Class Notes 2021

FROM THE COMBINED EDITIONS OF REGULUS FOR 2021.

If you would like to be included in the Old Collegian's section under Class Notes for the next issue of Regulus please contact the Editor on editor@stac.school.nz with your details and share a part of your story with us.

New Year’s Honours
In the New Year’s Honours List, the following Old Collegians were awarded an ONZM (Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit): Dr Colin Meurk (1975) of Christchurch for services to ecological restoration; Professor Jonathan Boston (1974), of Wellington, for services to public and social policy; and Burton Shipley (1968), of Russell, for services to basketball.

When Warwick Hambleton (1961) visited St Andrew’s College in February, along with his friend and peer Alister Barrell (1961), he especially admired the Centennial Chapel. After leaving St Andrew’s, Warwick graduated in Chemical Engineering from the University of Canterbury. He then studied for the ministry at Knox College in Dunedin, and later served at ten Presbyterian, Methodist, or combined churches in the North Island. Warwick married Robyn Barrell (an ex pupil of Rangi Ruru) and they have two grown children. The couple are now retired at Snells Beach, North of Auckland.

Sandy McCutcheon (1964) is a novelist with 16 published novels and is the author of more than 20 plays. His works include a children’s book and a memoir. He has worked as a radio documentary maker in several war zones such as North and South Sudan, South Africa, Mozambique, and the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Sandy lived in Finland for two years and was awarded the International Kalevala Medal for service to Finnish Culture. He is married to author, Susanna Clarke. For more than a decade he has lived in the Old Medina of Fez in Morocco, where they have two adopted Moroccan children. He and Susanna recently purchased a homestead and small farm in rural France to use as a writer’s retreat.

Phil Keoghan (1985) is known worldwide for being the host of CBS’s multi-Emmy Award winning reality show The Amazing Race since its inception in 2001. Now Phil has launched a new Tinseltown reality competition called Tough as Nails, which tests the physical and mental strength of tradespeople. His hard-working grandparents and extended family from Westport, who were mechanics, carpenters, and farmers, were the inspiration for the show. The show was one of the few able to be shot during the pandemic, with the first episode airing in the United States in February.

Logan van Beek (2008 ) took a sensational catch playing cricket for the Wellington Firebirds against the Northern Knights in the Super Smash competition. He gave chase from long-on and flew through the air to make a one-handed catch which left the cricketing world in awe.

Health and Physical Education teacher and Old Collegian, Heidi Koning (2010), presented an inspirational and courageous talk to the Year 8–9 girls at the 2021 Girls’ Breakfast, with a message that we all have the choice to create our own joy despite challenges in life.

Jordan Barron (2011) and his business partner are achieving strong success with their company Exerfly, which makes strength training equipment. Overseas sales have exploded after an international launch mid pandemic. The equipment has been tested on scores of high profile New Zealand athletes, and sold to global sports teams such as baseball champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, professional basketball team, the Golden State Warriors, British Premier League football team, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Canada’s Olympic ski team, and the British Paralympics Association.

Isabelle Crawshaw (2011) joined the Farmer Council in 2018 as a co-opted youth member and became an elected farmer representative in 2020. Isabelle and her husband Patrick, along with their daughter, Charlotte, own and run a 285ha sheep and beef property in Patoka and are both extremely passionate about the food and fibre industry.

Richie Mo’unga (2012) was named in David Hartnell’s ‘Best Dressed List’ for 2020. He said Richie could grace the pages of Men’s Vogue magazine and had ‘fashion style in abundance’. He was also named in the 2021 Crusaders squad.

Harry Grigg (2014) performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part of Whānau: Voices of Aotearoa, Far from Home concert – a socially distanced fundraising concert which was recorded on Wednesday 4 November.

Kelera Nawai (2016) was named in the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse team for the 2021 ANZ Premiership Netball League.

Llew Johnson (2017) set a new record in Otago club cricket by making a staggering 256 runs not out for his club, North East Valley, hitting 21 sixes and 15 fours.

Britney-Lee Nicholson (2017) and Jasmine Donald (2020) represented the South Island Senior Women’s side in the inaugural North vs South Māori football matches held at the Rotorua International Stadium. The final score was 15–2 to the South side, with Britney-Lee (a senior Futsal Fern) scoring eight goals. Britney-Lee and Jasmine were also selected for the Māori Football Aotearoa 2021 Squad in the Senior Women's team, Wāhine.

