Alberta Scottish Athletics Association Results For Red Deer

Red Deer Highland Games Results for June 21, 2008

The Scoop!

Ah, Red Deer. First and oldest of our ASAA modern era games. As is fairly typical of Red Deer, we had some overcast action and a bit of the thunder going on the night before but morning came up promising to be sunny and hot. Which was one of the few hot things on the field. But more on that later. With a drought of sorts happening in the Am class, we slapped up both of the Ams and Masters in the morning and let the dogs slip. We had an illegal 16.9# stone to start the day off and actually it was young Connor Longjohn who took an early lead in the Ams with an all-shoulder-but-snappy-as-hell 31'2.5" which he would later extend to 31'5". The Kuefler Boys need to learn that punch not push stuff but they ended with respectable enough 26'11.5" and 23'8" shots in order of birth. Big Wes saved his best for last and hammered out 31'9" to take the lead when he needed it.

Aaron and Mikey G joined up with Terry and Bob to round out our ever fleshing out Masters class. Mike showed up a bit late but as he was putting out fires all night, the boys decided to let him catch up after the 42. As it stood, Aaron's 27'0.5" snagged him 4th, Terry edged over 30' by an inch for 3rd and Mike's second throw got him second at 31'2". This was the Bob Brown show though as none of his were under 34' and he ended at 35'2". I know he was looking forward to going toe to toe with Mike Staal but Mike had the call of work for the morning.

The HW continued our little road show with the 56 and 42 respectably. Wes made short work of the Am class being the only guy over 20' at 23'5" but it was an ugly pull and it would end up spazzing his back for the weekend. Being mostly dumb though, he powered through. Connor dropped a few places being used to the 42 and he ended with a 17'7". Not too bad for a kid who doesn't train though and after a restart when he busted the handle. Joey K would edge him by 4" for 17'11" and big brother Paul snagged Joe by an even 2'. On the Masters end, Aaron did his best to make the 42 look really heavy by snagging 23'9" which is something like a foot under his best 56. Sweet. Mike's first on that was actually his first throw of the day, sans warmups and it was 30'2". Terry got a great long pull on his second to lob out a solid 33'4" for a season's best but again, it was all Bob as his last one got the lift he was looking for and sailed a whopping 39' for a new PR. Beautiful.

Continuing the hate we went into the 22# hammer which Wes took one ugly pull on as his back continued to seize and the 60' shot he was disappointed in would STILL get him top spot. Joe has some pretty methodical winds and if we can get his legs into it, it should still get some better sailing but not too bad this early in his career at 49'2". Connor would fight out a 55' throw that Paul managed to beat on his next throw with 56'6" for second spot. The Masters faired better with Aaron hitting a disappointing (for him) 62'9.5", Terry getting some more oomph on toss #3 for a 65'2" and Mike remembering that his body extends all the way and going 66'6". Bobby B anyone? Top dog here too with 72'10.5". Bob was the star of Red Deer, both throwing and afterward. More on that later.

The light weight had everyone a bit more excited after the hammer and Joey K started us off with a 27'10.5" throw he would later up to 29'7". Third was Paul about 8' ahead of his sibling with 38'1". I know Paul's using Joe as motivation too. I mean noone wants to be waxed by their "little" brother. Even if the brother in question is a mountain of a man. Connor used his trademark single spin and big snap to nail 40'6" on his last one to take second and even gooned up and injured, Wes floated out a 43'5". Considering how often I've seen him at 49+, though, I know it wasn't what he was looking for.

Mastery abounded with the 28 and Aaron starting off with a 37'6.5". He would add an inch to that to end. Terry pulled an easy and respectable 45'3" on his last one for a seasons best he looked pretty happy with. Mike had all three throws within 3" of each other and his best at 46'11". Again, good for a guy who hadn't slept in 24 hours and who doesn't get nearly the time to practice he would like. Are you seeing a pattern yet? That's right, Bobby was top dog and WAY out in front with 56'3". And he had the audacity to look cheesed about it. Granted, that's what happens when you're throwing up to 3' further in practice.

More cowbell, err hammer, as we did the light. Wes was going to take just one pull but he was forced to do 2 just to keep himself ahead and 70'5" would be enough for that. Connor was hot on his heals with 69' even and both Kueflers were over 60' with Joe at 62'5" (PR?) and Paul at 66'11". To be fair, they only had 2 rounds in the interests of time. A bit more mixing in the Masters class with Aaron in 4th at 74'7", Terry getting a smooth pull out to 84'3" and Mike popping out 82'8" for 3rd. Yeah. That guy won again. A season's best 94'4" is what Bob cranked out with 2 turns. Just off his PR. Pretty.

How many years have we had this caber now? Only 16'5" and a massive 80#, this thing should be candy. But the lack of taper and the funny warp in the middle of it makes it roll off your shoulders and otherwise get ahead of you. This thing would end up frustrating all but 3 guys. Paul would be the only Am to turn it for a 1:10 on his first. Terry took second in the Masters with a 12:08 (yep, Al was judging) and Bob continued his domination with 11:56.

The slovenly Open class began warming up as the weight for height began. Wes could barely walk at this point but had to clear a height to keep the lead and on his second toss, he nailed his 10' to tie for 3rd with Connor. Both the Kueflers would kill 10' on their first goes bu Paul dug deep on his third at 11' to clear the Standards of Denial and keep little brother back in second. With the dust settled, Wes hung on to top honours for the day by 3 points over Paul, who was again 3 points over Connor. Joe rounded out the field at 4th.

The Masters all had their go juice going for this one as they all cleared 13' with varied attempts. Aaron would have the most misses but reasonable attempts at 14'. Terry and Bobby had their little turns in front, under and into the bar. And Mike's first one plowed hard with the other two either falling short or leading up front. He took a 4th for his own sanity and it went over. Doesn't count but at least he gets to think about it for a long time. Not shockingly to anyone by this point, Bob handily won the whole mess with Terry edging out Mike by a whole half point due to the caber. Aaron rounded out the rest of the Master's class. Bobby celebrated with a beverage or two and the decision was made to hand the microphone over to him for the afternoon and the hijinx ensued from there. 11 guys we had for the afternoon and the traditional 7 events and let me just say this: with the exception of a couple performances, things LOOKED beautiful but sailed like there was a gravity storm in the area. We were underwhelming to say the least.

Matty couldn't set any records with the stone we had for Red Deer, but he was still the guy to beat way out at 51'7.5". Actually, all 3 of his throws were over 50', so there's something to be said for consistency. JJ would take second with a STANDING 46'5". Crazy. Talk about improvement. Fortunately for most of the guys in Canada, when he starts to move it all goes wrong. Joel's back hasn't been saying kind things about him and it isn't helping his throwing any but he still got enough under him to take 3rd with 43'5". He wasn't happy with the throw but was still having a good time. Actually, lots of guys were shocked to see him smile. And I TOLD you guys he had human emotions and stuff! Gord Walsh and I were the only other guys over 40' with 41'5.5" and 40'5.5" respectively. Noone was terribly impressed right then and Bob had no problems reminding us of that.

The horrors of the 56 were up next and this was a total smoke show. Noone was anywhere near their PRs with even JJ throwing a sub-par (for him!) 38'4.5". But at least he thanked Red Deer "City by the bay". Joel was next with 34'11.5" but at least he could claim injury. All Davey Roe claimed was 3rd place as he under-arm tossed himself a 33'1" lob. Matt claimed lack of touching the implement for his less than inspiring 33' in fourth place. Al MacFarlane actually got his legs under him and lifted that thing out to 32'11" which was at least within a reasonable distance of his best. And considering a 2007 riddled with injury, and little to no practice I think it's a winner.

Continuing our dominance of nothing and the steady stream of abuse at the verbal stylings of Bob Brown, we moved into the LW. It must be nice to be big JJ and have your off days mean that you're going 76'6" with that thing. Matt was the only other guy over 70' at 70'7" but trust me, we all LOOKED fantastic. But you could tell the minute you let go of that thing that it wasn't MOVING anywhere. Ugh. Joel T had a reasonable enough 67'10". Reasonable if you haven't seen the sunny side of 80 before anyway. Davey R continued to shine in the weights, snagging 4th with 63'3". Remember when we used to be over 65, Dave? Al again snagged 5th as the only other guy over 60'. No, that isn't a typo.

Hammers were up and this was some pedestrian stuff. Joel at least took home a couple of seasons bests with 97'3"/120'7" which would get him first and second respectively. JJ was the shining star on the light hammer after going 96'10" in the HH for second, he CRUSHED out a monstrous 128'11" on his first for a 7' PR and an absolutely monstrous throw. Pure awesome. Matty went 3rd/3rd with that crazy running start of his at 95'3"/114'8" after some initial struggles with the light. Gord was 4th in both with 90'2"/113'6", so definitely off the pace for him and Dave Laidlaw took 5th in both of his new favorite events with 88'10"/112'4" for a PR in the light hammer. The rest of us stunk the place up but at least I don't have to live in a world where Dave Roe beats me in the hammer. It was touch and go for a bit though. Let me tell you, this wasn't the PRfest that 2007 was for the hammers in Red Deer.

You know...when you get a pile of decent throwers together with a 19'5.5", 103.2# caber, you actually expect a show. Heck, you kind of expect something of a shootout. So we were all pretty stunned when not only did the feeble looking stick not break, it wouldn't turn either! It had just enough rot to it that it warped when you pulled it and so you almost always ended with a dead stick. Oy. Even cheating and throwing it into the little rut around the field didn't help. And trust me, we tried. We did some degrees but that stuff's shameful so I'm not going to list it. Besides, Mike was half-cut and on no sleep for side judging anyway.

The WOB! At last. Burned, tired, frustrated we all marched into this one as best we could. Suffice it to say most of us got past 13' with out much trouble but 14' was too much for all but 3. A further testament to the gravity field in Red Deer as several more of us should have been up for the task. JJ cleared 16' on his first and Matt took 3 shots at it. After going 17' two weeks earlier. Sheesh. They both decided on 16'9" for a field record and PR for JJ if it happened. Which it didn't. Par for the day, sadly.

Despite the guys having worked hard, Red Deer was almost a let down from the performances. Ah well, sometimes you get the bear...

Davey Laidlaw took 5th overall on the basis of raw consistency and hammer prowess with Gord Walsh being just a bit out of form but claiming 4th. Third was Joel T but I have faith that he will heal up and be a terror at nationals and JJ took Matt pretty handily but again, I expect much bigger things from the pair of them in Antigonish. As for the rest of us? Hang your heads in sham, gentlemen. We can do better.

All the best to Al MacFarlane who returns east in search of greener (wetter?) pastures! Great having him be part of the gang.

2008 Gallery

Bobby pulling down some of the Power of Grayskull.	Master Mikey taking Delore's advice about throwing with the gunz.
Paul, showing the weight who the Captain is.	Al MacFarlane will make you believe a man can fly.
How would you like THAT running at you in battle?	Blocking himself a little but looking pretty good.

2008 Video

Results

Masters Class
Athlete	Open Stone(16.9#)	42# WFD	28# WFD	22# Hammer	16# Hammer	16'4" 80# Caber	42# WOB	Points
Bob Brown	35'2"	39'	55'8"	72'10.5"	94'4"	11:56	13'	8
Terry Hunt	30'1"	33'4"	45'3"	65'2"	84'3"	12:08	13'	17
Mike Gilpin	31'2"	30'2"	46'11"	66'6"	82'8"	NT	13'	17.5
Aaron Andronyk	27'0.5"	23'9"	37'7.5"	62'9.5"	74'7"	NT	13'	27.5

Amateur Class
Athlete	Open Stone(16.9#)	56# WFD	28# WFD	22# Hammer	16# Hammer	16'4" 80# Caber	56# WOB	Points
Wes Radstaak	31'9"	23'5"	43'5"	60'	70'5"	NT	10'	11
Paul Kuefler	26'11.5"	19'11"	38'1"	56'6"	66'11"	1:10	11'	15
Connor Longjohn	31'5"	17'7"	40'6"	55'	69'	NT	10'	19
Joe Kuefler	23'8"	17'11"	29'7"	49'2"	62'5"	NT	10'	24

Open Class
Athlete	Open Stone(16.9#)	56# WFD	28# WFD	22# Hammer	16# Hammer	19'5.5" 103.4# Caber	56# WOB	Points
Jason Johnston	46'5"	38'4.5"	76'6"	96'10"	128'11"	85*	16'	9
Matt Doherty	51'7"	33'	70'7"	95'3"	114'8"	80*	16'	17
Joel Thiessen	43'5"	35'11.5"	67'10"	97'3"	120'7"	68*	14'	19
Gord Walsh	41'5.5"	28'6"	60'2.5"	90'2"	113'6"	75*	13'	34
Dave Laidlaw	38'3"	30'	58'5"	88'10"	112'4"	70*	13'	40
Sean Langford	40'5.5"	30'2"	59'2"	81'1"	99'6"	57*	13'	46
Dave Roe	35'4"	33'1"	63'3"	78'9"	97'5"	55*	13'	48
Mike Staal	35'	25'3.5"	55'10"	87'6"	104'2"	60*	13'	54
Joe Taylor	35'3"	29'7"	57'	86'	108'10"	50*	13'	55
Al MacFarlane	36'5"	32'11"	60'	69'5"	89'7"	53*	13'	60
Dan Gossen	37'6"	22'10.5"	54'3"	78'8"	99'5"	45*	NH	80

Past Results:

2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

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