Blues Awards
Celebrate this year’s Blues Award winners and learn how these honours recognise excellence in sport, the arts, and service across our Waikato community.
Major Blues Awards winners
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Mike Curran Rugby |
Lara Vautier Music |
Tess Pateman Canoe Slalom |
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Nrusingha Rath Music – Violinist |
University of Waikato Women's 3x3 Basketball team – Kayla Manuirirangi, Mayako Taingahue, Carly Ohia, and Suraiya Rewi |
Tahla Ward Music |
|
Emma Jones Music - Vocalist |
Hamish Legarth Canoe Racing |
Ellesse Andrews Cycling |
Margaret Nicholson Long Service Award
Outstanding Contribution to Enhancing Performance Award
Emerging Talent Sport
Emerging Talent Creative
Sports Team of the Year
Pou Ahurea | Māori Person of the Year
Creative and Performing Arts Person of the Year
Sportsman of the Year
Sportswoman of the YearCreative Blues Awards
| Award winner | Area of excellence | |
| Elizabeth Ellison | Music - Voice | Elizabeth was a member of the chorus for 'La Traviata' with New Zealand Opera and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in 2025. She has also performed leading roles with Toi Toi Opera in 'A Billy Goats Gruff' 2025 and 'A Christmas Carol' 2024. |
| Chiara Giacon | Dance | In 2024, Chiara was nominated by Tauranga Performing Arts Competitions Society to represent Tauranga at the National Young Performers Awards for ballet. As well as placing in all classes, she also received multiple special awards including highest local and most promising contemporary, local and overall highest points demi character, and most outstanding ballet performance overall. |
| Emma Jones | Music – Voice | Emma is a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir, which recently won the Choir of the World competition in Wales. As a soloist, she has performed with Bach Musica NZ and in Oratorios and concerts throughout New Zealand. Emma also won the Dame Melvina Major Foundation Waikato Aria Competition and received the Most Potential Award at the New Zealand Opera School. |
| Ridge Ponini | Music – Voice | Ridge was named first runner-up in the 2025 Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship final at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He recently graduated from Te Pae Kōkako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio. |
| Tahla Ward | Music – Voice | In 2025, Tahla and her trio became the first New Zealanders to place in the top three at Tamworth’s Best of the Buskers, finishing runner-up among 520 international acts. She later won the Matamata Songwriter Award, qualifying her into Entertainer of The Year Awards, and was a multi-section Senior Finalist at the Gold Guitar Awards. |
| Indiana Williamson | Music – Strings | This year, Indiana Williamson appeared as both a first violinist and Principal Second Violinist with Opus Orchestra and was invited to lead the St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra as Guest Concertmaster. Alongside his solo and chamber work, he was named Associate Concertmaster of the New Zealand National Youth Orchestra in 2025. |
Sports Blues Awards
| Award winner | Area of excellence | |
| Rhylee Akeroyd | Cycling | Rhylee claimed the 2025 U23 Women’s Road Race National title. |
| Ellesse Andrews | Cycling | Ellesse earned two gold medals and one silver at the Paris Olympic Games. At this year’s UCI Oceania Track Cycling Championships, she set a new world record in the Women's 1000m Time Trial and led New Zealand to victory in the team sprint. She was also appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to cycling. |
| Bastiaan Banks | Lacrosse | Bastiaan was selected as captain of the New Zealand Under-20 Men's Lacrosse team who travelled to South Korea and placed 15th at the Under-20 World Championship. |
| Josh Bartlett | Rugby | Josh played for the Highlanders and Bay of Plenty. He rounded out the season by taking the field in the 2024 NPC Grand Final. |
| Luke Blackwood | Cycling | Despite a mechanical setback and having to compete on his second borrowed bike of the competition, Luke placed second in the Keirin at Nationals. He was also part of the winning Men’s Team Sprint. |
| Bryony Botha | Cycling | Bryony competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, earning silver in the Team Pursuit, before claiming bronze in the Individual Pursuit at the 2024 World Championships. In 2025, she added multiple medals at the Oceania Track Cycling Championships and secured silver in the Team Pursuit at the Nations Cup in Turkey. |
| Nick Collier | Canoe Slalom / Kayak Cross | Nick placed 10th in the U23 Kayak Cross World Championship, podiumed at the China International Open and became the 2025 Oceania U23 Champion. |
