Otumoetai College - Past Achieving Students

Past Achieving Students

Throughout the years Otumoetai College has seen many students pass through its doors and go on to prosper and develop into either great athletes or achievers within their given fields. Ex-Otumoetai students who have made a mark in society include Jason Lochhead who paired with Kirk Pitmann to represent New Zealand in the World Beach Volleyball Championships. Currently Jason Lochhead and Kirk Pitman “are ranked 26th in the Olympic Rankings, and need to make it in the top 23 to have any chance of qualifying for Beijing” (Volleyball New Zealand, 2007). Tony Lochhead, the older brother of Jason, is a professional soccer player for the Wellington Phoenix and a regular member of the All Whites soccer team. Tony is expected to represent New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, 2010. Others include Georgina Matthews, 2004 New Zealand's top female street skateboarder, Glen Jackson, who was part of the 2004 Bay of Plenty Steamers team when they won the Ranfurly Shied and New Zealand NPC player. Vanessa Quinn, “New Zealands’ Downhill Mountain Bike World Champion in 2004” (NZ Girl online, 2007) is also an ex-Otumoetai student, also Natalie Hamilton who represented New Zealand at the World Rockclimbing Championships in 2004, Moss Burmester, who is a New Zealand Olympic Games representative and is a “Gold Medal winner in 200m Butterfly and a Bronze Medal winner in 100m Butterfly in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006” (Pinnacle, 2007). Others who have walked through the College doors include Peter Stafford who won a Silver Medal for New Zealand in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Hockey, Gary Braid who played in the All Blacks for two years, and Sheryl Dawson who has been involved with the Bay of Plenty Magic netball team since 2002 and who earlier was the president of New Zealand Netball Association. Jeni Pearce is also another past student of Otumoetai College who today “is one of New Zealand’s leading nutritionists and dietitians” (Raupo Publishing, 2007), she has also written seven books; Eat To Compete, Eat to Compete Cookbook, Healthy Muffin Cookbook, New Healthy Muffins, Eat Your Stress Away, Healthy Pasta Cookbook, New Healthy Pasta, and is currently working on three new titles. She was also the “Winner of a prestigious Watties food writers award” (Raupo Publishing, 2007).