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High River Highland Games Heavy Events Results for August 25, 2007
The Scoop!
Sweet, sweet High River. This is easily my favorite games of the year. Davey Roe kills himself to get us the best possible games, great venue and as always a spectacular after party (Yes, Dave, I know. I bolted this year. I'll leave the wife and kids at home next time.) As we will see later, however, Davey's efforts are not without significant cost.
The Morning Roadshow
With Dave's printer deciding to fail spectacularly the night before, it was up to me, a pen and an airmiles card to come up with a reasonable facsimile of a scoresheet for the denizens of early morning throwing. As per the usual, "First throw at 9am!" became "First throw at 9:23!" by the time we were done waiting for the sound system to appear and I still had to yell for the first few rounds. Fortunately, I have a loud voice anyway. Unfortunately for those around me.
We started up, as is the usual, with the open stone. A highly illegal 16.2# open stone. Well, illegal in Kanadastan, legal in the rest of the world. In any case, the first couple of rounds didn't really have the boys lighting the world on fire except for the launch Wilson had on that thing to go 41'9.5". He could have sat down after that one. Aaron took 5th with a standing 26'6" put on his last round and Wes was next up at 29'1" again on his 3rd shot. Todd edged him out of 3rd by 6", again from a stand and Dan Loeb decided to be the only guy besides Wilson who got over 30' with, well, 30' and second place. The Masters hammered forward with Terry managing a 29'2" with that crazy side shuffle of his for second and Bobby grumbling his way to first with 34'8". I know he wanted something more in the 36+ range. Young Connor cannoned out a 27' gopher killer as the lone junior, too. We get this kid practicing and he'll be dangerous.
On to the horrors of the heavy weight. New implement, bad handle. I'm going to nag Davey Roe until he replaces that sliding D handle with at least a ring handle or something. Ugh. This was another stunning display, but I'll give the boys an out and say that the shifting handle didn't make life easier. Aaron again took 5th spot with a massive 18'2". Wilson got hisself a PR and 4th spot with 18'11". Track doesn't seem so hard after picking that thing up, does it? Todd was our first guy in the Ams over 20' with 20'4" and that earned him 3rd spot. Wes manned up after 2 fouls and hit 20'10" for second spot with big Dan "Hey, I'm in the jacuzzi suite" Loeb nailing first on his last throw with 21' even.
Bobby made many a snide comment as he used the Bobby Dodd 42# and pitched out a 35'2" for the win. I know he's looking for 36' this year and he's more than capable of it. Terry had a GREAT solid pull on his last attempt that sailed out to 33'3" for what I think was a season's best. Looked good. Young Connor also got to use the 42# and his first at 25'3" stood as his best for the day.
On to the double H! This one definitely saw some better performances from the guys. Although he snagged himself 6th, I just wanted to make sure Paul "Special K" Kuefler got his mention for cracking 60' for the first time at 60'9" and a whopping 5' PR! Nice work, Paul. He's definitely had his best season to date and I hope he keeps it up. 5th was big Todd with 63'4" and he seemed less than enthused by it. 4th was Wes at 63'10" which was a solid PR for him as well. Aaron pulled himself out of the morass on this one and nailed 69'4" for third and a big season's best. Danny wasn't a lot ahead of him with his 69'9" but again he seemed happy enough for it. Given how much practice he's had this year. Gotta hate track guys and the stones and hammers. Wilson took top honours here again with a big 74'5" toss and a great snap on his release. Pretty. Terry was solidly throwing the 22 as well and ended with 66'10" as his best. Bobby snapped out 74'0.5" and would be good for way more if he wouldn't T-Rex that sucker on release. We made the boy toss the 22 too, so 52' was his best. Which is pretty close to his best anyway, I believe.
Right back into the 28. Paul's been coming up nicely on this event and his 41'2" earned him 5th spot for it. 41'6" from Dan on his opener put him into 4th and then it was a 5' jump to Wes in 3rd. Wilson B settled up a few of his "what the hell is this thing?" issues and really snapped it out on his third for a new PR (second games, everything's a PR) at 47'1". But it was big Todd in top spot with his single turn 48'3". Toddy, I expect some mad 2 spin action next year, man! The masters kept up their end with Terry at 46'5" twice and Bobby's big 55'. Bob's good for 60, he's just got to settle a couple of things first. Connor also managed a PR with a very solid 42'3.5" which he always starts about 3' from the trig. We get him to run a bit and he's 45+.
