Southland is well represented on the list of nominations for the 2015 Halberg Awards.
Cyclists Eddie Dawkins and Matt Archibald won silver and bronze medals respectively at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships earlier this year to earn a nomination each in the sportsman category.
Organisers on Tuesday unveiled their list of contenders with 13 men, 10 women, 13 teams, 11 coaches and seven disabled athletes nominated in their respective categories.
Eddie Dawkins is remaining realistic with his expectations, given how many other top candidates there are, including the All Blacks.
"It is pretty good, although it is just nomination phase I guess," he said.
"There are many star athletes there I feel have achieved more than I have this year."
"We will see what happens when they go to the finalists stage in mid-January."
Cycling has a large presence in the nominations, with Dawkins also named as part of the men's sprint team who won silver at the World Championships with Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster.
"It's cool, there are three cycling teams that have been named," he said.
Dawkins isn't the only Southland cyclist listed, with Archibald and world title winning team pursuit rider Piet Bulling also flying the Southland flag.
"It's really good to show what Southland is capable of," he said.
New Zealand track cyclist Matt Archibald was surprised to hear of his nomination.
"I honestly had no idea," he said.
"I didn't know that I was nominated."
"Obviously all your achievements happen a while ago, so you are off onto your next thing, it is a bit weird."
Archibald who hasn't been nominated before, was pleased to see other members of the New Zealand Cycling team including his coach Anthony Peden make the list.
"As a teammate, it is cool to see Eddie is in a couple of categories," he said.
"It is obviously good to have members of your team and your coach in the nominations."
Former Southland para-athlete Jessica Hamill who won silver in F34 shot put at the recent World Championships has been nominated in the Disabled Sportsperson category, while her coach Raylene Bates is also in the running.
The awards will be held at Auckland's Vector Arena on February 18.
Article and photo courtesy Stuff