| Hailey Cottam | Volleyball | Hailey placed first at the 2024 Volleyball Club Nationals Division 2 as part of the Western Bay of Plenty Phoenix Volleyball Blues Women’s team. In 2025, she was selected for the Bay of Plenty Open Women’s Volleyball team, which placed sixth at the Interprovincial Championship, and was named in the University of Waikato Volleyball Team. |
| Kahlia Cullwick | Canoeing | Kahlia won the NZL National Titles in Canoe and Kayak Slalom. This year she made her debut in the NZL Senior team and competed at Canoe Slalom World Cup in Pau, France. |
| Julian David | Speed Climbing | Julian placed 8th overall at the 2024 Paris Olympics, making history as the first male athlete to represent New Zealand in speed climbing at an Olympic level. |
| Camille French | Athletics | Camille represented New Zealand in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics and won the women’s 10km at the 2025 Doha Marathon. |
| Emily Gordon | Rowing | Emily topped off a successful club rowing season with three national titles in the women's senior single, double and quad. She also got silver in the women's premier and senior eight. |
| Bennett Greenough | BMX Racing | Earlier this year, Bennett won the Elite Men Oceania Championships. Since then, he has been based in France, riding for a team on the European circuit. |
| Koji Hardgrave Abe | Cricket | Koji has played for Central Districts U19, scoring an unbeaten 49 against Wellington A. He led the Japan U19 Men’s team in the Asia Cup qualifiers and helped secure their spot in the World Cup Asia qualifiers with an undefeated run in the EAP Qualifier. He is also a regular for the Hawke’s Bay A team. |
| Max Henderson | Table Tennis | As part of the New Zealand Men’s Table Tennis Team, Max won silver in the Oceania Under-21 Men’s singles, bronze in the 2025 Tahiti Open Men’s singles, and gold in the Mixed Doubles at the same event. |
| Nicole Hollands | Lacrosse | Nicole has represented New Zealand Lacrosse in multiple age groups, including the Women’s National Team, which placed 4th at Australian Nationals, the Under-20 World Championship team, and the Under-18 team, which won the NZ Nationals and placed 3rd at Australian Nationals. She was selected for the All-Star Team and was Top Goal Scorer at the Australian Nationals. |
| Tyler Jahnke | Powerlifting | After winning the Open 120+kg national powerlifting title in 2024, Tyler represented New Zealand at the 2025 World Championships in Germany, finishing ninth overall with a 910kg total, and fifth on deadlift with 347.5kg. This performance was also the third largest total by a kiwi lifter. Tyler will compete at the Oceania Championships in November. |
| Edward Johnston | Speed Climbing | In 2025, Ned placed second at IFSC Oceania Speed Climbing Championships. |
| Medea Jones | Olympic Weightlifting | After achieving Elite Grade, Medea qualified for her first Senior World Weightlifting Championships, placing 10th in the snatch with a personal best of 105kg. She was then awarded 2023/2024 Counties Manukau Sportswoman of the Year for her bronze snatch medal at the Junior World Championships and gold medal at the Senior Oceania Championships. |
| Tia Kemara | Touch | Tia was a member of the Touch Blacks Open Women’s team who competed in the World Cup in July 2024. The team placed second at the tournament in Nottingham, England. She was reselected this season and competed in the Trans-Tasman series in April in Christchurch. |
| Kaiya Kepa | Netball | Kaiya is part of the New Zealand U21 Netball team heading to the Netball World Youth Cup in September. In 2025 she became part of the AVIS Magic squad as a Training Partner and is now signed as a fully contracted player. |
| Olivia King | Cycling | Olivia attended the 2024 Paris Olympics as part of the Women’s Team Sprint, and more recently became the Oceania Team Sprint Champion, along with winning a silver in the Keirin event. |
| Hamish Legarth | Canoe Racing | Hamish made his Olympic debut in Paris as part of New Zealand’s canoe team, placing eighth in the K4 500m. This was a first in 40 years that a NZ Men’s crew made the final. More recently at the 2025 National Champs Hamish won two national titles. |
| Millie Jane Mcilraith | Shooting | In March, Millie top scored for the New Zealand open women's down the line team. Millie has also competed in and placed highly at open provincial competitions throughout the year. She is set to compete at the 2026 World Down The Line Championships. |
| Lucy Millar | Sailing | Lucy placed second at the 2025 New Zealand Europe Dinghy National Championships, a result which qualified her for the 2025 World Championships in Italy. |
