Campbell Wright
Campbell Wright
Campbell Wright describes himself as a "sporty sort of person", which belies his extraordinary achievements in biathlon and cross-country skiing events against Nordic competitors.
The Hawea Flat athlete stunned the New Zealand cross-country skiing community with his results at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Switzerland earlier this year.
Campbell had hoped to finish in the top 20 in the 7.5km biathlon sprint but came fourth out of a field of 99.
He said "not standing on the podium" had motivated him to try even harder.
Campbell attributed a lot of his success to his coach for the past four years, Luca Boromilili, originally from Italy.
A Mount Aspiring College pupil, Campbell began cross-country skiing during the school Wednesday afternoon ski programme.
"I liked cross-country skiing and so my coach, Luca Boromilili, basically just said ‘why don't you have a go at biathlon' and it went from there."
Campbell was named Snow Sports New Zealand's cross-country skier of the year in 2016 but he said carrying the team New Zealand flag at the Winter Youth Olympics opening ceremony at Lausanne in January would be hard to beat.
Campbell trains 18 to 20 hours a week at the Snow Farm in Cardrona during winter and in summer travels to the northern hemisphere skifields to train.
Achievements: NCEA level 2 excellence endorsement (2018); excellence subject endorsements for biology and physics (2018); whanau leader and encouraging member of Pisa House; sports committee year 12 and 13; biathlon club member; Wakatipu Cycling Club member; assistant juniors coach biathlon club; 4th Winter Youth Olympics biathlon (sprint), 6th Winter Youth Olympics biathlon (individual), 6th Junior World Champs (sprint), 1st Italian nationals biathlon, 1st Otago athletics champs 3000m; flag-bearer for New Zealand at the Youth Olympics.
Role model: My coach Luca Boromilili.
Hopes for the future: Compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
Emily Heath
Emily Heath
Travelling through developing countries with her family motivated Emily Heath to want to spend her life making a positive change in the lives of others.
"I just want to play my part in fighting against the injustices in our world and empowering the people whose lives they affect."
Emily is hoping to study veterinary science at Massey University with a view to working in the humanitarian and development fields, particularly in animal health and husbandry.
This year Emily was the leader of the Mount Aspiring College MAC 40 Hour Famine committee, which raised $25,000.90, the second-highest amount of any school in New Zealand.
Emily and her team set up programmes with Bike Wanaka, Te Kakano Trust, Hawea Flat Youth Club and Cat Rescue Wanaka, which gave year 13 pupils the opportunity to complete community-service hours as part of their 40 Hour Famine challenge to give back to their local community in the wake of Covid-19.
Emily was also the recipient of the 2020 MAC World Vision scholarship to attend the World Vision scholarship week in Auckland in January, "which really opened my eyes to the opportunities we have and the difference we can make".
Service to the community is something Emily takes seriously, having completed more than 250 volunteer hours at local veterinary clinics and 52 hours of community service since February through the Students in the Community programme.
Much of this has been with Mint, a local organisation for children with intellectual disabilities.
Somehow Emily has also found time to achieve high academic results, receiving an academic blues award last year and excellence endorsements for NCEA levels 1 and 2.
Achievements: NCEA level 1 excellence endorsement, 100% excellence, 2018 highest achiever in history; NCEA level 2 excellence endorsement, 2019 high achiever in English; recipient academic blues award; 2016 Get2Go national adventure racing finals; 2018 SISS adventure race 2nd mixed team; 2019 3rd overall female, epic epic category (2.5km, 5km, 10km combined), Epic Swim; female winner Big Ruby open water swim 3.8km, record-holder 1.2km Ruby Island open water swim; Peak to Peak 1st secondary school team; Hillary Challenge South Island qualifying event 3rd; Challenge Wanaka Half 3rd mixed team; 2020 SISS Adventure race 2nd female team; member qualifying team Hillary Challenge national adventure racing final; school swimming champion 2016-20; Wanaka Swim Club female champion 2020; member academic committee; recipient 2020 MAC World Vision scholarship to attend World Vision scholarship week in Auckland; April 2019 Outward Bound mind body soul course; December-January 2019-20 Spanish language exchange to San Sebastian; Duke of Edinburgh bronze and silver awards completed, gold award in progress; July 2020 World Vision 40 Hour Famine greatest individual impact award.
Role model: Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani activist for women's rights.
Hopes for the future: I just want to do something where I am helping others and making a positive change in the world.