Sure it was getting on in time but there were only 7 of us this afternoon, so onward the boys plunged into the light hammer. Another note about Paul: apparently he didn't read the note that your light hammer should be prety much 20' further than your heavy because he was only 5. Oi. Aaron edged out over 80' to 80'6" and that nailed him 5th. Todd keeps saying he's only good for 1 80+ throw a day in the hammer, so he got it out of the way on his first one and it still edged Aaron by a whopping inch. 80'7" and 4th. Wouldn't you know it, Wes PRs in the hammer to 82'3" and it earns him 3rd! All Wes needs to do is put everything together on one day and magic will happen. Dan wasn't his usually hammery self and only managed 84'4" but it was enough for #2 spot. Again up in first spot with 87'8" was young Wilson Burnett. Not his first games mark, but pretty solid none the less. More Mastery from Terry and Bob led to 81'5" and 87'10" respectively. Both guys are good for much more so hopefully they'll show off some at Calgary. Connor was over 60' again with 61'11" but again, he's good for more if we can keep his arms long.
There's not a lot to say about the caber other than it was 19'10" long and just over 78#. Paul later told me there was no reason for it to NOT go over, so he wants another crack at it. The Masters showed their stuff by both turning it with Bob getting 1:30 and Terry getting 2:45. Connor has now got to the point of having a remarkably solid pick and he looked great on his runs too. We just need to give him more practice and this is going to be one of his better events.
The WOB was set up on the one side while the Open guys warmed up for the Braemar stone. The sun was coming down heavily and I'd already forgotten both Daves on the scoresheet but the Ams weren't quite done yet. Fortunately, the guys (ams) were great about keeping score then. Not like those lazy open class bastards. 10' with that horrid lead 56 with the shifty handle proved a bit much for Aaron, newguy Tyler and Wes but everyone else was up in one attempt or two with Dan passing there. 11' was only Wilson and Dan Loeb and Connor with the 42 and both Masters passed again. 12' knocked everyone but Bob and Terry out and 13' saw both of them one shot it again. Now that Bobby's got his groove, 14' was no big deal either. Terry was game but couldn't put it together today. Bob shot for 14'6" again but was just a bit shy. It'll happen.
The dust had settled, scores were tallied and Loeb was heading for the beer tent so you knew it was done for the morning show. Aaron managed 5th spot with about 8 points separating him with next up Wes in 4th. 3rd a whole point ahead was Todd Hennel and #1 went to Calgary via Wilson and Dan respectively. Bob made it a clean sweep to take first spot in the masters and Connor either won or lost, depending on how you look at that one.
While all that was going on, the 24.6# rock was being chucked. At this point, it would probably be prudent of me to apologize to Mr.s Laidlaw and Roe for forgetting them on the scoresheet. Especially as Davey was sitting beside me all morning. And I would totally apologize if I didn't think it was hilarious. In any case, I managed 5th spot with my final shove to a somewhat depressing 29'11" with Danny Gossen knocking me back by 2" with 30'1". Gordo was up next with a solid looking 30'9.5" and then the big boys were up. Joel took second with his first push of 35'1" and The Boy snapped out 37'1" on his second attempt for top spot and then extended that to 37'6". I need to learn how to throw rocks.
That ugly heavyweight surfaced again for us and I for one was not pleased. Of course, the better throwers seemed unaffected so maybe I'll just shut my pie-hole. I will say this, though: Davey Roe! Ring handle! Please! Hey, look who's in 5th again with a sad 30'. Me! 4th was Gord Walsh who needs to stop treating this beast with so much respect. 30'10" for Gord. Third was big Davey Laidlaw who went 31'3" for a season's best. This would be a sign of the rest of the day for Dave. Matt and Joel reversed positions in this event with Joel pitching and Matty catching, going 38'10.5" and 34'1.5" respectively. I need to update the field records from the past few years. Joel's skewed a lot of things.
