Our school was represented by three students at the College Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year Awards on Thursday evening. They represent the top three athletes in their sporting codes for secondary school students from across the wider Auckland Region. Arabella Latu was a finalist for Girls Weightlifting, Lillian Henare-Vaihu was a finalist for Netball and Kadin Taylor was a finalist Boys Athletics. Kadin was named the overall winner in his category.
Kadin was the fastest qualifier from all zones in the Senior Boys 100m, 200m & 400m track events and he also set a new CSA Senior Boys 100m record of 10.76 seconds. At the College Sport Auckland Athletics Championships, he won Gold in the Senior Boys 100m & 200m events and set a new CSA Senior Boys 200m record of 21.68 seconds.
At the 2023 NZSS Athletics Championships Kadin won Silver in the Senior Boys 200m. Although he qualified as one of the fastest sprinters, he had to withdraw from Senior Boys 100m final due to injury. He is hoping to win the gold in both the Senior Boys 100m & 200m at the NZSS Championships in December this year.
Kadin represented Auckland earlier this year and won gold in the Under 20 100m, 200m, and 4 x 400m relay events at the National Athletics Championships. He also set a new Under 19 NZ record and won bronze as a member of the 4 x 400m relay team at the Under 20 Australian Athletics National Championships. Kadin placed 4th in the 200m Under 20 Australian Athletics National Championships.
Kadin has also had success in other events this year, placing 1st in the Sir Graeme Douglas International meet Open Men's 100m B final. He also gained a Silver in the Open Men's 200m at the Capital Classic Athletics Event. His wind aided time of 10.55 SB & PB - 3rd fastest 100m all conditions NZ Under 18 athlete of all time.
Congratulations to Kadin on this recognition of his success this year! We wish him all the very best for the upcoming NZSS competition.
Kadin Taylor
Lillian Henare-Vaihu and Arabella Latu