The Black and Gold Awards are a highlight of the school calendar, where we gather to celebrate the success of students who have performed at the very highest levels.

The winners were:

• Junior Sportsman of the year: Tom Hughson

• Junior Arts person of the year: Nicholas Kennedy

• Senior Sportsman of the year: Troy Plumtree

• Senior Arts person of the year: Malachy Holborow

• Te Toki Poutangata: Ollie Church

• Lamepa o le Laumua: Ele Lupo

• Sports group of the year: Senior A Basketball

• Arts group of the year: Big Band

• College Mothers' Award: Cam Jones

• Staff Sport: Brad Moon

• Staff Arts: Emma Young

See below for a full list of finalists and details of their success.

JUNIOR SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR - Finalists

Leevae McDonald for basketball, athletics and touch

A member of the Senior A Basketball Team which won the CSW Champs and finished 2nd in regionals. Leevae was a Wellington U 16 Representative and made it to the 24 man squad from which the NZ U 16 team was selected. He also made for the Samoan U 16 Team.

At McEvedy athletics he won U 15 triple jump and was 2nd in long jump. He is also a Under 16 Wellington Touch representative. 

Declan Broadfoot for swimming 

Locally Declan won 8 out of 8 golds at the Wellington short course Champs and at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships he won 3 golds and 1 silver.

The National Age Group Championships saw him win1 gold 3 silver and 1 bronze and most recently at the NZ Short Course Championships he won 2 Gold and a silver. On the basis of times over the season he has qualified for the New Zealand Age Group High Performance Squad. 

Alexander MacBeth for athletics/cross country 

Alex broke three school records in the 800m and 1500m athletic events. Also winning these events at McEvedy he broke the 800m Mcevedy record in the U 15 age group. He went on to repeat these victories again at regional level and we look forward to Nationals in December.

At cross country lead the school U 16 team to victories in the College Sport Wellington Relays and also Regionals. He won the Dorne Cup which is the Wellington Champs and the went on to place 2nd in the New Zealand Secondary School Championships. Again leading the team to high honours being silver in both the 3 man and 6 man competition.

Ethan Pryor for Tennis

At year 9 Ethan is in the WC Premier Tennis Team,  this year winners of the Onny Parun Cup and the NZ Secondary Schools Cup. 

He won bronze as the number one player in the Central region 14 and under team which played in the National teams event and was finalist in the Central 16 and under tournament.

On the back of a strong season he was named non-travelling reserve in the New Zealand 14 and under team for World Champs qualifying event.

Leader of New Zealand 14 and under Junior Masters Points Race (as at August 2024)

He is currently ranked number 2 in the 14 and underage group nationally.

Tom Hughson for Athletics, Cricket, and Rugby 

At McEvedy Tom won the U15 100m, U15 200m and the U15 400m sprints for the second year in a row . Top points scorer for WC in the U15 grade and for the second year in a row was the top points scorer in the WC team overall. 

He was 5th in the national final of the Junior 200m sprint and was a member of the WC Junior 4x400m relay team that won the silver medal.

In cricket in December 2023 he was a member of the WC Junior Vettori Shield team which finished runners up in this national cots tournament. He was second highest wicket taker overall. Not surprisingly he moved directly in to the 1st XI playing every game through the season. He has recently been named in the Wellington U17 Cricket training squad for the upcoming 2024/2025 summer season. 

In rugby he was selected for the 2nd but was was called up to the 1st  XV as injury cover and for the 98th Quadrangular Tournament at Nelson College. He came on in 5 1st  XV games, including two Quad games, during the season and started in 2 games.He returned to the 2nd XV for the semi-final and final of Premier 2 grade, playing fullback. The 2nd XV were runners up in the grade. 

