Since leaving St Paul’s Collegiate School in 2016, shot putter Ryan Ballantyne (Fitchett 2012 – 2016) has ticked a few things of his list – including a throw of 19.54m that is set to qualify him for the 2018 World Juniors.
Following graduation, he moved to Christchurch and landed a job working for a construction company all while training with Olympic gold medalist Tom Walsh and Athletics NZ High Performance Throws Coordinator Dale Stevenson.
He went to Christchurch with a plan of “no limitations” and his recent throw of 19.54m at the Big Shot in Christchurch supports his mantra.
This throw is well past the 2016 qualifying distance of 18.60m, so it looks like Ryan is off to the 2018 World Juniors competition in Finland.
This success comes shortly after being awarded a 2017 Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarship.
