Canterbury's golden rugby prospect Andy Ellis, who is fast becoming a regular in the starting line-up at halfback, met New Zealand's golden rowing twins, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell at Lincoln University last week. (3 Oct.)
Andy, a Rugby Scholar and Prime Minister's Scholarship holder at Lincoln University, studying for a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree, was one of 19 Lincoln students to receive sports "Blues" at a ceremony on the campus. The Evers-Swindell sisters, Olympic Gold Medal winners at Athens, were the guest speakers and made the awards.
"Blues" are a traditional university acknowledgement of outstanding achievement in sport.
Thirteen "Golds" were also awarded at the ceremony and these recognise outstanding contributions to the cultural life of the University.
Top names among the "Blues" recipients included the 2006 Lincoln University Sportsperson of the Year, Meredith Orr, a member of the national women's hockey team. Meredith was in the Athens Olympic team and is currently in India representing New Zealand in the Indira Ghandi Gold Cup Tournament.
National men's hockey player Hugh Copland was also a "Blues" recipient.
Hugh, who represented New Zealand in the test series against Malaysia earlier this year, is just finishing a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree and Meredith is doing a Graduate Certificate in Commerce.
Sarah O'Connell, the New Zealand senior women s 400 metres hurdles champion was also in the star-studded "Blues" line-up. Sarah is doing a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) degree.
In the "Golds" part of the ceremony the inaugural Chris Hayes Memorial Outstanding Student Award went to Charles Merfield, who is completing a PhD. Charles has made many outstanding contributions to campus life over a number of years, particularly in environmental areas, and this year he was the organiser and chairperson of the annual Postgraduate Conference.
The full list is -
Sporting Blues
1. Jessica Langman Netball (Canterbury NPC A Team)
2. Carl Nicholson Basketball (Canterbury Rams)
3. Hugh Copland Hockey (NZ Black Sticks)
4. Andrew Nation Hockey (Canterbury Men's Team)
5. Aimee Heaps Hockey (Canterbury Women's Team)
6. Meredith Orr Hockey (Women's Black Sticks)
7. Jan Peterson Hockey (Canterbury Men's Team)
8. Jennifer Neal Rugby (Canterbury Women's NPC)
9. Andy Ellis Rugby (NZ U-21 & Canterbury NPC)
10. Adam Roe Rugby (NZ Universities Team)
11. Ben Nowell Rugby (Canterbury NPC Pre-season Team)
12. Mark Wells Rugby (Canterbury NPC Pre-season Team)
13. Darren Broom Cricket (NZ U-19)
14. William Lonsdale Cricket (NZ U-19)
15. Todd Astle Cricket (NZ U-19)
16. Amy Satterthwaite Cricket (Canterbury Women's Team)
17. Carl Frauenstein Cricket (Auckland U-19)
18. Murray England Sailing (NZ Team)
19. Sarah O'Connell Athletics (NZ hurdles champion)
Cultural Golds
1. Charles Merfield
2. Nick Mead
3. Junichi Inoue
4. Shan Shan Han
5. Elton Gomes
6. Ivy Harper
7. Graeme Davies
8. Gemma Smith
9. Randolph Rhea
10. Randel Peart
11. Paul Rutherford
12. Marco Gonzolez
13. David Ziegler
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Ian Collins, Journalist
Lincoln University, Canterbury
Tel: 64 3 325 2811 ext 8549
Email: Ian Collins