He was  selected in the Wellington U16 Rugby representative team

WINNER Junior Sportsman of the Year:

Tom Hughson

JUNIOR ARTS PERSON OF THE YEAR - FINALISTS

Binara Amaratunga

Binara is a part of the Basin Boys Barbershop Chorus which placed 3rd at the Young Singers in Harmony National Convention. He also sings in the Black and Gold Collective, plays ukulele in the ukulele orchestra which performed in the “Like A Version” cover song competition, and also performs with the Year 9 rock band. We have also heard him performing traditional Pakistani drums in assembly early this year. Binara was also a cast member in the 2024 Junior Drama Production.

Duncan Blennerhassett

Duncan performs with the Big Band which won awards at both the Manawatu Jazz Festival and the National Youth Jazz Competition in Tauranga. He also plays for the second line band and combined orchestra. He also won the inaugural “Like A Version” cover song competition with a solo loop pedal performance that wowed the judges. 

Hugo Carter

Alongside the school orchestra, Hugo plays with the award winning WC & WGC Big Band. He also played with the Concert Band at the National Concert Band festival in Hamilton. Outside of school, Hugo has earned a place in Wellington Brass Band, winning the highly competitive national brass band championships at the highest level. He is also a member of the NZ Secondary Schools Brass Band. 

Max Horn

Max performs with the WC & WGC Big Band, Barbershop Chorus, Barbershop quartet, Orchestra, a jazz combo and concert band. He achieved a top ten placing in the solo/duo category of Rock Quest and a judges commendation at the Manawatu Jazz Festival. Max was also a Play it Strange original music competition finalist and has formed his own big band. Alongside music, Max was involved with the 2024 Junior Drama production and theatre sports club.

Miles Beaglehole

Miles is an active actor, debater and musician. He was involved with the Sheilah Winn National competition performance entitled “Look with the Eyes”, the 2024 Junior Drama production, the Wellington District Theatre Federation 24 Hour Play Competition, and the Theatre Sports club. He also performed with Ngā Korimako at the Big Sing Finale, Black & Gold Collective, and the Basin Boys Barbershop Chorus at the Young Singers in Harmony National Convention. In debating, Miles was in the winning team in the Moot Must Fall and a keen participant in the senior in-house competition.

Nicholas Kennedy

Nicolas plays trombone in the Big Band which has won several national awards at festivals around NZ. He is also a member of Ngā Korimako which performed at the Big Sing National Finale, and the Basin Boys who achieved 3rd place at the Young Singers in Harmony National Convention. He is a committed member of the Black & Gold Collective all comers choir where he has demonstrated his leadership ability. He has also performed with the WC Second Line Brass Band and travelled to the national concert band festival with the WC Concert Band. Nicholas is also an excellent debater, speaking in one of our Junior Certificate teams this year and taking part in the Moot Must Fall.  

WINNER: JUNIOR ARTS PERSON OF THE YEAR - Nicholas Kennedy

SENIOR SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR - FINALISTS

Heath Abbot Athletics

At  McEvedy Athletics Heath won Senior Boys Discus. He is also the College Sport Wellington Senior Boys Hammer Champion setting a new CSW record with a throw of 61.93m by over 10m. He is also Athletics Wellington U18 Hammer Champion and in Dec 2023 Bronze in the Senior boys Hammer at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Track and Field Champs. 

At the New Zealand Track and Field Championships he won the U18 Hammer and was second in the U 20 event. On the back of this stellar season he was selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team which competed in the Australian Athletic Champs where he came 4th and the Athletics NZ Team to the Oceania Champs in Fiji where he also came 4th.

Joel Ball- LaHood for Fencing  

Joel is currently the Central Region Mens' Epee champion. And he finished 3rd in the NZ Junior (Under 20)  Championships. Joel is the 2024 Australian and Oceania Junior (under 20) men's epee champion. He has been an integral member of the NZ U 20 team winning gold in the Australian and Oceania Championships, and finished 148th in the World Championships in Riyadh. Recently he finished 9th in the Commonwealth Junior and Cadet Championships as an individual and won a silver medal as a member of the NZ team.

