Our new scholarship athletes

This Scholarship was established this year and acknowledges that some talented students who are pursuing academia and sports may face significant barriers to tertiary education. As a result, this can simultaneously impact an individual’s ability to participate in university and their chosen sport.

Students chosen as recipients this year received a one-off $5,000 scholarship and membership in the University’s High Performance Support Programme. These students are:

• Victoria Guo - Bachelor of Science
• Hannah MacDonald - Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Arts conjoint
• Mikaya Kaipo - Bachelor of Science
• Callum Walker - Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Property conjoint 
• Elizabeth Buchanan - Bachelor of Law / Bachelor of Science conjoint 
• Naiomi Ferrissey - Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Property conjoint 
• Joshua Edwards -  Bachelor of Engineering
• Mackenzie Marlo - Bachelor of Engineering
• Joel Russell - Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Education
• Chloe Boyt - Bachelor of Education (Teaching)

Learn more about these students below.

In 2023, Victoria played for the NZ team in the Badminton World Junior Championships in the USA. She also won one U19 women's singles title and the U19 National Championship women's doubles title. 

Hannah was recently selected for the National Netball League (NNL) Northern Marvels squad, and a Next Generation squad working with the NNL Comets/ANZ Stars teams. She aims to make one of these NNL teams this season and the NZ U21s team that attends the next Youth Netball World Cup in 2025.

Last year, Mikaya debuted for the Auckland Storm Premier Women's Rugby Team, who were the Farah Palmer Cup Premier Champions. She also captained a few different teams, including the Ngā Mareikura U18 (NZ Māori), and has been selected for the New Zealand Rugby Under 20s Development Camp.

Callum competed with the North Harbour Hockey U18s team, which won the NZ national U18 hockey tournament and was selected for the NZ U18 squad internationally.

In January 2023, Elizabeth debuted for the Auckland Hearts in the SuperSmash competition. She has now been awarded a contract to represent the Auckland Hearts in the SuperSmash and HallyBurton Johnstone competitions for the 2023/24 season.

In 2023, Naiomi competed at the 2023 (July) ILCA Open World Championships in Poland and placed 31st overall and 3rd non-European. She also competed at the 2023 (December) Youth Sailing World Champs in Brazil, significantly improving her world-stage performance and placing 13th overall (3rd non-European). Naiomi won the 2023 U19 Female Laser National Championships on a national stage.

In 2023, Joshua competed as part of the Marist U18 team which won the national title at the U18 New Zealand Championship in Christchurch. Later on in the year, he competed as part of the first New Zealand Men's U18 test series against Australia.

In 2022, Mackenize was selected for the New Zealand Talent ID squad and was selected for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In 2023 she won the National 3 Day Young Event Rider and has recently been longlisted on two horses for the 2024 Oceania Young Rider team. 

In 2023, Joel played for the NZ Barbarian U18 team, the Blues U18 A team and the Hawkes Bay U18 team. He has signed a provincial union development contract with Auckland Rugby for 2024 and 2025. Joel is also one of the five players in the Blues region to receive an accelerate player contribution from the Blues Super Rugby Franchise. 

In 2022, at aged 16, Chloe was selected into the New Zealand Aquaferns (senior team) where they competed at the World Championships in Budapest. She also compteted again in 2023 with the New Zealand Aquaferns where they competed at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.