Thrower Alex Rose competes in Australia meet, wins two gold medals
Central Michigan junior thrower Alex Rose recently traveled to Cairns, Australia, and represented Samoa in the Oceania Area Championships.
Rose’s father was born and raised in Samoa before moving to the United States when he was 19.
“I learned a lot about the different cultures over there,” Rose said. “They view athletics, or as we call it ‘track and field,’ a lot differently. It was a great experience learning about my Samoan heritage.”
Rose competed and won gold in both the hammer throw and discus events.
Rosa said his father was very proud that Rose represented his Samoan roots.
“He was very proud of me for doing that,” Rose said. “It’s a completely different feeling competing for a country than a university. People were shouting Samoan when I went up to throw.”
While he wasn’t representing CMU, director of track and field Willie Randolph was pleased about Rose’s international effort.
“He represented Central Michigan on a very high international level,” Randolph said. “We are very proud of him, and proud of his coaching. His coaches maintained him at a fitness where he was able to obtain two gold medals.”
Rose doesn’t compete in the hammer throw for CMU but was still able to win gold with a mark of 167-07.75 on his final throw. He said he was very pleased with his results in both events.
Randolph credits Rose’s talent and ability as an athlete and believes that Rose could compete in the hammer throw in the future for CMU.
“Yes, that is a possibility, but Alex is a very talented athlete,” he said. “ A lot of people know that he is an All-American in the discus, but our coaches make sure our athletes can come in and do more than one event.”
In the discus event, Rose threw for a mark of 184-08.25 his second best effort of his career. Rose’s closest competition was nearly 20 feet behind.
In the closing ceremonies, Rose helped lead his Samoan team in a dance against the New Zealand team.
“We went head to head with their Haka and our dancing,” Rose said. “We were all screaming and yelling at each other. It was a lot of fun, but I do not think I danced as well as I threw.”
Randolph is expecting big things from Rose, who will be entering his senior season.
“We are expecting the same stuff we expect from all of our athletes from day one,” Randolph said. “That’s to go out there reach for the sky, reach for the highest part of your goals, and enjoy the rewards that come with it.”
