|
An athlete tosses the 16-pound light hammer during the Highland Games held June 28.
Star Photo By MELISSA CAMPBELL
|
Before the start of the 2008 Alaskan Scottish Highland Games athletic events chairman Tim Kincaid had said this year's field of competitors would be one of the better ones in the history of the event. True to form, the list of invited athletes supplied multiple records during the June 28 games at Eagle River's Lions Park.
“There were all kinds of records broken that day,” Kincaid said.
In five of the six events, not including the caber toss, new records were set.
Overall winner Larry Brock, of Charlotte, N.C., set new marks in the 16-pound hammer toss, the 22-pound hammer and the 28-pound weight for distance.
Brock, who bettered the previous mark in the weight for distance by 5-1/2 inches over Harrison Bailey III's 2006 mark of 83 feet, 3-1/2 inches, was given an additional throw for the crowd's benefit and eclipsed his own mark by nearly four feet, reaching a distance of 87 feet, 7 inches.
Andrew Hobson, of Tempe, Ariz., the 2007 games winner, set a record in the 56-pound weight for height, one of the more dangerous events, clearing the bar at 15 feet, 6-1/2 inches, to beat the record set by James Parman, of San Marcos, Texas, also set in 2006, by a half inch.
Bailey, the 2006 overall winner, set a record in the 56-pound weight for distance, beating his own mark by nearly a foot with a heft of 43 feet, 2 inches. He was then offered an additional toss, going 44 feet, 11-1/2 inches.
Records were not limited to the professionals. Jason Barkeymeyer, of Eagle River, set a new mark in the Farmer's Walk, carrying a pair of 173-pound weights 457 feet, 3 inches. The previous record had been 432 feet, 5 inches — by professional athlete Joel Thiessen, of Chilliwack, British Columbia. That mark was also broken by Zack Easter, of Wasilla, with a distance of 439 feet, 3 inches.
Interestingly, Easter beat Barkemeyer in overall points, 38-31, to claim the men's open title and distinction as the Top Alaskan athlete. Former professional entrant, Eric Wechter of Canby, Ore., placed third in the men's open title.
David Patterson, of Anchorage, set a new record in the Master's Division, over 45 years old, for the 16-pound hammer, with a length of 94 feet, 9-3/4 inches, beating his old mark of 2004, by nearly ten inches.
It was unfortunate that Alaska's only invited professional David Thomson was unable to juggle work obligations in order to compete in this year's event, but the number of competitors were up, Kincaid said.
“We had 15 guys in the men's open event, and seven in the women's division,” he said. “Both are high marks, at least in recent years.”
Kincaid said that the overcast skies made for good conditions for the athletes.
“It wasn't too hot — it was perfect,” said Kincaid.
