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Ft. Edmonton Park Highland Gathering Results for July 21, 2007
The Scoop!
So Ft. Edmonton came and went yet again. New date but the same location, although the inclusion of a wedding at the hangar cut down our crowds a bit. The early prediction from the ever accurate Environment Canada had included some scattered cloud cover for the day but the Evil Daystar had none of it and rose early to shine on the athletes all day.
With a grand total of 19 athletes we made the decision to go ahead and run everyone at once through 7 events. Lucky Todd had been the first to 'sign up', so he started us off with the Open stone. A nicely shaped thing weighing in at 17.3#. Oh, did I mention we just got a new scale? Man, I was finding excuses to weigh everything on Saturday.(Oh, the results are also without Wes Radstaak's numbers as he had to leave and be a good father and husband 3 events into the day) Danny Loeb would snag 5th spot with an all shoulder 27'10" opener. And Todd's first throw at 28'9" would be just enough to snag him 3rd over Terry's 28'6" first effort in 4th. Did I mention I made the Masters throw with the Ams? I won't mention just yet how they placed, but you'll see a pattern. 2nd spot came from Mike Gilpin who, despite working all night, having a sore back and actually missing any warmups, nailed a 31'6" in the second round (his first attempt, though). First was all Bob Brown and the fantastic snap he gets on a stone going out 36'9". Some more height and he'd be a 40' man.
Colton and Cale had the battle of the twins going 2 and 1 with 26'7" and 28'3" respectively in the Junior class. Colleen very happily joined us and popped the lighter women's stone out a very respectable 24'7" on her third and final toss.
7 guys were in our open class and ready to play. Joey Taylor would snag 5th with his middle toss of 36'6" which is pretty close to a PR for him with a 17# stone, I think. 4th was all Jim Garrick from the stand at 38'11" and a torn rotator cuff. Hope he heals up fast, although the knife may be in the future for Jim. 3rd was big Dan Gossen who is only missing a little angle work to go over 40. 39' even was his mark. Davey Laidlaw would be one of the two guys to go over 40' with his second place 40'4" but as is the usual, first place was ALL Matt Doherty. It's good hard ground where we throw the trig down in Ft. Ed and that gives the boy a decent purchase to play in. His first toss was a side foul but his second one was a cannon at 51'7" and more than enough for the win. Like by 11'. But his third was a thing of beauty. With the exception of that whole stepping over the trig thing right at the end. We measured it for giggles, though. 52'8". Which, for those of you paying attention, is 7" past the Canadian record. His extra throws wouldn't prove any more successful but the writing is on the wall. The record will fall and it'll be sooner than later.
Right into the Polonik 28 (17.75" and 28.1#! Fun with the scale again!) complete with ring handle we went. On the Am side, Paul snagged himself 5th with a VERY solid looking 41'6". More up needed and he's over the 45' mark. He's been working his spins and it shows. Nice, Paul. 4th went to Mike who remembered what he was doing on his third and was up another 5' at 46'9". Terry just edged him out with a 46'11" and Todd ALMOST cracked 50' again with a single spin 49'3" for second spot. Bob's first one was prettier but his second had the speed to go out 54'8" for the win.
The Brothers Weyts followed the same 1-2 pattern as before with Cale getting the nod by 2' over his brother 31'4" to 29'4" by Colton. Some practice with these boys and this stuff is going to sail. They're pretty much standing in place right now.
Dave dropped back a bit in this event with a 57'5" shot to go into 5th. 4th was Mike Staal's 59'10" opener. Davey Roe had him by almost 3' at 62'8.5" and it was a worm burner. Jimmy's been on some kind of a roll lately and he kept up a solid performance here at 64'3". Again, though, this event was all the Boy as his opener was 70'6". He wouldn't extend it from there but he didn't need to, either.
Continuing the randomness, we went into the heavy hammer. I think the light hammer is a thing of the past at Ft. Ed with the boys starting to get closer to going over 120' at near every games. Safety first after all. Mike, despite his sore back and utter lack of sleep, still remembered what the 22 felt like enough to go 61'5" for 5th. Terry's second attempt of 63' would stay as his best for 4th. Todd edged him by all of an inch to secure third and then Bobby was about 4' up from that at 67'5" in second spot. But the 'W' went to the big man from Calgary, Danny Loeb with a solid 69'6". A kinder man might have let the juniors throw the 16 or something but noone ever accused me of that. Cale and Colton went 1/2 again with 46' and 50'3". Once Cale figures out his knees will bend, he's going to be dangerous. I was kind enough to Colleen, though and let her throw the 12. Her opener would be her best release angle and therefore carried the furthest out to 63'11". She told me she was just happy her back took it. So say we all.
