Central West Throwers Clean-Up At NSW Athletics Championships

Central West Throwers, under the expert tu­telage of coach Ernie Shankleton, have pro­duced a record haul of medals at the 2025 NSW All Schools Athletics Championships held from 27 to 30 September at Sydney Olympic Park.

Coach, Ernie Shankleton was thrilled with the performance of his athletes at the meet. “This would be one of the best state all schools as a coach, with the tally of eight gold, one silver and two bronze. I am ex­tremely proud of these athletes, they have worked very hard for these results,” said Ernie.

Incredibly, six of the Central West Throw­ers also achieved a Personal Best (PB) in securing their medals.

The full list of results included:

• Alexander Rice: 15’s Hammer, 1st PB

• Ky Garratt: 19’s Hammer, 1st PB and meet record

• Ash Mullins: 17’s Discus 1st PB

• Cooper Dabin 17’s Hammer 1st.

• Patrick Rowston: 15’s Discus 1st PB.

• Mckayla Grobler: 15’s Shot Put 1st and 15’s Discus 3rd

• Savannah Auvaa: 13’s Hammer 1st PB, 13’s Shot Put 1st, 13’s Discus 2nd PB

• Vashti Williams (WRAS) 8th PB.

Canowindra’s very own Alexander Rice was delighted to be amongst the gold medallists, returning to peak form following a severe injury.

Alex Rice’s athletic dreams came to an abrupt halt at the start of the year when he tore four ligaments and ruptured the AC joint in his shoulder playing representative foot­ball for Redbend Catholic College, Forbes.

A thrower can not throw without a working shoulder, and Alex was reluctant to break the bad news to his coach. But Ernie had other ideas, requiring Alex to still turn up to training three times a week, completing drills to improve his footwork. After a few weeks Ernie had Alex practicing one handed Ham­mer throws, still concentrating on footwork and slowly increasing his speed.

Alex also diplayed grit and determination out of the throwers cage, completing his physiotherapy exercises daily. Rather than rest, Alex started running between 5-8km, six times a week. His fitness improved and he dropped approximately 20kgs. He then turned his focus to the gym to rebuild his strength.

At the time, Alex’s father Matt Rice was concerned his son was pushing himself too hard. “I was worried he would hurt himself or re-injure his shoulder. But he didn’t and he just got stronger and stronger,” said Matt.

The hard work certainly paid-off for Alex who threw a 5m PB in the under 15s Ham­mer at the 2025 NSW All Schools Athletics Championships, securing himself the gold medal. Alex threw an impressive 53.02m, beating his previous best of 48m.

Alex was most excited about finally beat­ing a fellow competitor who has won the Australian Championship for the last four years. “Coming second all those times built a fire in me, and became my motivation,” said Alex.

Alex would like to thank his long-time coach Ernie, saying, “He is always consist­ent and never misses a training, which is one of the keys to success.”

Alex and the other members of the Central West Throwers Club will now resume train­ing for the Upcoming Australian All Schools Championships to be held in Melbourne in December. We wish them the very best of luck!