Lizzie Stevenson (Head Girl 2017) is in her fourth year of studying Medicine at the University of Otago. She has enjoyed combining student leadership and research during her three years studying in Dunedin for her pre-clinical studies and has now moved back to Christchurch to finish the last three years of her degree with a placement at Christchurch Hospital, where she has been on surgery rotation.

Russell Boey (Dux 2018) won the Under 25 category in the Sunday Star-Times Short Story competition with his story Nineteen Seconds. In 2017, Russell also won the Secondary Schools’ category in this competition. Russell is currently studying Physics and Astronomy at the University of Auckland.

Henry Spark and Ben Leech
(both 2020) did extremely well in the Two-Day Coast to Coast (Individuals). Henry put in an incredible performance to finish 10th overall from 274 competitors in 13 hours 7 minutes, while Ben finished 20th.

Lily Goodwin (2020) had her Year 13 Design folio selected to be included in the NZQA Top Art Exhibition, which is an annual touring exhibition featuring the top NCEA Level 3 portfolios in Visual Art in the previous year. Lily’s theme was centred around the importance of ‘unplugging’ from technology as a teenager and was visually engaging and thought-provoking.

Omri Kepes, Jordan Bourke and Alan Fu (all 2020) launched their business Devota as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme Competition and later pitched to Lane Neave for the ‘Dream Believe Succeed’ funding competition. They became one of four finalists competing for $45,000 worth of funding for their business, which created a digital tracker for dementia patients.

Cricket
The following Old Collegians and one current student were selected to play in the Canterbury U19 team which won the national title – Rhys Mariu (Captain – 2019), Jesse Frew (2019), Zakary Foulkes (2020), Harry McMillan (2020) and Will Anderson (then Year 12). Rhys Mariu also played for a New Zealand XI against Pakistan in two 20/20 matches.

Rugby
The following Old Collegians have signed rugby contracts, or Academy contracts:

• Sam Gilbert (2016) was named in the 2021 Highlanders squad;

• Jamie Carr, Joel Parry and Aminiasi (Mini) Toga (all 2020) were selected for the Crusaders Academy;

• Isileli Saumaki (2020) was selected for the New Zealand Condor Rugby Sevens Boys’ team, which won the World Schools’ Sevens Aotearoa tournament in December 2020. He was also selected for the Tasman/Crusaders Academy.

Kini Veitata (2017) was selected to attend Rissho University, Japan on a full rugby scholarship in 2020. Kini has represented Fiji in age group rugby and also sevens.

Hugh Wilson (1962) has been restoring Hinewai Reserve, Banks Peninsula, since 1987. He has been guiding the Rod Donald Trust (Rod Donald – 1975), which plans to use Hugh’s once-controversial conservation methods to restore Te Ahu Pātiki (Mt Herbert) to its former glory.

Simon London (2000) has moved to London to begin his studies in a two-year Directing Fiction Masters course at the National Film and Television School. Simon has been on stage and screen both in New Zealand and overseas since leaving the College and starred in, amongst other shows, Shortland Street, Doctor, Doctor, and several Hobbit feature films. He has also worked extensively in theatre throughout Australasia and the UK.

Steven Hartley (2001), Tim Murdoch (2004), Rupert McKee (2011) and Patrick Duncan (1999), who found their love of television in the St Andrew’s TV studio, have been helping to manage TV coverage at the Olympics in Tokyo. Steven and Patrick were producing the audio side of television coverage at the sailing venue for OBS, Tim was on the sailing team as one of the Camera Control Unit operators, and Rupert was working as a broadcast engineer at the IBC (International Broadcast Centre) providing services for SKY Sports NZ.

In the best form of his life, the former world champion double sculler John Storey (2005), has retired from rowing ahead of the Tokyo Olympics to focus on his family.

World Champion Henry Nicholls (2009) was part of the 2021 Black Caps team which won the inaugural ICC World Test Championship. Henry’s brother Willy Nicholls (2007), pictured right, was New Zealand Cricket’s digital and communications executive and travelled with the team.

Richie Mo’unga (2012) was named in the All Blacks squad for the 2021 Steinlager Series Tests against Fiji and Tonga.

Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson (2013) was promoted to soloist at the Royal New Zealand Ballet following his debut as Albrecht in Giselle in Wellington.

