Kyle Lillie lit up the Las Vegas Highland Games with a performance that included an amateur world record in the 22-lb. Braemar stone.




2018 Las Vegas Highland Games
by Francis Brebner
President, International Highland Games Federation (IHGF)
 
The 14th annual Las Vegas Highland Games attracted large numbers of entries in the novice, women, masters and amateur men A, B and C divisions, a total of 110 athletes over the two days of competition. As the third leg of the IHGF All-American Highland Games qualifying series, the top amateur men’s athlete would qualify for a spot at the IHGF All-American Highland Games Championships, hosted at the Wichita Highland Games in mid-September.
 
Ten athletes competed in the A group, including Kyle Lillie, Anthony Clinker, Sean Burns, Mike Baltren, Sean Smith, Garret Gardner, Zack Hernandez, James Rude, Jason Spraggins, and Brandon Lewis.
 
The highlight of the competition was a new world record in the 22-lb. Braemar stone set by Lillie, of Phoenix, Arizona. Lillie was unloading bombs in the warmup, and he looked in great shape at 320-lb., ready for action. The world record in this event was 46’ 2” held by Andy Vincent, and Lillie in competition first produced a best of 46’ 1”, just 1” short of the record. On his extra attempts, Lillie adopted the power position and, with a mighty roar, blasted the 22-lb. stone a magical distance of 46’ 10” for the world record. Second place was Burns with 40’ 9”, and third Clinker at 37’ 8-1/2”.
 
In the 16-lb. open stone, Lillie continued with an amazing series of world-class throws all over 55’ ending with a personal best of 56’ 11”. Burns followed in second at 47’, with Clinker in third at 44’ 1”.
 
Lillie lobbed a throw of 37’ 10” in the 56-lb. weight for distance to secure the win. Baltren was second with 35’ 3”, and Clinker again third at 32’ 9”.
 
In the 28-lb. weight for distance, Lillie produced a string of throws all over 80’ with a best of 81’ 5” for the win. Second was Smith at 70’ 6” and third Clinker at 63’.

Continuing his winning streak, Lillie pulled out 105’ 3” in the 22-lb. hammer for top place, with Burns doing 94 ’9” for second, and Clinker, persistent in third place, at 89’ 3”.

Lillie upped the ante in the 16-lb. hammer with a spectacular throw of 131’ for the win, followed by Burns at 120’ 9” and Clinker at 112’ 4”.

The 56-lb. weight over bar was impressive as Lillie topped out at a world-class height of 17’ 3” for the win. Clinker jumped into second at 15’ and third was a tie between Baltren and Rude.
 
The caber, at 18’ and 125 lb., was won by Clinker with a perfect 12:00. Lillie was second with a toss of 12:01, followed by third-place Spraggins with 11:55.

In the final event, the 20-lb. sheaf over bar, Lillie dominated at a height of 29’. Second place was a four-way tie at 24’ between Burns, Baltren, Gardner, and Rude.
 
Overall places
1. Kyle Lillie
2. Anthony Clinker
3. Sean Burns
4. Mike Baltren
5. Sean Smith
6. Garret Gardner
7. Zack Hernandez
8. James Rude
9. Jason Spraggins
10. Brandon Lewis
 
Athletic director Jacob Darling of the Las Vegas Highland games was happy to see the high number of overall entries—"the many novice and junior athletes taking part for the first time was fantastic,” and he thanked judges Michelle Crownhart and Art Hobson for keeping the games running smoothly.
 
The next qualifier in the IHGF All-American series is at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival & Wichita Highland Games, in Wichita, Kansas.

Picture of Kyle breaking the world record, picture taken by myself , IHGF picture

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