| Rebecca Mobberley | Equestrian | Rebecca placed fourth in the Prix St Georges division of the 2024 Livamol World Dressage Challenge (New Zealand leg). She was third in the Young Rider of the Year and fourth in the National Championship at the 2025 U21 CDI-Y. She was reserve champion at the National Youth Festival of Dressage and is New Zealand’s youngest Grand Prix rider. |
| Hong Trang Nguyen | Taekwando | Hong Trang Nguyen made an impressive start in New Zealand. Four months after enrolling at the University of Waikato, she joined the Waikato Taekwondo Team and quickly proved her talent. Trang won two gold medals at the Budo South tournament and claimed another gold at the Kukkiwon International Open Championship in Christchurch. |
| Charlotte O’Connor | Underwater Hockey | Charlotte represented New Zealand at the 2024 Age Group Underwater Hockey World Championships, where her and her team won gold. Following this achievement, she has been selected for the 2025 New Zealand Elite Open Women’s Underwater Hockey team. |
| Carly Ohia | Basketball | UTSNZ national champions and placed second at the FISU Oceania 3x3 Qualifiers. She was then selected to represent New Zealand in the Under-21 3x3 Youth Nations League where her team placed second. |
| Tess Pateman | Canoe Slalom | Tess was named in the U18 Canoe Slalom team for 2024 and 2025, competing at the ICF U23 Junior World Championships in Slovakia and France respectively. Tess is one of the top U18 K1 and C1 women’s paddlers in the country and the current New Zealand women’s Kayak Cross National Champion. |
| Brea Roderick | Triathlon | Brea was selected as the reserve female athlete for the triathlon events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She also placed eighth at Karlovy Vary World Cup and finished up 14th place at the Under-23 World Triathlon Championships in Torremilanos. |
| Mayako Taingahue | Basketball | In 2024, Mayako played in the 3x3 EXE Basketball Playoffs in Tokyo. She placed second at the Nations League in Qatar as part of New Zealand’s under-23 3x3 team. Mayako represented New Zealand at the World University Games in Germany, was part of the winning UTSNZ women’s national 3x3 team and a Whai Tauihi Women’s NBL player. |
| Sarah Tetzlaff | Speed Climbing | By qualifying for and competing in the Paris Olympics last year for Speed Climbing, Sarah became the first ever female New Zealander to represent climbing at the Olympics. Following the Olympics she became the Oceania Cup Champion. |
| Kyla Te Wano Greensill | Volleyball | Kyla represented the New Zealand Volley Ferns in a test against Australia and at the 2025 Asian Championships in Vietnam. She also competed internationally with the Māori Women’s team in a Challenger Cup against Tāhiti and the Cook Islands. |
| Olive Watherston | Rugby | Olive joined the Black Fern Sevens in 2024, debuting at the World Series in Cape Town where the team won gold. They went on to win gold again in LA in 2025, were crowned 2024–25 season league winners and overall champions. |
| Manaia Waudby | Touch | Manaia debuted for New Zealand at the 2024 Touch World Cup in Nottingham, earning a silver medal in the Open Women's grade. Recently, she represented New Zealand in the Trans-Tasman series against Australia and won gold in the provincial season with Waikato, claimed the Premier Touch League title, and won Māori Touch Nationals with Tainui. |
| Ally Wollaston | Cycling | Ally attended the Paris Olympic Games, earning Silver in Team Pursuit and Bronze in Omnium. At the World Track Championships, she placed first in Elimination Race, and first in Omnium. |
| Haki Wiseman | Rugby | In March, Haki was named in the Chiefs U20 rugby squad and was awarded 2025 player of the year. He went on to represent New Zealand U20 rugby, travelling to both South Africa and Italy for the World Cup. |
Honouring achievement: the Blues Awards tradition
The Blues celebrate the commitment and achievements of students and acknowledge their contribution to the University of Waikato.
The awards also recognise students and non-students who play a valuable role in University sport and the creative and performing arts scene, either through coaching or administrating.
Blues Awards recognise national excellence through to world champions. They are a symbol of commitment and dedication that students are proud to receive, display, and even add to their resumés.
Blues Awards 2026
The annual University of Waikato Blues Awards (Blues) are one of Waikato University’s strongest traditions, recognising our students' highest sporting and artistic achievements.
There are awards for individual and team achievements, emerging talent, and for service to sports or the arts.
- Read through the judging and eligibility criteria.
- For any questions, email the Events Team at events@waikato.ac.nz
Watch this space so you can submit nominees for 2026.
Past Blues winners
See Blues winners from previous years, from