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High River Highland Games Results for August 23, 2008
The Scoop!
This is probably my favorite games, due in no small part to the kind of effort big Davey Roe puts into this. And the High River HG Association spoils us rotten, so it's hard to find anything to complain about with this one. So traditionally I give the guys something to complain about: me. We got into it a bit socially the night before at the newly minted BP Lounge and that didn't help anyone's overall attitude for the rest of the weekend either.
Early projections were for maybe 14 guys total so we figured we'd all start at once. The addition of some very welcome new blood extended the day a bit but didn't change the plan so off we went. The tone was set early in the day when Wilson and Rob came out sporting their shiney new "Matty's Angel" shirts. And on that note, welcome to the family, Michelle! :) Davey's decided to lay claim to that pancake 24.6# stone so he hauled it out for the first event.
The Ams were up and lucky Wes was first guy to start us off. His last shot would stick as his best and get him 3rd spot in the first and one of his least favorite events. Newguy Mike Kelbert impressed early with a very respectable throw and showing as his 24'11" got him 2nd. Robbie Young has decided (mostly because of the sandwiches) that HG is a great sport and he's showing some big promise early. He ended up popping out a 31'5" that got him first and would have knocked off a few of the Open class to boot. I think we need more stone training.
Complete Mastery was up next. Once we convince Terry that his knees can still work, I think this one will go better for him. Still, as it stood, his 21'7" was enough for 3rd. One handed (although it IS a one-handed event) but still out in force, Mikey Gilpin edged Terry out by a whopping inch to take second. Master's favorite Bob Brown was all over this one, with his final shove of 26'4" being more than enough for first. We have to give a quick shout out to big bad JR who decided that the ripe young age of 50 was a good time to pick up a new sport.
When I say "we" need more stone training, I obviously don't mean SOME of the guys in the association. Like our top 3. Wilson, freshly moved into the open class, took 3rd spot with a very solid push of the big pancake to 32'5". Another quick note. When Joel walked out sporting his new haircut I was a bit taken aback. Not by the haircut, really. The limp more than anything else. Joel hit that lovely early-30's explosion many of us have and he looked it. Gilpin and I took perverse pleasure in bugging him about it all day and then alternating it with assurance that it WILL pass, but yeah it sucks. Still, he was game and shoved the rock out to 34'4" for second. Guess who was first? Yeah. Hard question there. At least the boy provided a non-stop source of entertainment to ALL of us on the field when you could see the grin on his face from about 40 yards away. Anyway, Matt got 37'7" with the rock and started his day off. Well, THAT probably didn't start his day off but it did start off his throwing day.
The heavy weight. An ugly introduction, regardless of how many times you've thrown it, unfortunately. Paul's becoming positively styling with this, despite the fact that he almost always leaves his big best ones for last. 21'8" and third. Wes was firing a little low and off on this one but it was enough to secure him 2nd when his last one went 22'6". Then big Robby hit the stage and nailed 27'7" after we remembered not to use the wrong trig for that. Big PR there and a very respectable throw. Mike, Alistair and Lloyd all did very admirably for first timers, both staying on their feet and hitting 19', 18'7" and 16'3" respectively. Nice work there.
The Fireball 42 was also in play when the Masters stepped up. JR was very game and hit 22'11" from kind of a behind his head, across his body thing. But he was in the trig and it was out there, so it's all good. 5th spot. Aaron smoothed out some issues got a little lift and knocked out 27'2" for 4th place. Still with his thumb pinned in 3 places and going hard, Mike got his legs under him enough for 30'11" and that put a smile on his face. 3rd. Terry is still just a bit outside of him without some practice, though, even missing his power position. 31'4" and second. Bobby had more than his share of problems in the weights on Saturday and managed to get down to his last attempt without a mark in. Showing that icewater calm, though, he stepped up and fired off a 35'9" to take first by a comfortable margin. Probably more comfortable if he'd have done it first shot, though.
The spread between 6th and 3rd in the Open class was measured in the span of about 18" as it went 30'6", 30'9", 31'1" and 31'9" with Gord, Mr. Roe, Mr. Laidlaw and me taking it respectively. Joel was definitely showing the chips in his body but gutted out a 34'9" for second and Matty settled up some of his year-long HW issues by hitting a respectable enough 35'10" for top spot.
Dave had determined early that we'd do the old heavy/light separation and I had no problems with that at all. What this did mean, though was right into the heavy hammer. Mike K had some early problems but ended up adding almost 13' from his first attempt to his second going from 36'10" to 49'8" which snagged him 4th. Third was Special K just a few feet up on him at 52'8". My mission next year is to teach Paul how to move faster. I'm talkin to you, Kuefler! Wes cranked up a big throw early to hit a new PR at 66'2" which Robbie edged him by a whopping inch out of first spot with his PR 66'3".
Here's where throwing with 1 hand hurt Mikey a bit but he was still game. Getting a solid grip with his right, he managed to stay loose and open and wind the 22 pretty solidly although the final pull was lacking the snap he usually has. Still, 39'2" with one hand and 200# bodyweight ain't so terrible. 5th. Big bad JR actually showed some great last snap and went 54'8" for 4th. That would have garnered him 3rd in the Ams! Not bad for a first timer. Aaron again smoothed out some early issues and ended with a final 56'11" and 3rd which left Terry and Bobby to again put on a bit of a show with 65'3" and 71'2" respectively. And Bob's gut didn't even split apart this time so everyone was a winner there.
The Open class turned into a gong show early when Dave L started us off with 89'4". He would later add half a foot to that and what was his reward for an 89'10" throw? 4th! OtherDave even looked pretty solid hitting 81'3" and making it look easy. And that was 6th! Joel was definitely feeling the effects of his back and hip issues as he went 91', which still kept him in 3rd. Matt had a solid lead for most of the event with his first throw of 94'7" but he left the door open for Gord and the man from Calgary took the opportunity to best him by 3 inches and hand Matt what would be his only loss of the day.
The Wee games gave us a bit of a break and Robbie reveled in the magic of the Games providing us with sandwiches while Wilson wandered around in his footie slippers and Matty showed Michelle off. Good thing she's got a good sense of humour. In this crowd it's a necessity. The Open stone was next up and I don't know where Gord found this thing but it looked like a stack of pancakes and weighed in at a solid 17.42#. Thanks, Gord. Alistair started us off and actually had some pretty decent shoves for a new fish with his 25'6" snagging him 5th. Mike edged him out by a whopping 4" for 4th and Paul returned the favour by waiting for his last attempt to beat Kelbert by a monster 3". Wes had consistency on his side, falling into the 27-28" range solidly and taking home 2nd with 27'10". Rob's sole goal for this event was to not do what he did last time and that was throw the open stone about the same distance as the braemar and he accomplished that with a 35'6" and first.
Although the Masters top end wasn't quite that high, their overall average was up a bit from that. JR pretty much standing pushed the pancake out with his shoulder to a respectable enough 21'9". The One Armed Man continued a solid enough performance with his opener and best of 26'10.5". Aaron looked very good here, snapping out a 27'10" that snagged him 3rd in the Ancients class. Terry's second was enough to edge Aaron out of second position by 4" but Bobby was the only guy out over 30 and his 33'3" carried the day. He was a bit off his best pace but he's still hard to beat in the 40+ crowd. Or even the Ams, really.
As soon as the stones show up, you've got to start betting on Matt and Wilson but Gordie surprised everyone by opening at 40'4" with that big pig and taking 2nd and holding onto it. Wilson, Joel and I were spread across a whopping 5" going 39'7", 39'6" and 39'2" respectively for 3rd, 4th and 5th. The boy took first with a standing 45+, then let it loose and took extras to finally get over 50' without fouling and hitting 50'8" as his best. Only 10' ahead of the pack.
Lead light weights are fun. When the handles work anyway and Joel did a great job of making some seriously sweet handles (which I should get him to fire up a couple more, in truth). First timer Lloyd actually showed no small amount of skill here opening at 32 and then extending that to 35'1" and 5th. Better than my first games. By like 7 feet. Alistair also looked very competent with the weight, taking 4th with his 37'3" second attempt. Paul fired out a solid 43'2" and we were gunning for him to nail the 45' mark this time around but the 43' was his best and 3rd. Wes was flirting with 50' but didn't quite have the angle so he had to settle for 49'3" and second. Neither of which looked like it pleased him much. Rob was having a good day, smoothing out his throws and hitting 53'2" for a PR and top spot. A day of PRs is always good.
JR's opener at 33'9" stood as his best effort but he did get to experience the magic of a spectacular foul on his second, so that's always fun. Aaron was close but no cigar to 40', instead settling for 39' and 4th. Terry was gunning for it but his first turn was a bit off so although his 46'3.5" was enough for 3rd, he didn't look happy with it. 50 in Calgary, Terry! Mike's last one had some of the drive forward he was looking for (as much drive as you can get when you're worried about landing on a busted mitt anyway) and he grabbed 2nd with 47'11" and seemed pretty pleased with himself for it. Remember what I said before about Bobby having some issues with the weights? Down 2 fouls again, he stepped up, kept his feet in and nailed 54'1" for the win on his final attempt and shaking his head about it the whole time. 60 is in there. I just want to see it happen.
Davey Roe was off a little but honestly, he does a ton of work for this gams so I never see it generally as his best. Which is why he should always come up to Ft. Ed to play. That's what vacation is for, Dave! Anyway, his third was up over 60 at 60'4" and that was 6th. OtherDave (notice I flip between who's who) had opened with 61+ and his second was 62'2" but unfortunately going for it on #3 ended in a foul. 5th for Dave, who was starting to fray at the edges in the heat. Gord Walsh hasn't been practicing a whole lot this year but still constantly proves why he's always dangerous, especially as he easily qualifies for the Masters. 63'10" and 4th. I waited for my last throw to listen to Mikey G's advice to "Skylab" the throw and I'm glad I listened at all as I ended with a season's best of 65'4" which just barely edged Joel's 65'3". Although I gave him a bit of a hard time about it, I know picking on Joel when he's injured is pretty much the only chance I have in beating him in anything. When he gets healthy again, it'll be business as usual. The boy put on a show for this one. You can tell when he's comfortable throwing because he REALLY opens up. And the results are spectacular. He was hunting for a best and he got it with a final throw that EXPLODED out of his hand to a whopping 79'3". Which, for those paying attention, meant he crushed the rest of us by over 14'. I still swear he can be world champ if he starts actually training with this stuff.
Light hammer wasn't quite the show the heavy was, as most of us were getting tired and hot by this point. 6th through third in the Ams was a tight prospect, covering only 6' total from 60'9", 61'2", 65'6" and 66'11" going to Lloyd, Mike, Alistair and Paul respectively. And most of those were 1st round shots. Wes opened with 83'2" as his best and that got him 2nd, yet again. He was bridesmaid pretty much all day. Rob fouled the first and then PR'd an 86'9" out there to snag top honours again. This is good stuff. Wes needed someone to push him anyway.
The One Armed Bandit broke the 50' barrier with 52'11" and then JR was next up with a 7' jump to 60'3". Aaron opened up that gap another 15' to snag 3rd with 75'11". But I still remember, Aaron. I remember 90'. Practice! Terry lobbed out a casual-looking (all of Terry's throws look casual, though) 82'6" for second and Bob plowed out a big 92'1" for the win and close to a season's best, I believe.
Hammer throwers come straight from the school of "explode at the end and that's it" which doesn't always work for the scottish hammer but Wilson did pretty respectable with his 96'3" best for the day. PR? Maybe? Close, if nothing else. I honestly felt bad for Davey. He can't BUY 100'. Two shots over 99' and he has to settle for 99'4". A season's best but damn. Granted, if he ever breaks the barrier, I'm still going to tell everyone it was like 99'27" or something. I couldn't find my power position at all so 107'1" was all I could muster and that netted me 5th. Again. Laidlaw got me by a solid foot with 108'1" and Joel edged him by half that distance. 108'7". This time, Gord was in the lead with 118'1" until Matt's last throw where he got a bit more into it and hit 119'8". But considering we've seen him up at 128, that's a might off the pace.
The two cabers we had to play with were 21' and 65# and 22' and 92#. The Ams and Masters got the smaller one and we got to play with the hideously fresh and horridly tall one. None of the Ams managed it, even Robbie and his goofy 2 step and flail about pull couldn't manage to get it done but I was seriously impressed with the control these guys, especially the new guys, had with the caber. It was a dry day and an old stick and they treated her right. They can handle their sticks. (insert obvious vocation jokes here). The Masters have a couple of ringers in there in the form of Terry and Bobby and both of these guys are caber masters in more than one sense of the word. First round saw both of them turn it but Terry's was a thing of beauty, just off the mark at 12:10. Bobby's was a solid pull but needed just a bit more forward speed to beat Terry. 1:15 was his best and the only event he dropped to Terry. To top it off, he even got the joy of standing up the big one for the Open class. Lucky guy.
On the Open side, we were all game but only Matt had the wheels to slap the thing over. Matt's kind of funny with the caber. His first shot usually goes over because he's not thinking. Then the second attempt comes by and his brain gets in the way. Then third attempt and he gets mad and gets it done again and usually better. 12:30 and the win there.
The crowd was tired, the athletes were tired, the beer tent was calling and we still had the WOB to go. 10' saw all the Masters but JR pass and so Wes and Paul slapped it over on the first. And so did JR. Easy. 11' comes up and Wes and Paul are out. I come in for practice and almost leave it out front and Davey Roe joins me. JR slams this one over even better and we think we've found his event. Terry's up and WAY over and so we go to 12. And look at that, JR slams it over again and is rewarded with an even HIGHER goal. Not bad for a 50 year old first timer. All the Masters come in and they're all over but Gilpin decides to take all 3 shots to do it and sweat some bullets. Robbie Young waited until 12 then decided to choke, earning himself a slight mocking and a no height. Wilson, me and both Daves are up and over, so now we go to 13'. JR's game and has some good attempts but has to settle for 12' and a hell of an ending to a very nice first day. Gotta love the new guys. Terry and Bobby are over in 1 and Mike takes 2. Maybe he wanted some practice or something? Aaron gets close but is denied. On the Open class, Davey L is bagged and he looks at me and says "If you make this..." in an exhausted voice, so I decide to put the nail in the coffin and get it done in 1. Joel joins me, and Gord takes 2 to get it done. Efficiency was the name of the game today as we were getting greasy. I love fixed bars. Davey Roe decided that practice is good, so he waits until #3 to clear the bar. Dave and Wilson take their three but can't quite muster enough.
I'm ready for like 13'2" but I'm overruled and we end up at 14'. I've got nothing for that this year, so I'm out. Fear of being tied with me in the WOB makes Joel dig deep on his third to get it over and he looks as happy to be done as the rest of us. Gord and Dave join me in the "didn't make it" crowd and now we wait for Matty, as he's managed to leave it out front twice which means he's staring last place in the face. Not that it would affect his overall placing, but it's still pretty funny if it happens. He kind of blows it away on the third and puts the final touches on the day.
Our winners were more or less obvious in every category with Bob, Rob and Matt taking the top spots. The rest of the monkeys fought it out in every class and it was fairly tight after that. Sorta. I won't go into detail about the progression of the evening but suffice it to say that Wilson's stories are reason enough to hit the ceilidh after. HUGE thanks to High River for hosting us again and now it's time for Calgary and the end of season.
2008 Gallery
2008 Video
Results
| Masters Class |
| Athlete | Braemar Stone(24.6#) | 42# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Open Stone(17.42#) | 28# WFD | 16#
Hammer | 21'65#
Caber | 42# WOB | Points |
| Bob Brown | 26'4" | 35'9" | 71'2" | 33'3" | 54'1" | 92'1" | 13' | 1:15 | 9.5 |
| Terry Hunt | 21'7" | 31'4" | 65'3" | 20'2" | 46'3.5" | 82'6" | 13' | 12:10 | 16.5 |
| Mike Gilpin | 21'8" | 30'11" | 39'2" | 26'10.5" | 47'11" | 52'11" | 13' | NT | 28 |
| Aaron Andronyk | 21'4" | 27'2" | 56'11" | 27'10" | 39' | 75'11" | 12' | NT | 29.5 |
| JR | 20'2" | 22'11" | 54'1" | 21'9" | 33'9" | 60'3" | 12' | NT | 36.5 |
| Amateur Class |
| Athlete | Braemar Stone(24.6#) | 56# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Open Stone(17.42#) | 28# WFD | 16#
Hammer | 21'65#
Caber | 56# WOB | Points |
| Rob Young | 31'5" | 27'11" | 66'3" | 35'6" | 53'2" | 86'9" | NH | NT | 14 |
| Wes Radstaak | 22'6" | 23'4" | 66'2" | 27'10" | 49'3" | 83'2" | 10' | NT | 18 |
| Paul Kuefler | 20'4" | 21'8" | 52'8" | 26'1" | 43'2" | 66'11" | 10' | NT | 24 |
| Mike Kelbert | 24'11" | 19' | 49'8" | 25'10" | 34'7" | 61'2" | NH | NT | 33 |
| Alistair Denton | 19'1" | 18'7" | 39'7.5" | 25'6" | 37'3" | 65'6" | NH | NT | 38 |
| Lloyd Weller | 19'6" | 16'3" | 43'4.5" | 24'1" | 35'1" | 60'9" | NH | NT | 41 |
| Open Class |
| Athlete | Braemar Stone(24.6#) | 56# WFD | 22#
Hammer | Open Stone(17.42#) | 28# WFD | 16#
Hammer | 21'65#
Caber | 56# WOB | Points |
| Matt Doherty | 37'7" | 35'10" | 94'7" | 50'8" | 79'3" | 119'8" | 12:30 | 14' | 9.5 |
| Joel Thiessen | 34'4" | 34'9" | 91' | 39'6" | 65'3" | 108'7" | NT | 14' | 23 |
| Gord Walsh | 29'10" | 30'6" | 94'10" | 40'4" | 63'10" | 118'1" | NT | 13' | 29.5 |
| Sean Langford | 30'5" | 31'9" | 89'4" | 39'2" | 65'4" | 107'1" | NT | 13' | 32.5 |
| Dave Laidlaw | 31' | 31'1" | 89'10" | 35'1" | 62'2" | 108'1" | NT | 12' | 38 |
| Wilson Burnett | 32'5" | 24'10" | 72'11" | 39'7" | 58'7" | 96'3" | NT | 13' | 45 |
| Dave Roe | 26'7" | 30'9" | 81'3" | 34'1" | 60'4" | 99'4" | NT | 13' | 45.5 |
Past Results: