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Red Deer Highland Games Results for June 23, 2007

The Scoop!

Duelling trigs, 2nd degree sunburns, big PRs, inappropriate comments about physical intimacy and Skareoke. This makes up the Saturday of the 60th Red Deer Highland Games. We'll start with the Ams/Masters/Junior side but keep in mind that everything was going on at once. I can't thank the guys enough for keeping everything running as smoothly as it did and I think the crowd liked it too as we held onto everyone for pretty much the entire day.

Todd Hennel got to start things off with the LWFD with the very first throw of the competition being a 45'8" shot off a single spin. He would later extend that to 46'6" but even in this crowd, that was only getting him 4th. Paul 'Special' K has been looking a lot smoother in his turns and should be golden as soon as he gets his release angle settled up. He went 39'8" for the 5th spot. Continuing their ongoing dual, Dan and Wes actually managed to tie for second place with throws of 47'9" but it was Kelly who set the bar early with a 52'3" PR which held on for first despite a pair of fouls after that. Our lone junior for the day, Connor managed a 37'10" shot which I believe was a PR at the time and Terry Hunt proved he'd have been as easily in the mix in the Ams as masters with a 46'4" opener. Bob Brown wanted to sandbag a little and sited his advanced age and reduced weight for his reasons for Mastering but he still went 53'6" with the LW and looked kind of cheesed about it. Bryce Singbeil even showed up after a multi-year absence and after some initial bowling for dollars, snagged a 45'5" shot on her third attempt with the 14.

Switching it up with the Open class guys, the boys went right into a thoroughly legal 17.3# stone that I'm sure Matty would love if he could have made it out. Paul needs a little more punch and a little less push to get this event rolling so he took sixth with a 25'11". Aaron got himself a little more straightened out on his second to go 28'2" for 5th. Dan only managed to up his opener by an inch and took Aaron by 7". Which isn't nearly as dirty as it sounds. Wes topped Todd Hennel by 8.5" to go 29'10" to Todd's 29'1.5" for 2nd and third respectively while Kelly continued his roll by snapping out 33'8" on his last one, although all three were over 31'. Connor has a pretty reasonable punch at the end and it got him 27' for his troubles and after Bryce found the sweet spot on the 12# stone, she managed 28'3". Terry's efforts netted him a respectable 28'8" but Bob Brown's chest spoke up as he all shouldered out a 36'6" bomb for top spot in the Masters.

Continuing the charge of the "light" brigade, we went into the 16# hammer. Todd and Paul struggled a bit on this one with 77'6" and 71'2" respectively but you can see the glimmers in there. Wes's first shot would stand as his best and a PR to boot at 81'2" for 4th. Aaron finally found some of his groove again in this event to better Wes by 6' with an 87'2". Kelly had to settle for second on this one with his 89'8" shot because Dan Loeb had set the early pace with 91'3". Not bad for a guy who hasn't practiced since Victoria. Connor will, I assume, someday learn he has these things called "knees" and that they bend. Despite that, he still went 65'4" on his second and Bryce really had some great extension on her last wind to go 72'3.5". Terry still knows which end to throw, even at his advanced age, and had an 83'7" to show for it while Bob opened with a 90'2" bicep puller that would take the event.

With the prelims over, it was time to show the crowd what we meant by heavy events and so the 56 was brought out. Paul got it moving a little more on his third and yarded out a 19'4" for 6th. Dan Loeb looked a little off balance on his 20'10" and Aaron added insult to injury by beating him by an inch. Kelly didn't capitalize much but snagged 3rd on his 21'3" shot but Wes and Todd stole the show with PRs at 23'0.5" and a whopping 24'8" respectively. I'll say "looking good" instead of "looking pretty" because if you've ever seen this crowd, "pretty" isn't your first thought. Bryce got her legs under her by the 3rd pull and hit a solid looking 25'8" while Connor pulled out a 26'9" with the 42# WFD across his body. You could practically hear Terry and Bobby laughing while they got to throw the 42. And with good reason and solid marks of 32'6" and 35'10" respectively. Bobby is starting to fall in love with that implement.

