The New Zealand Herald Junior Sport Awards: Celebrating our young talent

Winners

* Natalie Curtis, clay bird shooter
* Marina Erakovic, tennis player
* Jae An, golfer
* Scarlett Hagen, downhill mountain-biker
* Sherwin Stowers, sevens player

Highly Commended

* Phil Dominick
* Anna Hamilton, triathlete
* Kirsty Yallop, soccer

The diversity of sports recognised in the first 38 years of the New Zealand Herald Junior Sports Awards has been expanded with winners coming from two sports, downhill mountain-biking and clay shooting, for the first time.

A third newcomer sport in the highly commended category was snowboarding.

The 2004 awards, first made in 1967, mark the first year of a new association with the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health.

The winners include world clay shooting champion Natalie Curtis. The 19-year-old from Matamata is joined in the winners' circle by golfer Jae An, rising tennis star Marina Erakovic, junior world downhill mountain-biker Scarlett Hagen and sevens rugby player Sherwin Stowers.

The judges, 1952 Olympic gold medallist Yvette Corlett (nee Williams), hockey international David Appleby, 2001 World Cup-winning cricket captain Emily Drumm and Terry Maddaford, a senior writer from the Herald's sports staff, also highly commended multisport athlete Anna Hamilton, snowboarder Phil Dominick and soccer international Kirsty Yallop.

An, 17, has long been regarded as one of the rising stars of New Zealand golf.

Another product of the strong golf academy at Rotorua Boys' High School, An is a member of the Bay of Plenty senior interprovincial team and won selection into the Eisenhower Trophy team.

His greatest triumph came at last year's Aaron Baddeley 72-hole world junior championship in Fiji where he went into the final round five shots clear of the field, fired a 67 (including six birdies) and won by seven shots.

His final round was highlighted by a 206m three-wood second shot to within 4m of the final green. Watched by Baddeley, An narrowly missed his eagle but his second shot remained one of the most memorable seen at the tough finishing hole at the Sheraton Denarau course.

Curtis juggled studies for a science degree at Waikato University with her sport last year.

With no great hopes and with no real intention of going to the world championships in England, she went to the national championships in Christchurch, which doubled as the last world championships qualifier.

In winning the single-rise clay-shooting title, Curtis was a certainty for selection. She warmed up by finishing fifth in the British Open in Wales and went on to win the individual title and share the three-person team title.

Next year's Commonwealth Games are in her sights and, beyond that, the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Erakovic, 16, joins a growing list of highly commended sportsmen and women who have gone on to become award winners.

Coached for the past eight years by former Wimbledon finalist Chris Lewis, Erakovic ended the year ranked No 8 in the ITF world junior rankings. In singles and doubles she won six titles and was runner-up at another seven tournaments.

The highlight came at September's United States Open where she reached the singles quarter-finals and won the doubles. Earlier she had reached the doubles semifinals at the Australian Open and the final at Wimbledon. She also became the second-youngest player to represent New Zealand at the Fed Cup, helping the team to reach the semifinals by winning some important matches.

Queenstown-based Hagen, 17, completed an amazing double for New Zealand mountain-bikers with her victory in the junior world downhill championship in France.

Her time of 3m 09.24s was only 1.2s slower than senior world champion Vanessa Quinn.

In front of 30,000 spectators in Les Gets, Hagen reached speeds of 57km/h and jumped more than 12m to win by an incredible 12s. Only Quinn was faster on a day when New Zealand dominated the world.

This year she plans to juggle her studies at Otago University with her mountain-biking as she seeks to retain her title in Italy. Next year she will to step up to the Pro Elite class to contest the world championships in Rotorua. This weekend she is contesting the New Zealand championships in the Hunua Ranges.

Stowers, 18, joins a shortlist of rugby players to have been recognised by the awards.

The player of the year in the De La Salle first XV last year, Stowers was handed a winning call-up by New Zealand sevens coach Gordon Tietjens, joining the team who played in Dubai and won in George, South Africa.

His hard running at centre or, more regularly, on the wing, has caught the eye of coaches and selectors. He is a member of the Auckland academy squad and will trial for the Auckland Colts, with other selections beckoning.

In making their choices, the judges commented on the high standard of the entries and were pleased to recognise those they highly commended.

Dominick, 17, excelled in his chosen sport by winning a gold medal in the Boarder Cross event at the Youth World Snowboard Championships in Folgarida, Italy. He a member of the New Zealand team who finished second.

Hamilton, 18, followed ibn the footsteps of another Rangitoto College multisport star, Terenzo Bozzone, in finishing third at the world junior (under-20) duathlon championships in Belgium.

In an outstanding effort, Hamilton won all three New Zealand secondary school (NZSS) multisport - triathlon, duathlon and multisport - titles last year. For the second successive year she was named NZSS female triathlete of the year.

Yallop, 18, became one of the youngest internationals in the 30-year history of the women's soccer in New Zealand when, as a 17-year-old, she was selected for the national team for two matches against the US in October.

The Avondale College pupil also captained the NZSS side in their 0-0 draw with Australia - their best result in years in the transtasman clash. She capped a memorable year as a member of the Lynn Avon team who won the league-cup double.

The winners, their parents and coaches/nominees, will be guests at a luncheon next month where they will receive engraved medallions and $1500 training grants.

The winners and those highly commended will also get the chance to spend a night at the Institute and inspect the facilities.