Top student athletes honoured at Blues Awards

Olympics-bound canoe sprinter Lisa Carrington and Black Sticks hockey star Simon Child were last night crowned the BNZ Albany campus Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year.

Swimmer Amaka Gessler received the Extramural Students’ Society Sportsperson of the Year Award at a celebration dinner in the Sir Neil Waters lecture theatre.

The Massey University students were selected from 33 Blues Award recipients representing 20 different sports. Blues recipients are recognised for their performance in representing New Zealand in their chosen sport while successfully progressing in their academic studies.

Ms Carrington, (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-ā-Māhaki), who is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Arts in Māori studies and politics, recently won a gold meal in the women’s K1 200m and qualified for the London Olympics next year. She also won gold in the same event at the 2011 World Cup in Germany, and a gold medal at the 2011 National and Oceania Combined Championships in the women’s K1 500m and women’s K4 200m.

It is the second year in a row Ms Carrington has won the award and she congratulated all the nominees saying it was “awesome” to hear all their achievements over the past year.

Mr Child, a third year Bachelor of Business Studies student, was a key player in the Black Sticks team, which won bronze at the Commonwealth Games last year. He could not attend as he is currently preparing for a match against Australia in the Oceania Cup when he will receive his 150th cap. His father, Rick, accepted the award on his behalf. He said his son would be in position next year where he had managed to complete a degree while playing hockey at top-level tournaments around the world.

“That is due to what happens here and what Massey puts in, it’s just great,” said Mr Child. “Simon will be absolutely delighted to win this award.”

Double Commonweath Games medallist Ms Gessler, who is in her third year of a Bachelor of Science, received her extramural award for achieving outstanding results in her studies whilst competing on the world stage. A member of the New Zealand swimming team, she won a silver in the 200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 100m relay in Delhi last year.

Speaking about her award she said: “I really wasn’t expecting to win this because there are so many amazing athletes here at Massey it is tough competition.”

Paul Henare, former Tall Blacks and NZ Breakers’ basketball player was guest speaker at the dinner and spoke about his experiences as a young athlete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Earlier this year, Massey was the first New Zealand university to sign up to the Athlete Friendly Tertiary Network set up by the New Zealand Academy of Sport to support New Zealand’s high performance athletes to combine their sporting and academic aspirations.

Albany campus Blues Awards recipients were:

Brendan Clark (AFL)
Monique Oosterbaan (Alpine Skiing)
Lucie Tait-Jaimeson (Alpine Skiing)
Sarah Cowley (Athletics)
Scott Bicknell (Canoe Sprint & Surf Life Saving – double blue)
Lisa Carrington (Canoe Sprint)
Bradley Schmulian (Cricket)
Emma Crum (Cycling)
Anna Green (Football)
Priyesh Bhana (Hockey)
Samantha Charlton (Hockey)
Simon Child (Hockey)
Gemma Flynn (Hockey)
Hugo Inglis (Hockey)
Arun Panchia (Hockey)
Alister Leat (Judo)
Rebecca Watkin (Karate)
Louise Urwin (Kayak)
Avalon Biddle (Motor Racing)
Travis Larsen (Rugby)
Molly Meech (Sailing)
Sam Meech (Sailing)
Christy Prior (Snowboarding)
Kelly Pelham (Sport Aerobics)
Moss Burmester (Swimming)
Dylan Dunlop-Barrett (Swimming)
Amaka Gessler (Swimming)
Matthew Stanley (Swimming)
Nielsen Varoy (Swimming)
Matthew Woodrow (Swimming)
Edward Rawles (Triathlon)
Ashleigh Grant (Waterpolo)
Kristina Watson (Waterpolo)