The caber turned out to be the only sorta disappointment of the day. We had shot for a longer stick this time around but it had dried out far more than we anticipated and so it weighed in at a rather modest 47# for it's 20'6" length. Still, the boys aren't used to the longer sticks so it made them use a little more timing than normal. Terry and Bob walked all over it and Paul managed a very prety turn with the caber fast becoming one of his favorite events. Aaron's stick wobbled a little when it went over and Kelly got his head in the game and forced it over with Wes and Dan uglying that thing over. Even Connor grabbed a really solid run out of it and shoved it over. We gave them some time with the 23' stick but it was just a bit beyond them at that point. Decent way to get used to longer sticks but it needed at least 30 more pounds to it. Still, the crowd loved it.

Finally, the weight for height. Overall, it had been a shorter day than usual with the 10am start time but with the sun and the pace, it sure felt a lot longer. Using our lovely unflying Bobby Dodd weight and the Standards of Denial, we lit it up at 10' with everyone either making it or passing. Unfortunately, the only guys making it past there would be Connor, Dan Loeb and our masters. Dan didn't have the oomph for 12 but he'd won it as soon as he'd cleared 11' so he didn't look heartbroken. Connor managed 11 but bowed out at 12 with a tight back. That left Terry and Bob, both making 12 look easy and clearing 13' after leaving it out front for their first attempts. Bobby was still dropping with his weight instead of scooping it up and that left Terry to clear 14' on his second and take the event.

When it was all said and done, perennial Am champ Kelly had repeated at Red Deer with Dan Loeb and Wes Radstaak right behind him in 2nd and 3rd. Fourth spot went to big Todd Hennel and Aaron and Paul rounded out the field. Bob had kept the pressure on Terry all day enough to carry the win and he couldn't stop smiling after playing with the fun weights instead of the heavy stuff. He's old, though. We can give him a break about that. Now then, onto the gong show of the Open Class.

Open Class Hijinks

Now normally this is where I mention the guys crawling onto the field at the crack of noon and things like that but like I said, this year was different. They'd been throwing alongside the Ams with the two trigs on the same side of the field and everyone basically front and center. I let them warm up on the open stone, though. We had 11 guys (although Al retired early due to injury. Dummy shouldn't have been throwing at all) so I'll keep it to the top half of the field for the most part. We were lucky enough to have JJ and Christoph out to join us and, as you'll see, that really stepped things up at an otherwise normal competition.

Paul K had brought a nice, legal (ie over 17#) stone so we used that. The usual suspects had their shots at it but noone was really putting it out until Jimmy Garrick stepped up and braemar'd it out to 40'9" on his first, which would actually stick for 5th throughout the following rounds. I'd made a crack about how the distance would drop as soon as he moved his feet. It ain't easy being right all the time, let me tell you. Danny Gossen was back after an extended absence from the games and he announced his presence with authority and a 39'10" shot on his second for 6th spot. Unsurprisingly, Gordie was also over 40' with his 41'5" opener which would stick as his best and snag 4th. JJ looked a little wobbly on his first two but the third was a great snap out to 42' and nailed him 3rd in what is generally known as his 'weakest' event. A relative term. It was only the first event and Christoph was already taking his fair share of abuse and handing it back. He wondered if he needed his 3rd throw of 43'6" at the end and he had because of JJ's last one, as had the event winner Joel when he popped out a 44'11" on his third to take the whole thing. Once the wax was out of his ears and he realized I said '44' and not '40', he seemed happier with the throw.

Big boys play with big toys so we got right into the HWFD. Gord Walsh showed some old timing at this event and hit 30'3.5" for 6th spot. More height and he's laughing. Davey Roe started the event with a 30'4" shot, added an inch to it and it was enough for 5th. As I rode the boys about, noone was setting the world on fire here. Christoph wasn't happy with his 31'8" (4th) but the guy has like 12 kids under 6 or something, so I'll give him credit for not having time to practice. Jim Garrick continued his charge for the year with a 32' shot I know he wasn't happy about but it kept him in 3rd. JJ and Joel put on a bit of a clinic going 36'6" and 39'11" respectively, although they both looked like they wanted more out of it. I'll mention that Joe Taylor is looking more comfortable with that thing than I've ever seen him before too. Good to see.

The 22# hammer was next on the agenda and Danny showed he hadn't forgotten everything in the last 3 years with his 83'4" throw to edge Jim out of 6th by an inch. Joey T put it together again in the hammers with an 89'7" for 5th. Nearly 90' for 5th. That would be telling later on. JJ got his lowest performance here with a still respectable 91'8" but I know he was looking for more. The Mike Staal of old reared his head with a 92'5" opener that got everyone's attention and snagged him 3rd spot. In Alberta (pre Joel), hammers were Gord's domain and today was no different as he opened with 97'6" and then his next two were within 2 feet of that. He blamed training with Joel in getting his head on straight. Speaking of our newest Albertan, Joel really lets himself get into the hammer and he snapped his way out to 103'3". Not his best for the year, but still a very impressive mark.

At this point, the sun was beating down hard, we had a solid crowd and the boys were warm. I'd decided to leave the light stuff for the afternoon, hoping it would fly further. I was right. Again. Speaking from a provincial standpoint, these were awesome numbers. I mean Joe hit an even 60' with the LW and he was rewarded with a whopping 8th! Mike S did him 5" better for 7th with the best battlecry during an event: "PATIENCE!". He'd been kind of struggling for this one for a while, but he waited, hit his positions and put it out there. Dave Roe contiued his WFD charge with 62'9.5" for 6th and Gord got him by a few inches with 63' even. Jim went another 9" beyond that and got 4th. Christoph waited for his last throw to move up about 3 positions with a 66' bomb after a spectacular foul. JJ is so close to some serious magic in this event, it's scary and as it stood he got 71'10" for second. Despite getting a solid ribbing the whole day, I think I actually saw him smiling. DURING competition. Wierd. Once again, it was the Joel "Giggles" Thiessen show here though and he put it way out there for the crowd at 77'6". He's making my life difficult though, as now I have to update all the field and provincial records.

And now the light hammer. I think it might have been 1:30 or so by this point. So the guys were just hitting high points in the day, were staying warm and burnout hadn't happened yet. So we get what we had here today, which was probably the biggest hammer clinic in Western Canada to date. You could see the guys gathering up and talking to one another after each throw, with little tips and tricks being tossed around and things being tuned up. And then they just kept pushing each other. Dave Laidlaw finally got the monkey off his back and cracked 100 with 100'8" and Dan Gossen really extended himself and sent that thing flying and nailed 107'6" on his second. What'd he get for that? 7th. Joe Taylor has been on a roll for the hammers this year, getting 111' in GP and then opened with 112'2" for a new PR and 6th. Mike Staal opened at 110'+, hit 116'11" for a new PR and THEN went 117'5" on his third. And that was 5th! Speaking of out of nowhere, Christoph decided to listen to Gord and Joel and completely changed how he threw and what happened with that? 118'6" for like a 5 or 6' PR. 118' and he got 4th. Gordie OPENED with 117'9", added a foot to it, then let it ALL hang out for a brilliant 121' PR. Which, on a normal day, probably would have got him the win. Here, today? It got him 3rd. JJ opened modestly at 112'+ but I'd heard a little rumour or two about practice numbers and he proved it on his next throw with 121'9"! And then just to show it wasn't a fluke, he put out another 120' shot on his third. Joel has been on a hammer tear all year and today was no exception. His first or second shot would have won the thing but the 3rd one at 131' was the crowd pleaser. That, kids, is a long way out there. I've never seen the boys lay it down like they were today. It was hard to just watch when all you really wanted to do was be a part of it.

The caber, unfortunately, suffered from the same affliction as the Am caber did. Lots of length, not enough weight. Upon reflection, we should have used the stick we decided on in Ellerslie, but this one was pretty good for getting the guys used to a much longer caber. It turned into a bit of a shootout but the crowd liked it so it's a wash as far as I'm concerned.

That brought us to the weight for height. Because of the heat and the pace, everyone thought it was a lot later than it really was and apparently the hammers took the fight out of everyone for this. A surprising number of the guys nailed 12' and stopped there. Mike, Joe, Christoph (using all 3 attempts) and Joel went through 13' and JJ passed. 14' saw JJ, Joel, Mike and Christoph (both on their last) go through and after 15', it was all JJ and Joel. They went up to 15'6" for JJ's PR and then straight up to 16'4" for Joel's. Now keep in mind that we were using the Standards of Denial and a Bobby Dodd weight. So nothing here was easy. JJ's first attempt there was more than reasonable, it was close. Same with Joel's. Joel's second one was even closer and then JJ freakin NAILED it without even really touching the bar! I know Joel's hit the bar at 17' a few times but as with Gord Walsh and his throwing, I don't think Joel's ever been pushed enough to just nail 16'4" and be done with it. But after that weight went over from JJ, you could almost see the switch thrown because he just went up and nailed it easy. They went up to 16'9" after that and although neither was missing by much. So nothing like a field record and a provincial record set. Especially when both are 7 years old.

