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Zane Rakete-Gray
Rugby rules King’s High School’s head boy Zane Rakete-Gray’s life.
He enjoys the physicality of the game, the 18-year-old says.
“It is sort of like a calming mechanism for my mind, it lets me get out of my head.”
He has captained the King’s first XI team for the past three years and the Otago Metro team in 2024 and 2025.
His leadership strengths on and off the field lie within his ability to talk and his approachability.
“I think the most important thing is being in the same shoes as them [his team].”
In his spare time he is most likely “playing more rugby”, and dreams of becoming an All Black.
As the school’s top Māori student, a Manu Kōrero regional winner and a kapa haka leader, his culture is also something he is dedicated to.
The Manu Kōrero speech competition is a particular favourite activity.
“You just talk for seven to eight minutes on stage and then you do an impromptu speech as well.
“Before I moved to King’s in year 9, I was at a full Māori immersion school, so I have always been trying to stay connected to that side.”
Next year he aims to play either division 1 rugby or division 1 colts in Dunedin while studying for a bachelor of health science at the University of Otago.
Achievements: Head boy (2026); First XI captain (2024-26); NCEA level 1 and 2 (excellence); kapa haka (2022-26), leader (2026); softball 1st team (2024-26); house prefect (2025-26); Otago Metro (2023-26), captain (2024-25); top Māori student (2024-25); Manu Kōrero regional winner (2023 and 2025); junior A touch (2022-23).
Role model: His parents.
Hopes for the future: Be a good person, be famous.
Luan Peterle
“The biology guy” is how Luan Peterle is known around King’s High school.
This year the 16-year-old attended the International Biology Olympiad in Lithuania, as a member of the New Zealand national team.
Becoming a part of the team was not an easy process.
“Sometime mid-last year, I sat an entrance exam … and then I was selected as a part of the top 300 students to continue into the tutorial programme.
“Across the span of a year, we studied biology textbooks and just really got our knowledge up.”
Twenty-five of the 300 students were selected for the training camp and from that the top four were selected, and further trained before the competition.
It was amazing to get to meet people from 80 different participating countries at the Olympiad, he says.
This year he has completed numerous university papers from the universities of Massey and Canterbury and gained an A+ in a human bioscience paper.
He also recently volunteered at the University of Otago as a part of a team researching the parasites of feral cats.
While biology is definitely his favourite subject, it is in a close battle with chemistry, statistics and calculus.
Ever since he saw his mum get injured as a child he has been fascinated with the sciences.
“I think from that moment, I just decided that I wanted to pursue medicine.”
Next year he hopes to study for a bachelor of health sciences at the University of Otago, hoping to become a surgeon of some kind.
Achievements: New Zealand International Biology Olympiad national team (2026); NCEA level 1, 2 and 3 (excellence); house prefect (2026); Mensa NZ (2026); University of Canterbury MATH198 A+ (2026); Massey University human bioscience, applied statistics (2026); accepted into London International Youth Science forum (2026); accepted into the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (2026); scholars academy (2026); NZ Biology Olympiad bronze, silver and gold certificates (2026); Young Minds Academy (2026); peer supports (2025-26); student council (2025-26); World Vision conference (2025-26); World Vision 40-Hour Challenge greatest individual impact award (2025); developer of NEZA website, tutoring NCEA internals (2025); Rotary National Science and Technology Forum (2025).
Role model: His mother and Bryan Johnson, who dedicated his life to science.
Hopes for the future: To leave a lasting impression on those around me.