Head of Campus Life (U@MQ Ltd) Pete Boyle said the annual Blues Awards is a wonderful opportunity to recognise outstanding sporting and academic achievements and celebrate all of the individuals who contribute to sport at Macquarie.
“In 2019 our students continued to shine on the world stage, with multiple students representing Australia at World Cups, World University Games and other international events, while our University representative teams continued their dominance on home turf,” said Mr Boyle.
“Since its inception, the Blues Awards evening has continued to grow, providing greater opportunity for award recipients to be acknowledged by academics, peers, alumni, family and friends.”
Twelve athletes were awarded the highly prestigious Blue Award, and eight received a Half Blue Award. Five athletes, one club, one team and one sport administrator received recognition in other award categories, including the Female and Male Sport Athletes of the Year.
Tyler Martin, 2016 award recipient, and Louise Mason, Deputy Chancellor, presented the coveted Chancellor’s Award to Tom Trbojevic, who is studying for a Bachelor of Applied Finance with the degree of Bachelor of Economics (BAppFinBEc). Tom played rugby league for Australia in 2018 and played a pivotal role for NSW rugby league in the State of Origin series game two, scoring three tries. Tom plays for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League competition.
The Leigh Barnier Award was presented by the Barnier family to Dr Deidre Anderson.
Sam Squiers, former Channel 9 presenter now working at the National Rugby League (NRL), was the master of ceremonies, with Macquarie alumni and former award winners presenting awards.
AWARD WINNERS
Blue winners
Nick Andrews, Mattias Braach-Maksvytis, Adam Camerlengo, Clare Costanzo, Dominique Du Toit, Thomas Green, Jessica Henderson, Aleksandra Kotevski, Jacob McCorry, Tri-Anh Nguyen, Tess O’Connor, Jess Sewastenko
Half Blue winners
Kiera Austin Ewan Belgrove, Ciaron Fitz-Gerald, Maggie Price, Olivia Price, Madeleine Proud, Carla Tremolada, Elena Zhao
Chancellor’s Award – Tom Trbojevic
Tom played rugby league for Australia in the Kangaroos in 2018. Tom played a pivotal role in NSW rugby league in the State of Origin Series game two, scoring three tries. Tom plays for Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League competition.
Female Sport Athlete of the Year – Jess Sewastenko
Jess is a record-breaking powerlifter who is ranked number one in Australia. Jess is only the second woman in history to reach 500+ points.
Male Sport Athlete of the Year – Tom Trbojevic
Tom played rugby league for Australia in the Kangaroos in 2018 and played a pivotal role in NSW in the State of Origin Series where he scored three tries in game two. Tom plays for Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League competition.
Rookie of the Year – Oscar Jones
This award recognises high-level sport performance by a student in their first year of study at Macquarie University. Oscar was crowned world champion in ocean skiing in 2017. Oscar was recently named Australian Junior Paddler of the Year.
Club of the Year – AFL
2019 was the AFL club’s most successful season, with all five of the Macquarie teams making finals. The club has continued their growth, securing long-term sponsorship, partnerships with community youth clubs, and establishing a Macquarie alumni masters team.
The John Lincoln Services Award – Josh LeBlanc
This award recognises long term volunteer service to a sport club, sport program or Unisport event, and was presented to Joshua LeBlanc of the Cheerleading club.
The Ted O’Keeffe Scholarship – Jess Sewastenko
The Ted O’Keeffe Scholarship recognises the outstanding contribution made by former president of the Macquarie Sport and Recreation Association, Ted O’Keeffe, who served as president for 14 years.
This year’s recipient, Jess, volunteers across an extensive portfolio both in the community and at Macquarie University with Macquarie’s CanToo Pod this year and assisted in raising funds for Macquarie’s cancer research centre.
Jess is a record-breaking powerlifter who is ranked number one in Australia. Jess is the second woman in history to reach 500+ points and has broken two powerlifting world records in 2019.
Kim Guerin Leadership award – Kodie Vandenberg
Honouring the late Kim Guerin, this award recognises a student leader who demonstrated outstanding leadership while representing Macquarie, leading with integrity, resilience and compassion while always striving to create a supportive and positive team culture. This year’s winner, Kodie Vandenberg, led the mixed and women’s Netball teams for the past two years and, through her resilience, passion and dedication, has led the mixed team to their first national title while setting the benchmark for leadership amongst her peers.
Leigh Barnier ‘Spirit of the Games’ Award
In memory of Leigh Barnier, former student and athlete at Macquarie University, this award honours his life and contribution to Macquarie sport. The Leigh Barnier Spirit of the Games Award recognises a current student or graduate of Macquarie University who has displayed an unselfish level of commitment to the University and an unwavering demonstration of sportsmanship and esprit de corp within their sporting and academic pursuits.
Dr Deidre Anderson is the recipient of this year’s Leigh Barnier Award. Dr Anderson graduated from Macquarie with a PhD, and holds a masters, several post graduate degrees and a Bachelor of Arts. Dr Anderson held several positions at Macquarie from 2003 – 2017, including as Deputy Vice-Chancellor Students and Registrar. Dr Anderson holds several chair positions across various organisations.
Nationals Team of the Year – Men’s 3x3 Basketball
For the third year in a row the Macquarie men’s 3x3 basketball team won the University Sport Australia Division 1 final. This qualifies them for the World University league 3x3 Finals in Xiamen (Shimen), China.
Returning to China after finishing 14th worldwide last year, the team will be representing Australia and Macquarie University and fighting to see their names on top of the leaderboard.
The team is Jayden Prakash, Ciaron Fitz-gerald, Cooper Wilks, and Eroman Uadiale.
