2009 Westpac Emerging Talent Finalists Named

2009 Westpac Emerging Talent Finalists Named

Auckland, 17 December 2009 - A triple world junior cycling champion and the captain of the Under 20 World Cup winning New Zealand rugby team are among the four contenders in the running to win a $15,000 Westpac sporting scholarship next year.

Sam Webster, winner of an unprecedented hat-trick of titles – Sprint, Keirin and Team Sprint, at the 2009 UCI under-19 World Cycling Championships and first five eighth Aaron Cruden, who at age 20 captained the Manawatu Turbos in the Air New Zealand Cup this year, are two of the finalists. They’re joined by two other world champions, Sam Meech (Mt Maunganui), winner of the Laser Radial class at the ISAF World Youth Sailing Championships and Robbie Manson (Marlborough), who at only 19 was a member of the world champion under-23 double scull rowing team, as the finalists chosen for the 2009 Westpac Emerging Talent Award.

The quartet were among a group of 16 outstanding young New Zealand sporting achievers put forward for the Emerging Talent category, the winner to be revealed at the 2009 Westpac Halberg Awards Dinner in Auckland next February.

The $15,000 Westpac Emerging Talent Award is designed to identify and reward potential Olympic and World Champions. It is limited to individual athletes who must not have competed at the Olympics or been a medallist at the Commonwealth Games or Open World Championship.

The inaugural Westpac Emerging Talent Award winner in 2006 was triathlete Rebecca Spence, followed by Emma Twigg (rowing) and Jossi Wells (skiing) in 2008.

The 16 youngsters representing 12 sports nominated for the 2009 Westpac Emerging Talent Award were: Aaron Cruden (rugby), Letitia Carr (karate), Duncan Raymond Dixon (golf croquet), Katie Glynn (hockey), Rob Loe (basketball), Brook MacDonald (mountain biking), Robbie Manson (rowing), Sam Meech (sailing), Daniel Nation (marathon), Hayley Palmer (swimming), Arun Panchia (hockey), Emma Paton (table tennis), Kurt Pickard (BMX cycling), Chris Rahardja (karate), Sam Webster (track cycling) and Chris Wood (football).

Webster, who has just finished his final year at Auckland Grammar, is the first Kiwi track cyclist to win a world sprint title at any level. He is also the fastest New Zealander over the 200m sprint. Cruden, shaped as one of the brightest rugby prospects this year and displaying maturity beyond his years for Manawatu, has been rewarded with selection in the Hurricanes Super 14 squad.

Meech, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 ISAF World Youth Championships, is also the current National Open Laser Radial champion. For Manson, this year’s world under-23 rowing championships were his first at that level and he had little trouble stepping up in class. He is also the under-21 national single scull champion.

The Westpac Emerging Talent Voting Academy comprised – Mike Stanley, former NZ Rowing rep and CEO of the Millennium Institute; John Reid, former NZ cricketer and Senior Adviser Talent Development at SPARC; Chris Bullen, former NZ Badminton rep; Martin Toomey, Manager of High Performance at SPARC, Ron Cheatley, one of this country’s most successful elite cycling coaches; Vanessa Paun, SPARC’s Performance Consultant for Talent Identification and Development; Kereyn Smith, CEO at the New Zealand Academy of Sport in the South Island; Mike Chu, NZRU High Performance Coaching Development Manager and Nigel Avery, former Commonwealth weightlifting gold medallist and current General Manager of Sport at the Millennium Institute. Between them they have significant high performance experience.

According to Halberg Trust CEO Steve Hall, the aim of the award “is to identify and assist a young athlete in their quest to become a future Olympic or World Champion and, hopefully, one day win the Halberg Award.”

The 2009 Westpac Halberg Awards on Thursday, 4 February 2010, will be televised live by SKY Sport.

ENDS

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