16# ostone - 52'4 / 1st - 53'8 PR on extras
56# wfd - 39'2 / 5th
28# wfd - 84'4 / 1st - fouled a huge extra
56# wob - 16' / 4 way tie @ 2nd
22# hammer - 113'8 / 1st - 116'8 PR on extras
16# hammer - 127'2 / 1st - 132'11 on extras
20# sheaf - 32' / 3rd
19/130 caber - 75deg / 2nd
The bstone felt pretty awful. It was this triangle shaped rock that I just couldn't find a decent hold on it. No excuses when Jon O'Neil takes it 44+ ft though. I've really go to step up my game on braemar. Open was pretty awesome. I had never dreamed of winning ostone in a competition against Gillingham, Betz, O'Neil, Spencer, etc.. Some big stone guys showed up and I brought my game when I needed to. Slowed my entry way down so I could focus on the right leg push in the middle. Very happy with the direction my stones are giong right now.
Hwd was miserable. Looking back at the video I can tell I was casting way too high. I was losing all linear drive and having to counter hard to maintain balance at the finish instead of pushing it down and finishing into the field. Shot myself in the foot there, nobody else to blame. Spencer dropped a sweet 43 footer for the win and went 45+ in extras. He had the 56 moving fast, pretty sweet. Afterwards he informed me my orbit angle was way too high, checked out the video and I agreed. Switched it up on lwd and tried to get a better linear drive. Good 2nd and 3rd throws, but not what I was hoping for. Tore my ring finger callus off on my 3rd attempt. Still took a couple extras anyways and front fouled a really really big one. Oh well, next time.
Wob up next with a huge shadow over me that I needed to shake. Jon helped me a bit on warmups to let me know where the ball was peaking. Keeping my head up as the weight went behind me and also being more patient before exploding. After a couple warmups I felt I had a good trajectory. First up at 14ft I was extremely nervous. Took my toss and boom, way over with good accuracy. This was a huge lift off my chest. Cleared 15 and 16 on first attempts and had 3 very solid attempts at 17. 17 will fall for me this year. Ended up in a 4 way tie for 2nd. Betz smoked 17ft spinning for the win. Very impressive.
Heavy hammer felt amazing. Was doing a great job at keeping the ball on my right side for a very long push into the finish. Fastest I've ever had the heavy moving. First throw was about 1ft shy of a PR. 2nd and 3rd attempts were both PRs and then in extras a huge 6ft pr. Very very happy with how this is shaping up. On the light I got over anxious, tightened up and gassing too early. Rookie mistake. Need to relax, get long and be patient. Was really looking for 140 here today but best I could muster up was 132. Next time.
Up next was sheaf. I'm beginning to enjoy sheaf. I'm also learning that when I want to go 100% on sheaf I just need to relax and keep doing what I was doing. Every time I go for a big height I end up throwing shorter than when I was throwing at lower heights. Cleared 24 and missed my first at 27. Then an easy 27, 30 and 32 with no misses. Bar raised to 33 so Ryan Stewart could shoot for a PR, and a PR he got. Impressive toss and even better celebration. This was an awesome back and forth event. Ended up finishing 3rd. Spencer went out at 24. Francis said he "fluffed" it. Best line of the day.
Caber was pretty big, but not too big. I don't know if caber is my worst event or stones are. Caber is pretty miserable. I am getting better at it though. I REALLY need to get on this and start spending some time with mine. It's going to end up coming to the wire and I'll need a turn to get it done. Went into caber with a 1.5pt lead over Sean Betz for first. The stick was 19' 130lbs and it had just gotten extremely windy. My back had tightened up while waiting for the As to finish caber so I was feeling pretty miserable. All 3 picks felt great. It's that run and pull part afterwards that's terrible. Mustered up a 45, 70 and 75 which put me in 2nd for the event. I think Sean had two 75s and a 70 so he took first, though I really can't remember. This stick was turnable, so much so that Adam Brezina turned it. Mad props for man-handling that caber and even moreso for doing it in the 100mph winds we were getting. I wouldn't be surprised if Adam wound up with McKim's reputation one day with regards to caber. It was impressive seeing him turn it after all of us didn't.
Finished 1st overall by 1/2 point edging out Mr Betz. I had a great time throwing with everyone: Chad, Jeremy, Jon, Ryan, Sean, Beau and Spencer. Afterwards Jeremy, Jon, Ryan, Sean, Steve Conway and myself went out to "El Pinto" in Albuquerque for some mexican cuisine. While the food was delicious, if you have any kind of timeline to adhere, stay away from this place. Service was pretty awful and it took ages to get our checks, pay and leave. That was really the only downside of my entire trip. Much thanks to Steve for judging us all day, as well as the shaggers and markers that helped out. Thanks to Shawn Baker for having the pro class out and treating us well. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes that made this all run so smooth. I had a great time and am really looking forward to coming back next year.
Hats off to my fellow teammates of Stewart & Torgerson Strength Athletics. Both Adam Brezina and Jacob Nicol pulled off a sweet 1st place victory in their respective classes, A and LW. They're both shaping up to be awesome throwers and I look forward to sharing the field with them as Pros some day. Also a shout-out to my training partner Eddie Brown for keeping up in the A class and taking second behind Adam, on his heels all day. Some serious potential in his 6'5 280lb frame.
Thanks to my wife for being so supportive and taking care of our youngsters at home while giving me the opportunity to throw with the giants at ABQ. Thanks to SportKilt for the kilt that makes me look outrageously fantastic on the field and a huge thanks to Tod Stewart (1800ourlawyer.com) and his love for the sport for continuing to sponsor the team giving us the opportunity to travel around to these games and have a good time without friends, advancing our throwing carreer.
Up next: Costa Mesa. Throwing against Dan McKim, Jon O'Neil, Rusty Price and another athlete who's name slips my mind right now (and I'm too lazy to go look up). I'm really looking forward to this. I remember watching Rusty at my first A games in Ventura and I enjoyed throwing with him in Sacramento earlier this year. I'm a big fan of Dan McKim so throwing with him is going to be so awesome. Hopefully he'll let me pick his brain so I won't be as terrible at caber as I usually am. I'm expecting him to really push me to the next level and get some prs; I'm going to need them if I stand any kind of chance at the overall. After Costa I'm going to take a solid week of and do nothing but eat steak and ice cream. I haven't had a full deload since my MCL issue back in March before the Phoenix games so I'm in dire need. The plan at this time is to take Monday off, hit legs and throw Tuesday, then throw Wednesday and shut it down. Ice baths from Wednesday night on as well as lots of stretching and recovery work. Hoping to get a little time with each implement before shutting it down for the week.
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