Hamish Davenport for Hockey & Volleyball

Hamish is Captain of the 1 XI Hockey Team, he has been a member of the 1 XI since year 10 and this was recognised a few weeks ago when he played his 100th game for the team. A fantastic achievement recognised by a special cap. He lead the team to runner up in the local competition and a very creditable 11th at Rankin.

This year he was a member of the Wellington rep team that finished 3rd at nationals, on the basis of this great season Hamish has been selected for the U 18 Future Black Sticks squad the equivalent of the Junior Black Sticks.

Hamish is also captain of the Senior A Volleyball team. This team played through the ;local season without dropping a set taking out the College Sport Wellington Premiership and the Regionals Tournament. They went on to finish 5th at Nationals . The highest ever placing by a WC team. Again Hamish made the Wellington U19 rep team and played in the National IPC tournament.

Cameron Jones Underwater hockey

Cam is the Wellington College Senior A Underwater Hockey Team captain and Junior coach. 

He lead the team to the local CSW championship as well as the Central regionals title. Here he was named in the Tournament team. Having qualified for nationals they finished second with Cam again making the tournament team.

He was named Vice captain of the New Zealand Under 19 men’s team which went on to win the world title in Malaysia going through the competition undefeated.

Joe Martin Athletics & Cross Country

Joe Martin is one of New Zealand's top U18 middle distance runners. He has had a strong 2024 track and cross country season, where he has performed highly at school, regional, national and international events. 

At Athletics he won 800 and1500m at McEvedy and followed  this with the 400m title at the Wellington Secondary Schools Championships and the U18 title at 800m at the Wellington Athletics Championships.

He was selected for the NZ team to compete at the Oceania Athletics Championships in Fiji – and placed 4th in the U18 800m boys in a new PB of 1:53.65.

In Cross Country he won the U18 Athletics Wellington Cross Country Championship and at the New Zealand  Secondary Schools Championships he finished  6th out of 169 senior boys. 

He was selected for the  New Zealand Secondary Schools Team to Australian Cross Country   Championships. He won silver in the U18 Boys individual and gold with the New Zealand team .

Troy Plumtree Basketball 

Toy is co- captain of the Senior A Basketball team which won the local CSW Premiership for the second season running. They went on to qualify for nationals finishing a close second at regionals behind Napier Boys High. Here they finished a very creditable 4th and Troy was selected in the 5 man all star team from the tournament.

Troy was a member of the Wellington U18 representative team and was selected and played valuable minutes for the Wellington Saints NBL team. 

The highlight of the season was playing for the New Zealand under 17 team which finished 4th at the World Championships, the best placing ever by a New Zealand age group team.

He was one of 11 New Zealand high school age prospects that attended the NBA/FIBA basketball without borders camp in Perth and was named in the All Stars team from this at the end of the week. 

WINNER - SENIOR SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR - Troy Plumtree

SENIOR ARTS PERSON OF THE YEAR - FINALISTS

Joshua Kerr

Joshua is a multi instrumentalist, playing clarinet, saxophone, and singing in a range of our school groups. He plays lead alto in the big band which has won national awards, plays in the 1867 Combo which was awarded top combo at the Manawatu jazz festival, and also plays in the school orchestra. He sings in Ngā Korimako and the barbershop chorus. He is lead alto sax in the Wellington all stars youth big band, an auditioned group for local youth jazz musicians. He has also sung in the Wellington cathedral choir. At the Manawatu Jazz festival he was awarded both the top saxophone player award and the top overall musician. 

Malachy Holborow

Malachy is an exceptional musician and committed member of the music department. He plays tuba in the WC & WGC Big Band, the school orchestra, and also sings in Ngā Korimako, the Basin Boys - our barbershop chorus, and the barbershop quartet. All of these groups made it to their respective national final events this year. In previous years he has also played in the Concert Band and sung in the Black & Gold Collective. He has also played in the Wellington Allstars Youth Big Band, and the NZ Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra. He is a contract tuba player for Orchestra Wellington, a local professional adult orchestra, which is an exceptional achievement for someone his age. He is a Music Prefect, and has been since year 12. He has organised Arts Week events over the last two years and continues to provide opportunities for other arts students including working on the Runathon Concert. While Malachy’s commitments left no room for Drama this year, he has been an active participant in multiple Junior and Senior Drama productions over his time at WC, and supported the 2024 Senior Drama production in the front of house role.

