Mountainbikers Cooper and Franks Scoop Canterbury Awards
Monday 7 November 2011, 12:36PM
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Anton Cooper won the 2011 Sir Richard Hadlee award for Best Young Sportsman of the Year at the Sport Canterbury awards on Friday last week. This award tops off a stellar and unprecedented season of achievement for the Under 19 Cross Country mountainbike racer, with a haul of two World Cup wins and a World Championship silver medal cementing his UCI number one ranking in this category. Cooper was in fine company at the CBS Canterbury Arena function, with other prestigious awards going to Richie McCaw for Best Sportsman of the year, Andrea Hewitt for Best Sportswoman (Triathlon) and Sophia Batchelor for Best Young Sportswoman (Swimming).
Cooper also won the Zonta Canterbury Secondary School Best Sportsman, and the Mainland Power North Canterbury Best Sportsman awards earlier in the week. Daniel Franks claimed the Zonta Award for Best Sportsman across two or more codes, for his international success in BMX, Four Cross, and Downhill Mountainbiking.