We were moving at a pretty solid clip, so the decision was made to do both hammers at the same time so the big babies didn't have to take their boots off. Dan Gossen and I actually switched around here with me getting 6th/4th in the HH/LH and him going 4th/6th with 84'1"/110'11" for me and 85'3"/100'8" for Dan. Unfortunately for Dan, he fouled out a monster 109'10" light hammer when his left foot just kept edging over until he was out of bounds. It was a BIG pull, though. Speaking of big pulls, I've got to mention the star of the show, Dave Laidlaw. Dave has been flirting with serious numbers for a couple of years and it's always been his "exuberance" that's killed him by making him try and bicep curl everything out at the last second. He stopped doing that today and got himself 5th in both hammers via 84'9"/107'8" which is a few inch PR on the heavy and a crushing 7 FEET on his light. It was nice. The third throw on his light was looking great until he decided to POUND the turf with the hammer. Matt took third in both with some great snaps out to 92'/117'8" which is another foot and some change on his PR. In sneakers. Man, I hate track athletes.
What do you say about Gord Walsh? The guy was to the point of "slowing down his games" a couple of years ago but some solid training time with Joel has really upped his game. I think the volleyball in the off-season is doing a ton for his snap, too. Gord took second both times with 96'8"/122'9" for yet ANOTHER light hammer PR this year. I see Gord going 125' sooner rather than later. That left big Joel all alone in top spot with a conservative enough 103'8" in the heavy and a whopping 132'4" in the light! If you haven't seen Joel throw the hammer, you're missing out. Talk about riding the bleeding edge of out of control. Joel 100% commits to the throw and the snap that thing has when he lets go is phenomenal. Great clinic on hammer throwing.
We traipsed our way into the 16.2# open stone, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to see which way this one was going to go. Dan Gossen managed 5th spot with his final push of 38'11". I was next up in 4th with my first shot of 41'1". I tried to extend it to beat Wilson from this morning but even with a beer as incentive, I fell short. Gord pounded out a very solid 44'6" for 3rd spot and Joel was up another 4' from there to get 48'7" and 2nd. The Matt Doherty Travelling Stone Show kicked in after that, as his OPENER was 52'. He would later extend that to 52'11" and would foul out a big 53'+ shot in extras. So we've got a new Alberta record, if nothing else.
The lead LW was a much friendlier thing although the sheer gong show of it all was impressive. Not as impressive as Mr. Roe's spectacular and up until now unmentioned Foul-a-Rama with the heavy weight, but it had it's moments. After some sad footwork and blowouts, I got in a 61'5.5" shot for 5th because Gord Wlash was flying all over the trig, tripping on things and falling over and then snagged enough of one to beat me by the stretch of a tape at 61'6". And then there was that Dave Laidlaw guy again. It's amazing what he can do when he's relaxed. 64'11" for a huge PR, a good looking throw and 3rd spot. Matty complained about his first two bitterly at around the 68' mark and then popped something out on the third to 73' for a new PR. He was just behind Joel who had gone 73'5" on his opener and then fouled it twice on the side. Those two fouls sure carried though.
This brought us straight to Joel's favorite event: the caber. The SOP in High River was in full effect as the wind came up nicely just before this. We had ourselves a 21', 89# stick to play with, complete with some nice knots about shoulder level so it immediately tried to roll off your shoulder. Certified judge extraordinaire Gary Theissen decided we'd do degrees, which I immediately dismissed as unmanly (but would later help my cause terribly). This meant that Joel ended up in 5th as even with Gary judging, not turning the caber doesn't help. I turned the thing twice to 11:00 both times (cursed wind) and that got me a screaming 4th. Danny Gossen showed his skills off again by going 11:45 for 3rd and Matt took second with a 12:00 and a 12:10. But Gordie made it look stupid easy and nailed 12:00 on his first and 12:05 with his second to take it. A terribly efficient caber tosser, our Gord.
The WOB wasn't exactly everyone's best event as me, Davey R and Dan Gossen were out after 12' was cleared. Davey L got his head out of his backside long enough to clear 13' and Gordie had nailed it first time out. Matt came in at 13 and made it look rediculous. 14' denied Dave yet again (next week, man!) and it was down to Joel and Matt after that. 15' was candy for Joel and the boy cleared it easily enough on his second. 16' is becoming so routine to Joel it's frightening but it denied Matty this time around. But every time it gets a little closer.
