Fighting in Cowra, Lawler put his country belt on the line in a bid to secure the state title, and he did so by unanimous decision defeating Kobie Duncan.

 Trained locally by Jason Steward, the 20-year-old has compiled an amateur boxing record of 8-2, including one knockout victory, and has been undefeated since combining with Steward roughly four years ago.

In October, Lawler won the country title at the Bathurst Showground Pavilion as part of the Final Showdown tournament card, defeating Parkes’ Brad Moss by unanimous decision.

At the time, Lawler told the Cowra Guardian he identified his dominance in the third stanza of the fourth round bout as instrumental to the end result.

Lawler has his radar on climbing the amateur boxing ranks.

Water skiier Kris Knights had a brilliant season last summer headlined by victory in the Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic on the Hawkesbury River and the Southern 80 at Mildura – two of Australia’s biggest ski events.

Knights and his team, Merforce, defied the odds at Mildura in February, recovering from 16th place after a 20km time trial, making up ground to win the race labelled one of water skiing’s toughest events on the calendar.

Mercforce, made up of boat driver Don Gulley, observer Kevin Boylan and skiers Kris Knights and Jake Tegart, claim the victory their greatest achievement after three years of consecutive second place finishes.

In a thrilling finish, Mercforce edged out reining champions team Mistress by eight seconds finishing the 80km race in a slick 31 minutes and 10 seconds.

Victory in the Bridge to Bridge during November won Knights his Sportsperson of the Year monthly prize.

The result was a dream come true for Knights, who told the Cowra Guardian it was the race which inspired him to pursue the sport.

The team led from start to finish hitting a top speed of 196km/h.

“Winning the race that gave me the love for this sport, makes it all the sweeter,” Kris Knights said.

Honors during the past 12 months include-

River classics

2^nd Hawkesbury 120, 2^nd Grafton bridge to bridge, 1^st Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic, 1^st Southern 80, 2^nd Ted Hurely (Wentworth), 1^st Robinvale 80, 1^st Mildura 80, 1^st Barry Behagg (Echuca).

Circuit racing

Queensland state titles: 1^st Open men, 1^st 20-30 men, 1^st unlimited inboard.

NSW series: 2^nd overall unlimited inboard 2up.

Country ACT series: 2^nd overall unlimited inboard 2up.

NSW state titles: 1^st Moc outboard.

Australian titles: 1^st unlimited outboard.

Barry Carne Memorial: 1^st 30-40 men, 2^nd formula 2 outboard.

Australian team selection races: 6^th open men (top three compete in the world titles).

Alana Ryan represented ACT/NSW Country at the women’s National Under 18s Cricket Championships in Hobart in November, leading to recognition as a contender for this year’s Sportsperson of the Year.

Alana and ACT/NSW Country finished third overall, pitted against seven other Australian states and territories.

The week long championships consisted of four Twenty20s and four 50 over matches.

Prior to making selection in the ACT/NSW Country side, Alana captained Western Zone at the NSW Country Championships and was selected in one of two Country NSW sides to play NSW Metropolitan.

Outside of playing the game, Alana is involved in coaching and development of western girls.

She hopes to further improve her playing skills and coaching skills.

Cowra Magpie Rick Nobes picked up January’s monthly award following his selection in the under 23s Western Rams training squad, ahead of the inaugural under 23s country championships which was ultimately won by Monaro.

Nobes trained with a 47-man Rams squad during January.

The squad was cut before the opening round at Cowra on May 13.

The young dummy-half is an asset for the Magpies in 2017 during his first season in the premier league side.