Nikhil Cox

Debating has been a big part of Nikhil’s life at Wellington College since 2020, when he was awarded Joint Best Speaker of Year 9 Inhouse Debating. Since then he has developed into an outstanding debater, culminating in his selection as first speaker for the Wellington Gold team that competed at Nationals in May.  He has been a member of Prem A for the last two years. This year Prem A won their grade, with Nikhil receiving the Suffrage Cup for Best Speaker in the final. He also won Best Speaker in the Wellington Impromptu Cup competition..

Nikhil has made an immense contribution to WC debating through coaching  other interschool debaters and adjudicating and organising in-house debating. He co-organised the Moot Must Fall as a Year 11 (when he also won Best Speaker) and again this year.

In addition, Nikhil has participated in the Ethics Olympiad, directed the 2024 Junior Drama Production, acted in the Senior Drama production and was selected for the New Zealand Youth Improv Festival Programme. 

Patrick Jones

Patrick is an outstanding musician. He drums in the nationally awarded WC Big Band, 1867 Combo, and Wellington Allstars Youth Big Band. He also drummed in the WC Second Line Brass Band and plays first violin in the school orchestra where is joint Concert Master. He is an in demand drummer in groups around Wellington and has recorded with local musicians as part of their songwriting competition finalist awards. He is a Music Prefect and regularly leads opportunities for the musicians around. At the Manawatu Jazz festival he was awarded the top overall drummer in the festival.  

Quintin Johnson Bell

Quintin's contribution to Te Haeata Awatea and kaupapa Māori has been significant in his time at Wellington College. His commitment to kapa haka has never been motivated by the "big events" that everyone turns up to but by his passion for performance and te ao Māori. His integrity has always led him to do the right thing and the reason he is a true example for his peers. A key performer in Te Haeata Awatea, a facilitator of te ao Māori within the school, including the strengthening of our school haka, speaking and supporting the school in mihi whakatau. A leader who understands the importance of being present and serving others. 

Reilly Blennerhassett

Reilly is an excellent musician. Alongside being an exceptional bass player, playing in the WC Big Band, 1867 Combo, and Wellington Allstars Youth Big Band, he is also an exceptional cello player. Besides playing cello in the WC Orchestra, he was also selected for the National Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra and National youth Orchestra. Both of these are outstanding achievements, in particular the NZYO, which is open to musicians up to the age of 25. His selection in Year 12 is exceptional. At the  Manawatu Jazz Festival he was awarded the top overall bass player in the festival. He is a Music Prefect and works hard to create opportunities for younger musicians at our school. 

WINNER - SENIOR ARTS PERSON - Malachy Holborow

Te Toki Poutangata

Ka riro te taonga nei i te tauira Māori kua whakapaukaha hei hāpai i ngā mahi hākinakina, i ngā mahi toi hoki i Te Kāreti Tamatāne o Te Whanganui a Tara i tēnei tau. 

This award is for the Māori student who has made the most significant contribution to sports and the arts at Wellington College this year, and is presented to:

Ko tō tātou nei manukura, He rangatira mō āpōpō, He mokopuna nō Kai Tahu, ko Ollie Church.

Lamepa o le Laumua Award

This award recognises the Pasifika student who has shown Pasifika values in"O le ala ile pule ole tautua" - The path to leadership is through service. This Pasifika student has shown commitment and excellence as a leader in both Arts and Sports at Wellington College.

The winner is Ele Lupo.

SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR: FINALISTS

Senior A Basketball team

The winners of the CSW premiership the Pohlen Cup they went on to finish 2nd in the Regional Competition thereby qualifying as a top seed for nationals. Here they went through the group stages unbeaten, losing in the semis to eventual winners Christs College before finishing a very creditable 4th. 

They are coached by Tom Grice and Ash Wicks and managed by Meripa Leifi and Lara Plumtree.

Year 10 1st XI Football team 

A very talented group of young players, this team lost a close Premier Junior final against HIBS and went to the tournament at Tauranga with something to prove. They lost one game in the group stages to qualify for the knockout in second place. Here they moved through to the semis and beat Auckland powerhouse Westlake Boys 5-4 in penalties. The final was a redemption game versus HIBS which saw them win 2-0 and bring home the national title.

They were coached by Sam Wooler and managed by Erin Aspros.

Senior A Volleyball team 

This team dominated the opposition locally to win the CSW premiership without dropping a game. This form was carried into the Regional Championships where they also came out convincing winners.

At nationals they played even better than this, finishing 5th the best performance ever by a Wellington College team in what is a huge national competition of the highest standard.

They were coached by Keith Kincaid and Scott Sullivan, and managed by Lancely Law

Senior A Underwater Hockey Team 

A dominant force locally they won both the CSW Premiership and also the Central Regionals National Qualifying Tournament.

Going into the nationals as one of the top seeds they met Nelson in the semi a game which went to an extra 14 minutes of golden goal overtime won by the good guys. The final proved to be a step too far where they were defeated by a strong Glendowie team but none the less a great result.

WINNER: Sports Team of the Year for 2024 is the Senior A Basketball team. 

ARTS TEAM OF THE YEAR

1867 Combo

The 1867 Combo, taking its name from the founding year of our school, is an our senior jazz combo. Reilly Blennerhassett, Patrick Jones, Joshua Kerr, and Johnson Ding are the main members, but they regularly perform with Greer Castle from WGC. The Group was awarded Gold at the National Youth Jazz festival in Tauranga this year and at the Manawatu regional Jazz festival they were awarded the top overall combo with several of the members also winning individual awards also. They perform regularly at school events, and locally are in demand as a gigging band. 

The WC & WGC Big Band 

The Big Band is proud to include musicians from year 9 - 13 and is part of the hugely important and successful musical relationship between Wellington College and Wellington Girls’ College. The group has been awarded Gold at the National Youth Jazz festival in Tauranga for the last several years. They have also taken away the top overall performance of a New Zealand Work for the last two years at the same event. The band has been awarded Gold at the Music Works Ensemble Festival of Aotearoa, and has been offered a spot to perform at the Wellington Blues Club. The big band performs regularly in the community and for school events, like tonight, grandparents day, assemblies, and prize givings, and sees performances like these as an important part of their service to the school. For the last three years, they have been selected to be finalists in the Young Jazz Band It Competition for the top 10 School Big Bands in the country. This event sees over 50 top school jazz bands compete for a chance to perform in the finals at Victoria University. This year the group was awarded 3rd place overall, which is an exceptional outcome for this nationwide competition. This result cements the band as one of the top few high school bands in New Zealand. 

Chess Team

The WC chess team have had an amazing year.

Kayden Loke won the New Zealand Junior Championship. Candidate Master Cohen Young came second in the New Zealand Junior Championship. Cohen was the winner of The Kapiti Rapid and The Estonian Rapid events. Cohen won his Candidate Master’s title at the “Trusts Open” in June. Candidate Master Ollie Archer, having already won the New Zealand Junior Championship in 2022, played in the Open New Zealand Chess Championship coming an impressive tenth place. He won both The Wellington Chess Club Rapid and The Upper Hutt Rapid tournaments. Zachary Thirkall -was the winner of the Wellington Chess Club Autumn Cup -C grade.

Lead and captained by Cohen Young, Ollie Archer, Kayden Loke and Zachary Thirkall are an impressive team. They completely dominated the Wellington Regional Secondary School Tournament in June, winning all their 6 matches comfortably. The team scored an impressive 23 games points out of a possible 24. Cohen, Ollie and Zach were all undefeated in the tournament and they each received an individual board award for their performances.

