Athletics New Zealand has named 30 athletes for the New Zealand team to compete at the Australian Youth Olympics Festival in Sydney 14 20 January 2013.
The team of 15 boys and 15 girls was chosen following the recent New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in Dunedin and contains many promising young athletes identified by Athletics New Zealand as potential future stars.
Orewa teenager Matt Bloxham was a standout at the NZ Secondary Schools Track & Field championships winning the senior boys Hammer and Shot Put, and finishing third in the Discus.
Although just turned 16, Bloxham is ranked 14th in the world for under 18 Hammer throwers. In the past month he has set New Zealand records for age grades M16, M17, M18 and M19 and has qualified in the Hammer for the World Youth championships in Ukraine next year, throwing 6 metres further than the standard.
Another selected athlete to feature strongly at the Secondary Schools championships was Zoe Hobbs from New Plymouth. Hobbs was the most prolific athlete at the champs with gold medals in the junior girls 100m, 200m and Long Jump, along with a silver in the triple jump.
Men Matthew Bloxham Liam Carr Michael Dawson Brett Farrell Charlie Gamble Austen Heuvel Joshua Ledger Jonathon Lord Jacob Matson Jacob Priddey Jordan Rackham James Sandilands Bailey Stewart Samiuela Ulufonua Rhian Ward
Women Lauren Bruce Tarryn Davey Mauga Feagaiga-Fagasa Abby Goldie Audrey Gregan Zoe Hobbs Talia Horgan Lucy Jacobs Megan Kikuchi Arianna Lord Laura Overton Kate Plimmer Amy Robinson Brooke Urquhart Erica Winton