KAVANAGH COLLEGE
James Black
Age: 15.
Sport: Karting.
Sporting highlight: Second in national schools karting championships.
Training regime: In the kart every weekend.
Sporting dream: To race in the V8 supercars or Formula One.
Motivations: Being able to feel a sense of achievement. My family has always been into motorsport. I started karting at the age of 4. My dad started racing at the age of 15 and has been racing cars and karts ever since. I am starting to get into car racing as well.
Aria Bannister
Age: 14.
Sports: Squash and swimming.
Sporting highlight: South Island junior champion, selected in the Otago quadrangular women’s team and the Otago junior national team (squash); South Island championships title holder and qualified for New Zealand championships in Auckland (swimming).
Training regime: Six on-court sessions per week (squash), seven pool sessions and two gym sessions (swimming).
Sporting dream: To gain a US college scholarship and to represent New Zealand.
Motivations: I’ve always set goals for myself which have helped me to stay motivated to train and compete. I also love the camaraderie within individual sports which makes it like a team when competing.
OTAGO GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL
Catherine Lund
Age: 16.
Sport: Cross-country.
Sporting highlight: Catherine has had a fantastic year. She placed second at the New Zealand secondary schools cross-country and was chosen in the New Zealand that travelled to Adelaide to compete in the Australian championships at the weekend. Catherine had a very successful event, placing fourth in the women’s under-18 4km event in a time of 15min 9sec. She also formed part of the under-18 women’s team that took home the silver medal. Catherine also took part recently in the New Zealand under-18 cross-country championships and won this event.
Training regime: Catherine runs most days with a small amount of swimming thrown in. She owes a lot of her success to her running coach, Allan Moir.
Sporting dream: Her dream is very simple: she wants to keep achieving with cross-country and track running to a high level. This is her passion, and her motivation to keep going with her sport is also simple: she just enjoys going out and running, meeting new people at events that she attends and also catching up with friends and the sheer experience of it all.
BAYFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
Eleanor Baldi
Sport: Rowing
Sporting highlight: Placing second in the girls under-18 single sculls at the Maadi Cup in my second season of rowing.
Training regime: At the peak of my season, I was training 5-9 times a week. Five mornings rowing on the water, then working on the erg and other conditioning for 2-4 afternoons. Each training would be up to two hours depending on the workload.
Sporting dream: To continue rowing at university and maybe even start to coach in the future!
Motivations: The people around me — my coaches, loved ones and other rowers who encouraged me to push myself but also supported me when I was stressed at regattas or was struggling with the workload.
LAWRENCE AREA SCHOOL
Toby Harrex
Age: 17.
Sport: Ki-o-rahi and rugby.
Sporting highlight: This year Toby was selected in the South of the South ki-o-rahi team to battle it out at the New Zealand area schools tournament. At that same tournament, Toby captained the South Island rugby team. He is also the co-captain of the South Otago High School rugby team.
Motivations: Toby gets his motivation from his love of playing rugby. He travels constantly to training and games, keeps his fitness up through running, and his sheer determination has seen him succeed. Toby believes just because you are from a small school, does not mean you cannot achieve your goals. If you work hard and really want it, it can be done.
Goals: To make the New Zealand area schools rugby team, and to maintain his position as the South Otago High School rugby co-captain.
Lanie Bell
Age: 17.
Sport: Ki-o-rahi, football, basketball and netball.
Sporting highlight: Lanie was selected to play ki-o-rahi, football and basketball at the New Zealand area schools tournament. Netball is also a passion of Lanie’s, which sees her representing her school at tournaments while also being a key member of the Lawrence club team.
Motivations: Lanie’s motivation is to stay fit and healthy while having fun and meeting new people. She is a fantastic leader in our school and a great role model for our younger pupils.
LOGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL
Liam Black
Age: 18.
Sport: Hockey.
Sporting highlight: Being part of the under-18 Otago men’s team that won a bronze medal at the 2021 national tournament.
Inspiring people: My primary school coach, Jan Kernaghan, inspired my love of hockey. She was really passionate and created lots of opportunities at school to just play the game.
Motivations: Really enjoying the game, its fast pace. Having a hit with my brother in the pre-season. Talking hockey even when we disagree. (School note: Liam has coached Logan Park hockey over the past five years. He is an inspiring leader on the field.)
