Finalists announced for 2023 Blues Awards

This year, 151 Blues Awards, the highest sporting accolade given in Aotearoa New Zealand’s tertiary system, will be awarded to 145 recipients, with six athletes receiving a Blue in more than one sport.

Additionally, two Sporting Excellence Awards will be presented, which acknowledge non-athletes who are excelling in their roles as coaches, managers or officials within their respective sports.

The celebration will take place online on Thursday 19 October, with alumna and former New Zealand Football Fern Anna Green as a guest speaker.

Dr Bevan Erueti returns to host the Awards again and will be joined for the first time by student co-host Eliza McCartney. Eliza is a New Zealand athletics representative in pole vault and studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in environmental science.

Eliza already has an impressive sporting career under her belt, becoming the fourth New Zealand Olympic medallist in a field event when she won bronze in women’s pole vault at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

After an injury in 2021 that kept her from competing at both the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Eliza says her love of competing is what motivates her through the tough times.

“I love being an athlete and I wasn’t ready to move on. Because of the challenges I’ve faced, I’m even more grateful to be back competing this year and have loved every moment regardless of the result.”

The enjoyment is what Eliza says helps her strike a harmony between her sporting and academic commitments.

“It’s much easier to balance commitments when you truly enjoy what you do. I wouldn’t have been able to keep up my studies while being an athlete if I didn’t have passion and love for what I’m studying.”

Eliza has a big year in athletics coming up, having qualified for the World Indoor Championships in March and the Paris Olympics starting in July. She says the rest of this year will be about training hard and setting herself up for 2024, but she’s looking forward to being involved in the Blues Awards.

“I’m very excited to be co-hosting this year alongside Dr Erueti. It will be great to hear more about the achievements of our student athletes and their passions outside of sport.”

Event details

Time: 6pm

Date: Thursday 19 October

Hosts: Dr Bevan Erueti and Eliza McCartney

To attend the Blues Awards, register here.

Finalists

Campus Sportswoman of the Year

Hannah Cross – Ice Hockey

Brenna Greene – Taekwon-Do

Mary Ieremia-Allan – Touch

Ashtuti Kumar – Cricket

Julia Padrutt – Canoe Sprint

Phoenix Reid – Artistic Roller Skating

Savannah Scheen – Athletics

Campus Sportsman of the Year

Mathieu Clatin – Gymnastics

Wilrich Coetzee – Swimming

Fergus Alistair Eadie – Surf Life Saving

Hamish Gill – Athletics

Connor Greentree – Hockey

Bayley Latter – Indoor Cricket

Te Rangatira Waitokia – Rugby

Distance Sportswoman of the Year

Wai Ling Natalie Chan – Fencing

Olivia Corrin – Surf Life Saving

Erica Dawson – Yachting

Erika Fairweather – Swimming

Aimee Fisher – Canoe Sprint

Eliza McCartney – Athletics

Hannah Rowe – Cricket

Paige Satchell – Football

Anna Taylor – Para Cycling

Distance Sportsman of the Year

George Gautrey – Yachting

Luca Harrington – Skiing

Nicholas Kergozou De La Boessiere – Cycling

Kazuma Kobori – Golf

Ben Lister – Cricket

Matt Macdonald – Rowing

Nic Woods – Hockey

Supreme Award 2023

From the four major award winners, the Selection Committee will choose one overall Supreme Award winner to be announced on the evening.