When it was all settled, JJ and Joel were tied at 16 points each (although we did have a repeat of the Conspiracy and that was all my fault. Sorry JJ!) but Joel got the nod on firsts. Christoph and Gordie tied for 3rd with 27 points each and Mike Staal rounded out the top 5. Need to give a big thanks to Al MacFarlane who stuck around and gave me a bit of a break for an event or two despite his injuries. Thanks, Al!

There were a few inappropriate conversations and vieled references to alternate methods of birth control but I won't offend anyone here with their repeating. Everyone kind of piled into cars and Christoph and I traded lies, stories and gossip and headed north after that, meeting at my place for a solid round of lies and burgers thick enough to kill a man. It was here that we noticed the general purple look to both Joe Taylor and Dan Gossen, who constantly had a fine greasy sheen on him from all the aloe. I have to thank Wes for tossing me his hat or I strongly suspect I'd have been in the same shape.

I knew things were kind of headed in the wrong direction after Dan and Christoph started up on my trampoline, but everyone escaped that with only minor injuries. It was then that a small band of us headed to the Beaujolie (sp) for a little Skareoke and a slight run in with a guy who looked frighteningly like a typical representation of Jesus.

Now I think it's no secret that most, if not all of us, have managed to marry up but I at least got a bit of an explanation with Wes because after I heard him sing for a while, at least his lovely wife had an excuse. A few more loudmouth soups in me and a couple more songs and I might have been rubbing his thigh under the table too. Fortunately, we called it a night before that happened.

A fantastic day of throwing and nonsense and that leads us nicely to Ellerslie later on. Bye for now, true believers!

- Sean

2007 Gallery



2007 Video



Results

Open Class
AthleteOpen
Stone		56# WFD22#
Hammer		28# WFD16#
Hammer		23' 67#
Caber		56# WOBPoints
Joel Thiessen44'11"39'11"103'3"77'6"131'NT16'4"16
Jason Johnston42'36'6"91'8"71'10"121'9"12:0016'4"16
Christoph Wand43'6"31'8"81'5"66'118'6"12:0015'27
Gord Walsh41'5"30'3.5"97'6"63'121'12:3012'27
Mike Staal39'29'9"92'5"60'5"117'3"12:1514'37
Jim Garrick40'9"32'83'3"63'9"97'4"12:1512'38
Joe Taylor34'1"29'10"89'7"60'112'2"NT13'49
Dave Roe33'3"30'5"76'5"62'9.5"94'12:3012'54
Dan Gossen39'10"25'1"83'4"57'8"107'6"11:0011'55
Dave Laidlaw36'8"27'9"81'9"55'100'8"NT12'61


Amateur Class
Athlete28# WFDOpen
Stone		16#
Hammer		56# WFD22#
Hammer		20' 47#
Caber		56# WOBPoints
Kelly Strachan52'3"33'8"89'8"21'3"70'6"12:0010'11
Dan Loeb47'9"28'9"91'3"20'10"68'10"2:0011'15.5
Wes Radstaak47'9"29'10"81'2"23'0.5"58'4"1:3010'18.5
Todd Hennel46'6"29'1.5"77'6"24'8"62'7"2:0010'22.5
Aaron Andronyk38'9"28'2"87'2"20'11"68'2"11:4510'24
Paul Kueffler39'8"25'11"71'2"19'4"55'12:0010'34.5


Masters Class
Athlete28# WFDOpen
Stone		16#
Hammer		56# WFD22#
Hammer		20' 47#
Caber		56# WOBPoints
Bob Brown53'6"36'6"90'2"35'10"72'8"12:0013'8.5
Terry Hunt46'4"28'8"83'7"32'6"61'3"12:0014'12.5


Junior Class
Athlete28# WFDOpen
Stone		16#
Hammer		56# WFD22#
Hammer		20' 47#
Caber		56# WOBPoints
Connor Longjohn37'10"27'65'4"26'9"-11:3011'7


Past Results: