faumuina and Kyle Brown were winners of the inaugural awards in 1991.
Twenty-seven Auckland teams were also acknowledged as national schools champions.
Stalwarts Alex Metzger (soccer), Alistair Todd (basketball) and Innes Kerr-Taylor (rugby) had their services to secondary school sport recognised with special awards.
CRICKET
The final round of matches in the 1A and 1B grades were washed out with each team taking a point. The finalists have been found, however, with defending champions King's to play at home against Westlake BHS in Friday's final.
The 1B final, between Auckland Grammar's second XI and Pakuranga College, will be played at Cornwall Park on December 5.
Epsom won the short term-four girls' competition convincingly beating Baradene in their final game. EGGS dominated all their matches and showed they will be the team to beat when play resumes in term one next year.
Most interest will centre on the NZCT qualifying tournament in mid-March when 20 teams will chase places at the national tournament.
Lynfield College comfortably beat McAuley High to win the senior B final - a playoff between the top teams in the two pools. Lynfield won by eight wickets.
Botany Downs won the intermediate girls' competition beating a Mt Roskill Grammar junior team in the final. Botany Downs scored an impressive 133/5 from 20 overs and went on to win comfortably.
VOLLEYBALL
McAuley HS (girls) and Rangitoto College (boys) were the big winners at the Auckland junior championships at AUT.
Defending champions McAuley were too strong for Manurewa HS in the final, winning 2-1 with MVP Sue Leavusa leading the way.
Led by their star Tom Kearns, Rangitoto outplayed De La Salle 2-0 in their final. It was Rangitoto's first win in the event and they did so without dropping a set and allowing no team to reach 20 points in any set during the tournament.
More than 50 teams played in the ever-popular championships which are a lead-in to the North Island tournament to be held in Palmerston North from next Wednesday.
COMING UP
Friday: Cricket, 1A final, Kings v WBHS, Kings. Table tennis (from 3.45pm, Gillies Ave), B grade, AGS 4 v AGS 7, AGS 5 v AGS 3, AGS 6 v AGS 8, Parnell 1 v AGS 9. C grade, AGS 10 v AGS 12, AGS 11 v Mt Hobson 3, AGS 14 v Onehunga 5. From 5.45pm, A grade, AGS 1 v Parnell 1, Manurewa v AGS 2. C grade, Rutherford v Onehunga 3, Howick E v Onehunga 1, Onehunga 4 v Onehunga 2.
Saturday: Cricket, Waikato 1st XI, final, St Peters v Hillcrest; 3/4 playoff, HBHS Development v Cambridge; plate final, Matamata v Morrinsville; playoff 7/8, St Johns v Fraser.
* RESULTS
CRICKET
AUCKLAND
Boys
Final points
1A: pool A, WBHS 9, Rangitoto, St Kentigern 7, MAGS, KBHS 3, TGS 1. Pool B, Kings 9, Sacred Heart, AGS, Rosmini 5, Macleans, Avondale 3.
1B: pool A, AGS 8, WBHS, Rangitoto 7, Papatoetoe, MRGS 3, Northcote 1. Pool B, Pakuranga 9, St Peters 5, Howick, Liston, St Kentigern 5, Kristin 1.
Girls
Final placings
Premier: EGGS 1, Baradene 2, Avondale 3, MAGS 4, Diocesan 5.
Intermediate: Botany Downs 1, MRGS 2, Pukekohe 3, Penrose 4, Kings 5, Avondale 6, Macleans 7.
***
VOLLEYBALL
AUCKLAND JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Girls
Final: McAuley HS 2 Manurewa HS 1 (25-12, 18-25, 15-10).
Third: MAGS.
Tournament team: S. Leavusa, K. Morunga, E. Mark (McAuley), J. Wairui, J. Prichard, C. Fepuleai (Manurewa), L. Simone, D. Leota (MAGS), J. Ahlan, E. Feaigia (Mangere), A. Danilau, N. Tavalu (Avondale).
MVP: Leavusa.
Boys
Final: Rangitoto 2 De La Salle 0 (25-18, 25-15).
Third: AGS.
Tournament team: T. Kearns, L. Brown, J. Timmer, I. Girally (Rangitoto), J. Sefo, J. Uelese (De La Salle), J. Vaoa (AGS), S. Graham, L. Munday (WBHS), D. Su'e (Penrose), S. Pisi (KBHS), R. Grubb (Long Bay).
MVP: Kearns.
