Olympian wins Blues Award
Bachelor of Arts student and Football Ferns star Annalie Longo was the big winner at the AUT Blues Awards last week. Held at the North Shore Campus on Wednesday 17 October, the Blues Awards is a celebration of AUT students’ sporting achievements. And with many students representing New Zealand in a variety of sports all over the world, picking the winners was not easy.
Olympian Annalie Longo, who was the Female Athlete of the Year, beat Male Athlete of the Year, Paralympian swimmer Cameron Leslie, to win the overall 2012 AUT Sportsperson of the Year award.
The award was accepted by her parents Paul and Leanne Longo as Annalie is currently playing professional football with the Sydney Football Club. Annalie was a key player in the Football Ferns team throughout the team’s Olympic campaign playing in all the team’s games.
The Football Ferns finished 8th after being beaten by the United States in the quarter-final.
Annalie became the second youngest New Zealand representative in a senior football team of either gender when she played in the 2007 World Cup aged just 15.
Paralympian wins Male Athlete of the Year
Cameron Leslie won a gold medal for swimming at the Paralympics in the SM4 150 metre individual medley. Cameron successfully defended his title he won from fours ago winning in a world record time crushing his closest rival who was more than 13 seconds behind at the end. He also gained a 5th and 6th position in other swimming events.
In addition to his swimming achievements, the Bachelor of Communications graduate is a member of the Wheel Blacks – the New Zealand wheelchair rugby team. After having completed his study at AUT, Cameron will now take up a position with the Northern Advocate in Whangarei as the sports reporter.
The quality of the winners was reflected in the calibre of the runners-up.
The other female athlete of the year finalists were Tracey Lambrechs (Graduate Diploma in Arts, Major in Events Management) for weightlifting where she represented New Zealand at the World Championships in Paris and Melissa Temperley (Bachleor of Sport and Recreation) for Taekwondo, Melissa represented New Zealand at the World Championships.
The other Male Athlete of the Year finalists was Black Sticks representative Shay Neal (Bachelor of Law).