Catherine Lund
Setting records and challenging her personal best are what Catherine Lund wants to continue doing.
Catherine is an accomplished international athlete who was the top-performing Australasian athlete at the recent World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia. She finished 27th in the under-20 event.
"I really enjoy setting goals. I want to keep running to my personal best and as fast as I can,"Catherine said.
The 17-year-old Otago Girls’ High School pupil placed first in the senior girls’ road race and set an Otago record at the Otago Secondary School Athletics Championships, placing first in the 3000m.
Catherine is an academic prefect who shares her talents willingly. She has been sports co-ordinator for multisport at her school and part of the Wellbeing Team.
This year she is part of the new Tuakana-teina year 9 "Sisters" programme.
"I organise peer tutoring with other academic prefects. Maths is the most common ... I like to help others with their achievements."
Catherine plays the piano to a high level and is accompanist for the school song, the Chambered Nautilus, a complex piece few can play.
Catherine says her parents are her role models. Her mother is musical and her father used to run marathons.
Maths and physics are Catherine’s strongest subjects at school and she is interested in environmental engineering.
Next year, Catherine hopes to study engineering at the University of Auckland or the University of Canterbury.
Achievements: Otago Secondary School athletic championships 1st in the Otago U18 1500m, 2nd in 1500m (2023); 1st in senior girls’ New Zealand Secondary Schools cross-country championships (2023); Otago Sports Awards emerging female talent (2023); 1st in New Zealand women’s U18 and U20 5000m (2022); New Zealand Secondary School athletics track and field team (2022); New Zealand
Secondary School athletics road race team (2022); senior girls road race New Zealand Secondary Schools champs (2022); New Zealand Secondary Schools champs, 2nd in the senior girls’ 2000m steeplechase, 2nd in the senior girls’ 3000m and 1st in the senior girls’
road race (2022); female athlete of the secondary school girls’ champs (2022); U18 New Zealand cross-country team (2022); 1st in U18 New Zealand cross-country (2022); Ako academic prefect (2023); Sidey Medal for national sporting achievement (2021, 2022); best performance in senior track for athletics (2022); academic, sport and New Zealand blues (2022, 2021); NCEA Level 3 (2023); NCEA Levels 1 and 2 with excellence endorsement (2021, 2022); Dame Silvia Cartwright Award for Williams House (2021).
Role Model: Her parents.
Hopes for the future: To become an environmental engineer and to continue running and playing piano.
Jomana Moharram
Scarfie central or the nation’s capital, wherever Jomana Moharram chooses to study, that place will be the better for it.
The 16-year-old Otago Girls High school pupil, who is known as Juju by her friends, is weighing up a law degree or first year health science course at the University of Otago or Victoria University of Wellington.
Her family migrated to New Zealand from Egypt when Jomana was 7 years old and she did not find it easy to settle in a new country.
These experiences have given her a keen focus on helping others and on human rights.
"I find myself wanting to make things better and correct injustices I’ve seen."
An Otago Girls High School spokesperson said Jomana was a true leader who had contributed "in every way" during her time at school.
Jomana led a diversity and inclusion initiative and has been a strong voice for inclusion and restorative practice in her school.
"I’m really proud of that. It’s something that is tangible and that people will use and that will help others," she said.
Jomana believes leadership is about helping others.
"It’s not about myself. I try to stay in the background and I try to help other people celebrate their cultures."
Jomana says her family are her role models, adding they have been through many trials together.
"My parents are like giant mountains and my sister is like a strong river — they don’t falter."
Achievements: NCEA Level 1 and 2 endorsed with excellence (2021, 2022); Positive Behaviour for Learning Prefect (2023); academic blues (2021-22); science fair awards (2020-21); Innovative Young Minds programme (2022); biology and chemistry Olympiad tutorial programmes (2022); Royal Society powering potential programme: Goethe Institut B1 German (2023); Crest bronze and silver Stem awards (2020-21); Prof Harry Messel International Sydney Science School Reserve (2022); school board student representative (2022); Dunedin Youth Council Secretary (2022); diversity group leader (2022-23); Learmonth Dalrymple prize for leadership (2019, 2020, 2022); Dalrymple Academic Medal (2022); youth ambassador for Save the Children and Generation Hope (2023); Y25 Leadership Programme (2023); Otago debating development squad (2022-23); Otago regional debating team (2023); national secondary schools debating (2023); International Debate Link Charity Cup winner (2023); Enviro-leader (2021, 2022); Speech Fest winner (2020, 2022), runner-up (2021); school orchestra, flute (2021-23), violin (2019, 2020); jazz band, tenor saxophone (2020-22).
Role model: Her parents and sister.
Hopes for the future: To work in a field devoted to public health or science and policy or human rights.