They were the top seeded team heading into the National Chess Championship and they lived up to this, winning all seven matches to go though the tournament undefeated. They are the first team from Wellington to ever win National Championships.

Individual awards in the National Championship for the strongest player on each board went to:  Ollie Archer- undefeated on Board 2 with 7 wins, Kayden Loke -undefeated on Board 3 with 7 wins,  and Zachary Thirkell -scoring 6 wins and a draw on Board 4.

Interschool Debating Squad

2024 has been a fantastic year for WC interschool debating. There are 5 grades of Wellington interschool debating competition, and for the first time that we can work out, this year WC has won four of them: Junior Prem, Senior Cert, Prem B and Prem A, with Best Speakers in all four.  We also won the Impromptu Cup, and both debates in the Traditional against Palmerston North Boys High.   Prem A also somehow beat the teachers’ team by a very narrow margin in the annual Staff - Student debate. 

In the Regional Championships held in March, at which teams for Nationals are chosen, Prem A came runner-up, and of the ten students chosen for the teams going to nationals, Wellington College had three, another record. Thomas Beaglehole-Smith was picked as a reserve, and Theo Masseurs and Nikhil Cox were members of Wellington Black and Welington Gold and competed at Nationals.

All these results reflect a massive amount of work from the students in these teams and outstanding coaching and mentoring from the senior debaters. The spirit of cooperation within the squad and the knowledge that debating is a team sport contribute to our ongoing success. 

Ngā Korimako

Ngā Korimako is the auditioned combined choir from Wellington College and Wellington Girls’ College. This year it was awarded a judges certificate for performance of a NZ piece at the regional Big Sing Festival. The choir is regularly asked to perform at local events like the US Remembrance Day service at Old St. Pauls.  Ngā Korimako was also selected to perform at the Big Sing Finale here in Wellington which brings together the top 24 choirs from around the country. The group was awarded Silver overall for their two programmes. 

Sheilah Winn National Competition Team

The Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Competition is held annually across New Zealand. Students compete regionally against a wide number of schools to then be selected to compete at a national level at the St James Theatre. This year, three groups from Wellington College competed regionally. One group, directed by Andy Lester and performed by Tom Simpson, Miles Beaglehole, Advait Mathew and Gus Duffy were selected to go forward to the three day national competition. Their piece, a compilation of scenes from Julius Caesar entitled ‘Look With the Eyes’ was an exceptional piece of student directed and performed work. Their piece garnered praise for the set design, vocal delivery, and strength of performance. 

Senior Ethics Olympiad Team

This Ethics Olympiad team, comprised of Cameron Murray, Jasper Lienert, Jesse Rumball-Smith, Lukas van Erpers Roijaards and Thomas Beaglehole-Smith, has competed for the last four years in the Ethics Olympiad, starting in the Middle-school Ethics Olympiad in 2021. In three of the last four years, they have been awarded a medal, including Gold in 2023 and Silver in 2024. In 2021, 2023 and 2034 they achieved selection for the International Final, with a highest placing of 13th in competition with teams from Australia, Singapore, Canada, India and the USA. Throughout these four years this team of diverse individuals has stuck together and grown together, demonstrating significant development in their understanding of Ethical theories and the application of these in real-life settings. If you have an ethical quandary to work through, these are your guys! They have trained with great enthusiasm and dedication, putting in many hours over multiple years, and several members are now 'paying it forward' by coaching a Year 9 and 10 team for this year's Middle School Ethics Olympiad.

ARTS TEAM OF THE YEAR WINNERS: The Big Band

COLLEGE MOTHERS AWARD

Nominees:

• Ollie Church

• Cameron Jones

• McKenzie Maurd

Winner: Cameron Jones

STAFF CONTRIBUTIONS

Lastly, we recognised staff who have contributed over and above this year to the co curricular programme:

• Sports - Brad Moon

• Arts - Emma Young

Congratulations to all the individuals and teams who were nominated, and the winners.