Eliza McCartney honoured at Blues

Fri Sep 30 2016 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Eliza McCartney honoured at Blues

30 September 2016

Pole vaulting sensation Eliza McCartney has topped off an incredible year by adding a University of Auckland Blues Award to her list of achievements.

"It's amazing that such a prestigious university with so many students goes to the effort to recognise achievements beyond studies. It is really positive for the students involved in sport and takes some of the pressure off balancing studies as well as sports commitments," Eliza says.

Eliza, who is studying toward a Bachelor of Science in Physiology, was honoured with a Most Meritorious (Sport) award.

It recognises when Eliza jumped 4.64m in December 2015 to break the world junior pole vault record.

Her bronze medal at the Rio Olympics was outside the eligibility period for the 2016 Blues Awards, which ended in August.

Last year Eliza won the overall Sportswoman of the Year. In 2016 this major award went to up-and-coming karate star Tia Tuiburelevu.

Kickboxing and taekwon-do champion Riley Phillips-Harris was named Sportsman of the Year. The Māori Sportsperson of the year was New Zealand record breaking hurdler Joshua Hawkins (Ngāti Tamatera).

The Blues Awards are part of a tradition from England, where the blue colours of Oxford and Cambridge Universities came to symbolise sporting excellence. While a Blues Award has traditionally been a sporting accolade, the University of Auckland also recognises Arts and Service and Leadership.

In total 152 awards will be bestowed at the event, hosted by Mike McRoberts from TV3. Students will be recognised for a wide range of pursuits from Kapa Haka and poetry, to the card game bridge and the sport of polocrosse.

About the Blues Awards

A University Blue is the highest accolade to be earned at a Tertiary level, traditionally awarded for excellence in a sporting code. The award originated from the rivalry of the Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities in England, where the navy blue Oxford and light blue Cambridge flags displayed by the crews became a symbol of the competition between the two prestigious universities. The University of Auckland has extended the Blues Awards beyond sports to include exceptional achievement in the Arts and in Service and Leadership categories.

Media Contact:

Danelle Clayton 
Communications Office - The University of Auckland
d.clayton@auckland.ac.nz
Mobile: 027 537 2580