Jimmy Garrick would tak 5th on the open side with 78'8". The numbers are starting to go up and up for what's needed just to hang in there now. 4th was another insult to injury throw as Dan Gossen shoved his thumb in Jim's eye and beat him by an inch. Third was a good 7 feet up from there, though and Joey Taylor put his stamp on that at 85'4". I know he was hoping for 90 but the dirt at the Fort and throwing uphill doesn't help. Mike Staal's opener was his best throw and enough to snag him second with 87'5". Once again it was all the Boy, though and that cock-eyed start of his, nailing 89'3" on his third attempt to extend his lead from his second one. He needs to embrace the boots, though and stop last second accelerating that thing. Explosive little freak.
The big boy, the 56, was up next and by now the heat was boring down. Lets hear it for the tents though. There were a lot less burn victims this time around as compared to Red Deer. Aaron finally remembered how to throw an implement and came back from a slow start to hit 21'3" on his third and get 5th. Mikey G's opener though was a good 8" beyond that and it held him in 4th. Terry, despite complaining loudly that he was too old to throw the 56, got Mike by a foot at 22'11". And I'm not sure he's touched that thing all year. Todd one spun himself a 23'6" and a solid second place. And then what can you say about Bob Brown? Masters, giving away generally 20# at least (with the exception of Mr. Gilpin) and then what does he do? 27'5" with the 56. It was pretty.
This was the event where Colton showed enough strength and footwork to get his brother as his second attempt went out 15'6" and snagged him a solid win over Cale's 12'10". Cale used a bit too much lean and went for a few walks over the trig so only his first one managed a mark. A spin in place and pull over his shoulder, no less. Colleen really got her legs under her on her third attempt with the 28# here, nailing out a big 23'8" and adding 4' from her second attempt to her third.
The Open Boys like themselves some heavyweight and I know several of them were hoping to eke out a bit more than they did, but still some big stuff went out. Davey L snagged #5 spot with 29'2" on his opener. Joey waited for his third to really bust it out and it was still flat but it was 30'10", 4th and a new PR. Hard to complain about that. 3rd took a bit of a jump from there as Davey R went 32'11" on his first but couldn't manage to improve on it. Matthew had led the event from his opener at 33'3" until the third round when Jimmy Garrick got a good snap out and hit 33'9" for the nod. He tried some extras but none of them carried quite as far. Still, a season's best and close to a PR.
Oh boy, do I find this event funny! The dreaded Ft. Edmonton stone! 97.6# of ugly (as opposed to the athletes, which are 200#+ of ugly), run up, two handed throw and try not to die. It's comedy at it's finest, folks. And this one can really mix some stuff up if you're not on the ball. Colleen opted out of this mess but everyone else was game. Just to "sweeten" the pot, Lee was kind enough to donate a bottle of gin ("You can tell it's quality because it has medallions on it.") for the amateur winner of the event. 5th spot was just under 10' as Todd went 9'11". Terry again complained loudly but shoved that monster out 10'1" for 4th spot. Bob and Dan were battling it out for the top spot right up until the 3rd round and they managed to tie for second at 10'7". But it was big Paul "Special K" Kuefler who added a foot every time he touched that rock to end up with 11'3", first place and a bottle of cheap gin! Nice work, Paul. Colton again got the nod over his brother Cale with 8'10" to 8'7". Apparently the heavy stuff is Colton's forte.
The open class was playing for glory and Davey didn't quite manage to break his field record, only going 10'11" this time for 5th. Dave Roe tried just about everything he could with that beast but his first at 11'1" stuck as his best. Jim snagged 3rd by 4" and only had to further sacrifice his shoulder for it. Second was big Dan Gossen with a huge 12'7" push but the boy didn't take that lying down, so Matt added 4" to it for 12'11" and the win.
The caber was once again a bit of a gong show with the Ams having a turn fest with the 17'6" 67# stick, so we let them have a few rounds with the 23' 60# stick and after one round to get used to it, Bob and Terry (the two MASTERS) learned how to turn that and did it with authority with 1:00 and 12:30 respectively. I think it's done it's last, though. Some ugly noises came out of it at the end. But one never knows, with the power of duct tape.
Mike Staal brought out a gorgeous looking stick that was 18'6" and weighed in at 101.6# (did I mention I love our new scale?). But although most of the guys put in a solid performance, only two guys made it go over. Jim was the first, making it stand straight up before falling over almost directly to the side for a 2:30. Matty just slapped it over, having thoroughly accepted that he likes the caber and he was rewarded with a 12:05 due to stingy judging. It was just a liiiiiitle off center, so that's what he got for his trouble. Not so bad, Matthew.
