• Tamara Otene, Sportswoman of the Year pictured with Principal Jane Stanley.
  • Sports Prefects interview Black Ferns Chelsea Alley and Linda Itunu.
  • Sara McCarthy, All-Round Sportswoman of the Year.
  • Kaia Tupu-South, Junior Sportswoman of the Year.

2017 Senior Prize Giving & Sporting Excellence

News from Westlake Girls' High School

Wednesday 1 November marked a special day for senior students with a ceremony in the morning to recognise students who have made a significant contribution to school life. This was followed by our Academic Prize Giving in the evening to recognise our top academic achievers in each subject and recipients of New Zealand University Scholarships.

This year’s Dux is Regina Lin, a modest but high achieving student who gained Level 1 and 2 with Excellence, with Excellence endorsements in all six subjects at Level 2. Regina also studied Stage 1 Statistics as a member of Auckland University’s Young Scholars programme, passing with an A+ grade. Regina’s accomplishments go far beyond the academic. She has also been a highly effective prefect and been actively involved in a wide range of service and cultural activities, while also finding time to tutor junior students through our Smart Swans initiative and to serve the wider community through the ActivAsian programme.

 

Supreme Award Winners

Dux: Regina Lin
Proxime Accessit: Nicole Shu Ting Tan
Outstanding All-round Student in Cultural, Academic and Leadership: Anushka Kharbanda
Outstanding All-round Student in Sporting, Academic and Leadership: Caitlin Bowden
Citizenship - Outstanding Service, Academic and Leadership: Dani Clements-Levi
Head Prefect: Sydney Clough
International Student of the Year: Yameizhen Li


University Scholarships

University of Auckland
Top Achiever Scholarship: Vanessa Chong, Kristine Jung, Michelle Jung, Florence Layburn, Samantha Lim, Regina Lin, Anna Zhu
Maori Academic Excellence Scholarship: Yasmine McCarthy    
Academic Potential Scholarship: Annie Lee, Penny Zheng

University of Otago
Academic Excellence Scholarship: Marina Saleh
Vice Chancellor’s Scholarship: Hannah Lewis
Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship: Shannon Chalmers, Alice Taylor
Maori and Pacific Peoples’ Scholarship: Gloria Petelo, Urata Sofai
New Frontiers Excellence Scholarship: Esther Reidy

Victoria University of Wellington
Excellence Scholarship: Lucy Howard, Elizabeth Lee
Achievers Scholarship: Evelyn Howard, Hidoria Onesemo
Bachelor of Health Inaugural Scholarship: Lucy Howard

University of Canterbury
Go Canterbury Scholarship: Isla Beazley, Samantha McPherson
Elaine P Snowden Scholarship in Astronomy: Anushka Kharbanda
Helen Macmillan Brown Bursary: Anushka Kharbanda

AUT
Vice Chancellor’s Significant Student Scholarship: Jess Anderson, Amanda Chan

Massey University
Business School Future Leaders Scholarship: Sian Pescott


2017 Sporting Excellence Awards

On Thursday 2 November, Westlake Girls students, parents, staff, coaches, managers and supporters celebrated the school’s individual and team sporting achievements at the Annual Sporting Excellence Awards.

Special guests for the evening were Black Ferns Chelsea Alley and Linda Itunu. They shared their experiences of representing New Zealand in women’s rugby, the highlight being their recent Rugby World Cup win in Dublin. Chelsea and Linda were interviewed by Sports Prefects who questioned them about what has contributed to their success and how they have coped with the demands of playing sport at an elite level. They had some key messages for the Westlake athletes to take with them as they work towards their own personal sporting goals.
Honours Awards went to 26 students across 14 sports who were recognised for their sporting achievements. Bridget Layburn was awarded a special Blues Award for her achievement and service in water polo. In addition to the many students who received colours and individual sports awards, Staff, Volunteer, and Coach Awards were presented to acknowledge their huge contribution to the success of the school’s sports programme.
The Junior Sportswoman of the Year was Kaia Tupu-South. Kaia is the current Auckland Secondary Schools Junior Discus and Shot Put Champion (setting a record in the shot put). She also came 2nd place in the hurdles and 3rd place in both the high jump and long jump. Kaia was also awarded the 2017 Athletics Auckland Junior Female Sportsperson of the Year.
All-round Sportswoman of the Year was awarded to Sara McCarthy. Sara has excelled in a number of sports this year, representing the school in the Premier netball, touch and volleyball teams, as well as coaching junior teams in all three codes. Sara attended the UNISS Netball Tournament and the National Tournaments for both touch and volleyball.
Team of the Year was the Premier Tennis team who, for the third time in five years, were crowned New Zealand Secondary Schools Girls Tennis Champions. They also won the Auckland Champion of Champions tournament and the Aitkenhead shield.

Four finalists were named for the Sportswoman of the Year:
Elys Ventura – Tennis (Member of the NZ Junior Federation Cup Tennis Team and represented NZ at the WTA Future Stars Tennis Tournament in Singapore.)
Anna Steven – Athletics (Represented NZ and placed 3rd in the 100m T42-T44 Women’s Final IPC World Junior Athletics Championships; also excelled in the Para 200m, High Jump and Long Jump events.)
Sophie Egnot-Johnson – Rowing (Member of the NZ U21 Rowing team, placing 1st in the Lightweight single sculls in the Trans-Tasman Rowing Event.)
Tamara Otene - Badminton and Volleyball (Member of the NZ U19 Badminton Team who placed 20th overall at the World Badminton Championships in Indonesia.)

The 2017 Sportswoman of the Year was Tamara Otene. Tamara not only represented New Zealand at the World Under-19 Badminton Championships, she also won Gold at the Oceania Under-19 Badminton Championships and won the national mixed and women’s doubles titles at the Under-19 and Under-17 National Championships. Tamara also led the Westlake Girls badminton team to an extremely close runners-up finish at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships.
In volleyball Tamara is the current Auckland and New Zealand Secondary School Junior Beach Volleyball Champion. Last year, as a member of the Westlake Girls Junior Volleyball team she won the North Island Secondary Schools title, was named in the tournament team and was recognised as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.


Issue 83 Dec 2017 / Jan 2018