Waikato surfer Luke Hughes made it three in a row for surfing when he was named sportsperson of the Year at the Waikato District Sports Awards, hosted by Sport Waikato.

Raglan surfer Luke repeated the success of Jessica Santorik who took the honours last year and Daniel Kereopa who took the title in 2007.

Sport Waikato Waikato district coordinators Morgan Kutia and Amiria McGarvey agreed the award highlighted Lukes success and proved Raglan was home to some outstanding surfers.

“Luke is doing some fantastic things on the international surfing scene,” Mr Kutia said.

“His hard work has seen him selected in the New Zealand team to travel the world competing.”

Miss McGarvey said the quality of the nominees proved how strong the sporting talent is in the district.

“We received a huge amount of nominations for Junior Sportsman and woman which shows we have a lot of talent coming through and the judges had a pretty tough job working out winners,” she said.

“Our Junior Sportsman was hotly contested and it’s awesome to see the achievements being made by these young guys in our district.”

Footballer Alex Barlow was named Junior Sportsman of the year and surfer Alexis Poulter took out Junior Sportswoman.

The awards evening, held at the Hopuhopu Endowed College, are a highlight on the district calendar with local sportspeople acknowledged for outstanding achievements over the past year.

“These awards give the community a chance to show our sportspeople their efforts have not gone unnoticed,” said Miss McGarvey.

Winners are now considered for the 2009 Perry Foundation Waikato Regional Sports Awards on Thursday 10 December at Mystery Creek.

2009 winners:
Club of the Year: Ngaruawahia United AFC
Administrator of the Year: Rangimarie Morgan (Waka Ama)
Sporting Personality of the Year: Terry Green (Lawn bowls)
Coach of the Year: David Miles (Boxing)
Referee/umpire of the Year: Dwayne Hibbs (Rugby)
Team of the Year: Taniwharau Rugby League Club
Junior Sportsman of the Year: Alex Barlow (Football)
Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Alexis Poulter (Surfing)
Master Sportsperson of the Year: Tonga White (Waka Ama)
Sportsperson of the Year: Luke Hughes (Surfing)