Do I even need to tell you who won? Nah. It was our own Joel Theissen who, despite the wobble in the caber, was dominant all day. Matty, to noone's surprise, took second spot and Gord Walsh rounded out the top three after a day of solid performances plus another PR. I eked out 4th by half a point over Dave Laidlaw who closed the day with 4 PRs to his name (see what I mean? If it wasn't for side judging, he would have beat me! But it's still a filthy practice.) A grand, grand day topped off for some by a racous party at High River and by watching Randy Couture beat the living snot out of Gabriel Gonzaga by others. Hoorah! One last games to go!
And ignore the scores below for now. I haven't had time to do those up yet.
- Sean
2007 Gallery
2007 Video
Results
| Open Class |
| Athlete | 30.6# Braemar
Stone | 56# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Open
Stone | 28# WFD | 16#
Hammer | 56# WOB | 20'2" 104.8#
Caber | Points |
| Matt Doherty | 31' | 34'5.5" | 94'1" | 51'6" | 71'7" | 110'3" | 15'9" | 12:50 | 10 |
| Sean Langford | 24'4" | 31'8" | 81'5" | 39' | 58'7" | 103'3" | 13' | 11:50 | 25.5 |
| Joe Taylor | 24'5" | 28'7" | 92'10" | 34'11" | 58'11" | 106'2" | 13' | NT | 29 |
| Dan Gossen | 26'2" | 24'8" | 81'4" | 39'1.5" | 55'1" | 100'10" | 12' | 11:40 | 31 |
| Dave Laidlaw | 26' | 29'4" | 81'5" | 35'11" | 57'6.5" | 96'4" | 13' | NT | 33.5 |
| Wilson Burnett | 24'9" | 16'1" | 73'5" | 41'6" | 41'11" | 92'6" | 12' | NT | 43 |
| Al MacFarlane | 24' | 29'8" | 51' | 33'6.5 | 53'7" | 76'8" | 10' | NT | 51 |
| Amateur Class |
| Athlete | 30.6# Braemar
Stone | 56# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Open
Stone | 28# WFD | 16#
Hammer | 56# WOB | 20'2" 104.8#
Caber | Points |
| Todd Hennel | 20'9" | 22'1" | 64' | 28'11" | 46'8" | 80'3" | 10' | NT | 11 |
| Wes Radstaak | 20'5" | 22'3" | 57'7" | 28'11" | 44'6.75" | 79'9" | 10' | NT | 15.5 |
| Aaron Andronyk | 18'3" | 20'6" | 59'9" | 25'3" | 38'11" | 79'5" | 10' | NT | 21.5 |
| Masters Class |
| Athlete | 30.6# Braemar
Stone | 42# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Open
Stone | 28# WFD | 16#
Hammer | 42# WOB | 20'2" 104.8#
Caber | Points |
| Mike Staal | 25'8" | F | 83'7" | 39'5" | 57'4" | 106'3" | 16'2" | NT | 11 |
| Bob Brown | 23' | 35'10" | 74' | 35'2" | 55' | 89'6" | 14' | NT | 15 |
| Terry Hunt | 18'7" | 31'7" | 65'10" | 29'4" | 46'3.5" | 85' | 14' | NT | 22 |
| Juniors Class |
| Athlete | 30.6# Braemar
Stone | 42# WFD | 16#
Hammer | Open
Stone | 28# WFD | 12#
Hammer | 42# WOB | 18' 94
Caber | Points |
| Connor Longjohn | 18'9" | 23'9.5" | 63'11" | 29' | 40'4" | 72'10" | 11' | 1:30 | 8 |
| Womens Class |
| Athlete | 16.6# Braemar
Stone | 28# WFD | 16#
Hammer | Open
Stone | 14# WFD | 12#
Hammer | 28# WOB | 16' 65#
Caber | Points |
| Colleen Millar | 16'10" | 26'3.75" | 58'4" | 25'6" | 49'11" | 63'4" | 11' | 12:00 | 8 |
Past Results: