Las Vegas Highland Games Pro Comp
22# bs - 40'9 - 3rd (PR)
16# os - 52'10 - 3rd (PR)
56# wfd - 44'4.5 - 2nd (PR)
28# wfd - 85'2.5 - 2nd
56# wob - 14 - 6th miserable
20# sheaf - 32' - 1st (PR)
22# hammer - 105'9 - 1st - 109+ on extras
16# hammer - 133'7 - 1st
Caber (17'/120#) - 70deg - 6th
Overall 2nd
Finally broke the 40ft barrier on braemar. 2nd toss was over 40 as well but last was 39. Tried to get after it and lost all separation. Fouled my first ostone which put me in a bad position mentall. Hit a 49ft toss on my 2nd throw and that got my confidence up. Relaxed and hit that solid 52ft toss on my 3rd. Very happy with this despite of placing. A good mental competition style breakthrough here so hopefully I can take that into my next games and be more confident with the stone.
Weights were incredible. I took a real easy and relaxed 41ft for my first toss. Then Andy drops one 1.25" farther than me. Haha.. I sped up my second and went 44+. Andy responded with 45 so I knew I really needed to get after it. Juiced the sprint too hard and felt out the left side of the trig so he pulled away with the W. Similar thing happened on lwd. My first was a nice and easy 84ft and Andy's was a few inches farther. Sped up my second and went 85+, Andy responded with 86. I needed to get after it and dropped a bit one out to 87+ but couldn't stop the forward momentum with my left leg and while I didn't step over the trig. My left kept inching out forward, breaking the invisible trig line. Next time Mr. Vincent, next time. haha.
Wob was next. Plenty of height for 15, just not scooping it like I usually do, weight had no backwards travel on it. Such is the result when you never practice it, despite having a setup in your back yard. That's what annoys me the most. Andy went on to kill 18ft on his first attempt then took a LEGIT shot at 18'11 for a new WR. If it was a fixed bar it would've gone over. The handle is what knocked it off. He used up everything on that toss and didn't come near as close on the others. Francis was saying he could request a fixed bar for his extras but I don't think he had the energy in him to take 3 more pulls at that height.
Sheaf up after lunch (stupid rotation imo). Missed 24ft twice and squeaked it over on my 3rd attemped. I think everyone missed their first attempts. Dialing in accuracy was an issue. Finally got it all set and was money at 26, 28, 30 and 32. Took some good shots at 34 and had height on my last one but left it out front. This was a solid PR for me.
Hammers up next. Took me several warmups to loosen my back up. I prefer to do hammers right after weights, before lunch that way there's no issues with getting tight or anything. I can just relax and get after it. With this rotation none of that was happening. Took me 4 attempts at winds before I could even get loose enough to complete all 3 winds without falling over. Was thinking this was going to be a bad day for hammers. I also had in the back of my head that new finish style I was working on on Wednesday. First toss went to 103ish and I was happy with as we were throwing uphill. It wasn't a giant uphill but anybody that's gone to Vegas in the last 3 years will know what I'm talking about. This is def not a PR field for hammers. With the new style my low point kept drifting left on my 3rd wind which was making me late on my finish. I was hitting the position that I wanted but was late on them. I took some extras, not for pr but moreso to work on that finish and dropped a solid one out to 109+ (which didn't get recorded for some reason). Moving into light hammer my first was 127ish or so and way out to the left side of the field. Again, late on the finish because the ball drifting on 3. I've got an idea on how to fix this and will be playing with it in training this week. Finished up with a best at 133 but 5/6 over 130 on this field and I was pretty happy. I'm definitely getting setup for some big hammers in the near future.
Last up: Caber. 17'/120# stick with little taper. This really wasn't a bad stick, but it was 530pm and I was exhausted. I should've grabbed something to eat and some caffeine but I just went into it. Bad idea. On the first pick I remember thinking to myself, this isn't going to happen, I don't have the energy. Took a half ass attempt and went 60 degrees. Blegh.. second one the wind kicked up on me and I spent so much time trying to recover it that I ended up just laying it down in frustration.. then went and laid down on the field until it was my turn again. 3rd attempt I remember psyching myself up for a big pull. Pick went well, drive went well but there just wasn't anything behind my pull. No excuses here, I just didn't have the WIM.
Andy took a well deserved 1st after snagging a few sweet PRs. His performance on the caber was incredible. He had it past 90 degrees before the top even hit the ground. Was awesome. Mike Dickens hit a sweet PR of 32ft on the sheaf as well, that was pretty awesome. Threw with Ryan Stewart, Doug Steiger, Kearney Smith, Jon Odden and John O'Neil. Oh yeah, Jon O'Neil went 55+ on the Ostone that looked effortless as shit. That was pretty sweet looking. Had a lot of fun with this group and I'm really enjoying my short tenure thus far in the Pro group. Looking forward to Sacramento this next weekend coming up. This was a big games for me in the sense of consistency. This confirmed to me (and others I hope) that my performance in Phoenix wasn't a fluke. I've got some solid marks to improve on and I hope to be a heavy hitter in the near future. Still more work to do, as if it will ever end, lol.
Thanks to my Mrs for coming up to the Vegas with me and cheering me on with our 3 month old boy. Thanks to Tod Stewart of Stewart & Torgersen Injury Law for helping me out with travel expenses and his support. Thanks to Sport Kilt for the sweet threads the entire Sullivan gang is now wearing, New World Celts ftw.
Now it's back to training, and I need to get this spinal erector thing fixed. Some annoying pains going on that have reached their nuisance threshold. Going to see a MT this week and get it worked on. No video of this weekend, it was windy all day so keeping a tripod up wasn't in my priorities.
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