Robbie Stokes (2013) won the Canterbury Rally Championships on Sunday 6 June, the second year in a row that he and his co-driver, sister Amy, have won the title. Their father Brian Stokes (1975), a former national rally champion, was part of Robbie’s race crew. Robbie’s brother Jack Stokes (2019) also competed, placing fourth in his class and 24th overall.

George Black (2014) ran 100km from Hawarden, North Canterbury, to Hagley Park in Christchurch in Red Band gumboots to raise funds for the North Canterbury Rural Support Trust. George completed the run in 12 hours and raised more than $20,000.

Sam Lane (OC 2015) was in the Black Sticks men’s hockey team competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Raymond Nu’u (OC 2015) was named in the All Blacks Sevens White team to compete at the Takiwhitu Tūturu tournament in Wellington, which was part of the All Blacks Sevens Olympic preparation. He has also joined Otago rugby after three seasons with Southland. Ray previously featured in Canterbury age-group sides before linking up with the Crusaders Academy, but an injury in 2017 stalled his progress and he joined Southland the following year.

Alex Wilson (2016) was one of the first six people to graduate with a Master of Criminal Justice from University of Canterbury, which was presented at the Christchurch Town Hall in April.

Lucy-Rose Beattie (2017) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Business, Spanish, and Political Science. She was awarded the Golden Key International Honour Society for being in the top 15 per cent of students for academic achievement at the University of Canterbury and won a Scholarship to study her Master’s in Development Studies at The Hague, Netherlands from August 2021.

Nicholas Beattie (2017) has graduated with a Master of Planning with First Class Honours in 2020 and is now working at Aurecon as a planner.

Maeve Burns (2017) is one of the UC undergraduates chosen to participate in the UCMe marketing project this year. As part of this, her image has been adorning bus stops, buildings, and billboards throughout New Zealand.

Lachie Wells (2018) and Daniel Bishop (2019) attended the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award Ceremony at the Government House in Wellington where they met the Governor General, Her Excellency Dame Patsy Reddy.

Matt Jones (2018) is pursuing his football dream in America, playing in USL Division Two for Lionsbridge for the summer break.

Blair Currie (2018) has been playing football for Texas team, the San Antonio Athenians in a USA Women’s Pro Am league over the northern summer. In August, she is taking up a scholarship with Spring Arbor University in Michigan.

Jack Sexton (2019) was a member of the New Zealand U20 rugby team, which took part in a domestic series of matches after travel restrictions saw the cancellation of their Oceania fixtures against Australia.

At the Canterbury Cricket Association Awards Rhys Mariu (OC 2019) was named as the U19 Men’s Batsman of the Year, and Henry Shipley (OC 2014) won the Williams Cup for the Top Run Scorer for the Senior Team, with 474 runs.

Jack Wang (2020) was crowned the 2021 Crystal Ashley Designs MVP at the New Zealand Badminton League in May.

Charlotte Sloper (2020) is part of the Highland Dance Company of New Zealand and performed at the finals of the South Island Ballet Awards at the Isaac Theatre Royal.

Chris Fountain’s (1975) love of science and engineering has taken him all over the world. After leaving St Andrew’s, he studied Chemistry at the University of Canterbury and then focused on applying his knowledge through a Master of Science in mineral processing in Broken Hill, NSW, followed by a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Melbourne. His first permanent job was in Mount Isa, Queensland, where he joined the team that developed the Isasmelt smelting process for extracting copper. As part of this work, Chris designed three Isasmelt plants, and helped commission five new smelters. During his career, Chris has visited 30 smelters in ten different countries in Europe, North America, Asia and the Caribbean, lived in Australia, Brazil, and currently lives in the United States where he is Rio Tinto’s chief advisor for copper smelting and refining. Chris finds his work intensely rewarding and says engineering provides an opportunity to solve puzzles and to provide creative solutions to challenging problems. He enjoys learning how things work, making them work better and passing on the knowledge to others. The best part has been meeting people, learning languages (German, Brazilian Portuguese and Dutch), and the friendships formed, he said. 

Coastguard Nelson, including Old Collegian Andrew Murray (1981), were crowned winners at the International Maritime Rescue Federation Awards for Outstanding Team Contribution to Maritime SAR Operations. The group was recognised for their contribution to the successful 14-hour rescue of the SV Ocean Gem near Rangitoto ki te Tonga/D’Urville Island on 18–19 March 2020. The daring rescue challenged the crew both physically and mentally, and highlighted the bravery, selflessness, and dedication of the Coastguard volunteers.

Jamie McFadden (1985) graced the cover of Latitude magazine over the winter. Jamie and his wife Linda, run Hurunui Nurseries just outside of Cheviot, where they collect native seeds from their property and surrounds, which are then propagated and sold mainly to farmers for various projects. Daughter, Rosie (2017) works in the nursery and son, Patrick (2015) works on a nearby hill country farm. Jamie and Linda also run a flock of Wiltshire sheep, and Jamie chairs the Rural Advocacy Network, which gives a voice to farmers, particularly around agricultural policy and regulation.

Jonathan Scragg (1996) was Deputy Head Prefect in his last year at St Andrew’s in 1996. For some years, he has been a partner at Duncan Cotterill, lawyers, and has now become the firm's Chair of the Board.

The Reverend Cameron Pickering (1997 and past staff) has a new role as Chaplain of Christ’s College.

A group of Old Collegians from 2001–2020 returned to the College in August to take on Year 13 players in the inaugural Basketball Alumni Game. Led by most ‘senior’ Old Collegian, and current Science teacher, Dr Young-Wook Song (2001) and with great contributions by Sam Jenkins (2020), Heitawhiri Cooper (2019) and Jess Allan (2017), the Old Collegians pulled away for a narrow 92–88 win, becoming the first team to etch their names onto the ‘Golden Ball’ trophy 

Jamie-Lee Tuuta (2005) has become the Registrar of the Waitangi Tribunal and also the wāhine Co-President of Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa, the Māori Law Society.

Blair Williamson (2008) completed an incredible 10,815 burpees in 24 hours, as part of an attempt to break two Guinness World Records; most burpees completed in 12 hours, and most burpees completed in 24 hours. The 24 hour circuit was a fundraising event for Gumboot Friday and the charity I Am Hope, with the team raising over $35,000. The record is being sent to Guinness World Records to be recognised.

Preparatory School teacher Isaac Leota (2012) was selected for the New Zealand Universities rugby team to play two games.

Caitlin Dore (2014) represented New Zealand at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where she competed in the Women’s shot put F37 event and made it to the final. 

Charlotte Elley (2014) and Kelera Nawai-Caucau (2016) have been named in the 2022 Tactix netball team. Amosa Faitaua-Nanai (2015) represented the Aotearoa Men’s Netball squad against the Silver Ferns in the Cadbury Netball Series in October.

Sam Lane (2015) competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the Black Sticks Men’s hockey team.

Raymond Nu’u (2015) joined Otago Rugby after three seasons with Southland. Previously, Raymond featured in Canterbury age-group sides before linking up with the Crusaders Academy, but an injury in 2017 stalled his progress and he joined Southland the following year.

Shilo Klein (2017), Cameron Bailey (2014) and Richie Mo’unga (2012) were named in the 2021 Canterbury NPC rugby squad.

Thomas Russel (2017) was selected for the Rowing New Zealand Elite Development Squad.

Britney-Lee Nicholson (2017) won a Canterbury Blue Award for being a Football and Futsal New Zealand Representative.

Zack Rumble (2017) and Louie Murden (2020) were included in the first cohort of athletes selected into the National Pathway, which was recently announced by Rowing New Zealand.

Oscar Wilson (2017), Rhys Mariu, Jesse Frew (both 2019) and Zak Foulkes (2020) were named in the Canterbury ‘A’ cricket squad for the 2021/22 season.

Zack Rumble (2017), Louie Murden and James Tavendale (both 2020) were selected in the Canterbury rowing team.

Saxon Morgan (2018) was selected to represent New Zealand in the Mixed Team Relay event at the World Triathlon Championship Series in Montreal, where his team finished second to win the silver medal. This was Saxon’s first big MTR event.

Mac Stodart (2019) is settling into his new college, the University of Colorado, and is following his basketball dreams.

Grace Donaldson (2020), Stefan Millard (2020) and Graham Campbell (Year 13) all featured in September’s Art Stars 2021 exhibition. They were selected from a pool of over 2000 submissions for a life-changing affirmation and taste of the industry.

Jamie Carr, Mini Toga, Joel Lam (all 2020), and Sebastian Calder (2019), were named in Canterbury U19 rugby teams for 2021.

Isileli Saumaki (2020) was named in the Tasman U19 Rugby Squad.