Newspaper Article 2007 – Hall of Fame inductions among highlights of sports awards

Hall of Fame inductions among highlights of sports awards

EMPIRE Games bronze medallists Rona McCarthy, Cleone Rivett-Carnac and Olympian Vern Hanaray will be inducted into the Hawke’s Bay Hall of Fame at the province’s annual sports awards dinner in Taradale on Friday night.

McCarthy (nee Tong), awarded the MBE in 1979 for services to sport, won bronze in the women’s 80 yards hurdles at the 1938 Games in Sydney, the year after representing New Zealand at netball.

Rivett-Carnac was third in the women’s javelin at the 1950 Empire Games while still a student at Napier Girls’ High. She was a five-times national javelin champion, was a Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay Russell Grace golf representative from 1969-73 and also a talented hockey, netball and basketball player.

Hanaray was among the country’s best road cyclists throughout the 1970s – representing his country at the 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and also competing at the 1974 Christchurch and 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games. He was New Zealand Cyclist of the Year in 1970, 72 and 74, national road champion in 1971, 73 and 77 and won the Tour of the North Island in 1971 and 73.

The induction of the trio of Hawke’s Bay’s finest athletes of their eras into the Unison Hall of Fame will be among the highlights of an evening to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the province’s sportsmen and women last year.

The 2006 [2007] Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards at the Pettigrew Green Arena will feature world surf life saving champion Nikki Cox, NZ Sevens representative Tafai Ioasa, world record shearing champion Dion King, National Basketball League MVP Paora Winitana and equestrian champion Simon Wilson in the Senior Sportsperson category.

The NBL champion 0800 Easy LPG Hawks and their coach Shawn Dennis are also finalists in the team and coach categories in what could be a big night for basketball.

MC for the evening will be well known sports journalist Andrew Dewhurst and tickets for the function, beginning at 7pm, are available at the Pettigrew Green Arena.

Photo captions –
Rona McCarthy
Vern Hanaray
Cleone Rivett-Camac