At last, with the heat continuing pretty much unabated we got into the WOB. Mike cleared 10' but that was all he had and then he had to dash off back to work. No rest of the wicked. 5th spot for him. After that, there was a train wreck at 11' with Bob, Dan, Terry and big Paul K getting the nod. That's a big PR for Paul and it didn't even hit the bar in the slightest. He's really been coming along in lots of his events. Good to see. Colleen was also good for 10', although she decided that she liked it so much, she'd take 3 attempts to do it.
Jim was throwing left handed as his arm was non functional above shoulder height on the right, so he came in at 10 but still managed to clear 12 and join the logjam there with the Daves and Mike Staal. Joe Taylor hit 13' and the boy was up and over easy there. 14' proved to be too much for Joe today but it was touch and go. He PLOWED it into that bar, so it's no longer 'if' it's 'when'. Matt cleared 14' without any problems but timing kept him there. And he was ill-pleased with that turn of events. I understand that all too well.
That wrapped things up once again and we had the countdown of Mike G, Dan L, Todd, Terry and Bobby taking 5th through 1st on the Am side. Yep. Both Masters were #1 & 2. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, boys. Cale had edged his brother by a deuce in the overall for the juniors and Colleen was, shall we say in a class of her own. On the open side, Dave Roe performed solidly enough to snag 5th by a point over Dave Laidlaw and so their battle continues for another competition at least. 3rd spot was only a point and a half up from there and was owned by Joe Taylor. Jim Garrick had a solid 9.5 point spread to keep him in second and Matt was all by his lonesome in first with just 8 points, just shy of perfect.
A pretty solid day, some good entertainment followed by a few drinks at the hotel and then a little trip down Whyte Ave that evening for some of us. There are now about 5 stagette parties that have pics of some of the boys in them and once again it's impressive to watch the seas of people part when a bunch of guys in kilts go for a stroll. I am out for now. Next stop: Stettler.
- Sean
2007 Gallery
2007 Video
Results
| Open Class |
| Athlete | Open
Stone | 28# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Ft. Ed
Stone | 56# WFD | 18'6" 101#
Caber | 56# WOB | Points |
| Matt Doherty | 51'7" | 70'6" | 89'3" | 12'11" | 33'3" | 12:05 | 14' | 8 |
| Jim Garrick | 38'11" | 64'3" | 78'8" | 11'5" | 33'9" | 2:30 | 12' | 21.5 |
| Joe Taylor | 36'6" | 57'3" | 85'4" | 10'7" | 30'10" | NT | 13' | 31 |
| Dave Laidlaw | 40'4" | 57'5" | 77'10" | 10'11" | 29'2" | NT | 12' | 32.5 |
| Dave Roe | 33'7" | 62'8.5" | 71'8.5" | 11'1" | 32'11" | NT | 12' | 33.5 |
| Dan Gossen | 39' | 57'2" | 78'9" | 12'7" | 27'9" | NT | 12' | 34 |
| Mike Staal | 36'5" | 59'10" | 87'5" | 10' | 26'5" | NT | 12' | 35.5 |
| Amateur Class |
| Athlete | Open
Stone | 28# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Ft. Ed
Stone | 56# WFD | 23' 60#
Caber | 56# WOB | Points |
| Bob Brown | 36'9" | 54'8" | 67'5" | 10'7" | 27'5" | 1:00 | 11' | 12 |
| Terry Hunt | 28'6" | 46'11" | 63' | 9'10" | 22'11" | 12:30 | 12' | 22.5 |
| Todd Hennel | 28'9" | 49'3" | 63'1" | 9'11" | 23'6" | NT | NH | 29 |
| Dan Loeb | 27'10" | 40'1" | 69'6" | 10'7" | 19'5" | NT | 11' | 30.5 |
| Mike Gilpin | 31'6" | 46'9" | 61'5" | 9'9" | 21'11" | NT | 10' | 32.5 |
| Paul Kuefler | 26'5" | 41'6" | 53'1" | 11'3" | 17'1" | NT | 11' | 38 |
| Aaron Andronyk | 27'1" | 38'9" | 61'2" | 9'10" | 21'3" | NT | 10' | 48.5 |
| Lee Distad | - | 33'4" | 48'4" | 8'8" | 15'11" | NT | NH | 56 |
| Juniors Class |
| Athlete | Open
Stone | 28# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Ft. Ed
Stone | 56# WFD | 17'5" 67#
Caber | 56# WOB | Points |
| Colton Weyts | 26'7" | 29'4" | 46' | 15'6" | 8'10" | 2:00 | NH | 11.5 |
| Cale Weyts | 28'7" | 31'4" | 50'3" | 12'10" | 8'7" | 12:00 | NH | 9.5 |
| Womens Class |
| Athlete | Open
Stone | 12#
Hammer | 28# WFD | 17'5" 67#
Caber | 28# WOB | Points |
| Colleen Millar | 24'7" | 63'11" | 23'8" | 12:00 | 10' | 5 |
Past Results: