The Phoenix Highland Games was marked by both field and world records, and A-division winner Sean Burns qualified for the IHGF All-American Highland Games Championships later this year.

2019 Phoenix Scottish Games: World and Field Records Galore
by Francis Brebner
President, International Federation of Highland Games (IHGF)
 
The Phoenix Scottish Games celebrated its 55th year of consecutive games with a lineup of 120 athletes across several classes, and ground and world records were crushed over the two days of heavy competition. The A division was the second leg in the IHGF All-American Highland Games series and included a stacked group with Sean Burns, Chad Thompson, Bryan Staggs, Matthew Steele, Sean Smith, Mike Baltren, Zach Hernandez, Jackson Reeves, Filippo Lovotti, Nathan Estes  and Justin Moore.
 
The 22-lb. Braemar stone put was a close competition between two top athletes, finally won by Burns with a putt of 38’ 4”, with Reeves second at 37’ 5” and Smith third at 36’ 7”.
 
In the 16-lb. open stone, Burns again took the win comfortably with a best of 47’ 2”. The fight for second could not have been closer, with Reeves pulling off 46’ 9-1/2” over Smith’s 46’ 7”.
 
Thompson was the only athlete to throw over 70’ in the 28-lb. weight for distance, winning with a best of 72’ 10-1/2”. He was followed by Baltren at 70’ 1-1/2”, with Smith in third at 67’ 6-1/4”.
 
Baltren pulled out a series of throws all over 35’ in the 56-lb. weight for distance, with a best of 35’ 6-1/2” for the victory after a hard-fought battle with Thompson, who placed second with 34’ 11-1/4”. Staggs took third with 32’ 5”.
 
The 22-lb. hammer was epic as Smith and Burns went back and forth in every round with Smith finally claiming the win at a distance of 89’ 9-1/2”. An inch behind was Burns with 89’ 8-1/2”, and Thompson followed with 88’ 1/2”.
 
Smith notched up another victory in the 16-lb. hammer with a throw of 116’ 4-3/4”, with Thompson a few feet behind  at 112’ 2-1/4”. Hernandez was third at 108’ 6”.
 
The 56-lb. weight over bar was an impressive show by Burns, who cleared 15’ 6” for the win. Thompson was second with 15’ and third place at 14’ was a three-way tie between Steele, Staggs and Baltren.
 
Burns reigned supreme in the 20-lb. sheaf toss, winning with a height of 32’ and setting a new field record. Staggs cleared 30’ for second and Thompson was third at 27’.
 
The caber toss was the final event and up for grabs was the IHGF All-American Caber Tossing Championships; the stats on the caber were 20’ 2” and 89 lb. Steele claimed the win and title with a 12:15 toss; second was Thompson with 11:30 and third Burns with 11:20.
 
Overall placings
1. Sean Burns 25
2. Chad Thompson 27
3. Sean Smith 43
4. Mike Baltren 43.5
5. Zach Hernandez 44
6. Jackson Reeves 51.5
7. Bryan Staggs 53.5
8. Matthew Steele 66.5
9. Filippo Lovotti   69
10. Nathan Estes 73.5
11. Justin Moore 97.5
 
Burns will join John Anthony at the finals of the IHGF All-American Highland Games Championships at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival in September.
 
In the second leg of the Woman’s IHGF All-American qualifier, athletes consisted of Christena Georgas Burns, Felicia Baker Baltren, Ashley Weber, Christine Holtgrewe, Sefra Wilson, Jennifer McClain, Anitra Sopronyi, and Gretchen Hall.  
                
In 13-lb. Braemar stone, Burns showed great form with a putt of 31’ 3” for first place and a field record. Weber pulled ahead for second place over Baltren, 29’ 1” to 27’ 10-1/2”.
In the 9-lb. open stone, Burns garnered her second field record with a putt of 38’ 10”. Weber followed at 37’ 5-1/2” with Baltren third at 33’ 10”.
 
The 14-lb. weight for distance was a close match with Weber pulling out the win at of 67’ 8”, Baltren on second at 65’ 8” and Burns third at 63’ 6-1/2”.
 
Baltren produced hail of class throws in the 28-lb. weight for distance, with a top distance of 39’ 5”, upping that to 40’ 3-1/2” on extra attempts. Weber did 33’ 10-1/2” and Holtgrewe 31’ 3” for second and third respectively.

In the hammers, Baltren was in a realm of her own, dominating in the 12-lb. hammer with a new field record of 105’ 3’. In second was Weber at 87’ 4-1/2” and third Wilson at 83’ 8”.
In the 16-lb. hammer, Felica lashed out a massive throw of 83’ for the win and another field record. Weber followed at 67’ 9” and Wilson was third at 64’ 4”.

In the 28-lb. weight over bar, Wilson and Baltren tied at 14’, and third place was a three-way tie at 12’ between Weber, Holtgrewe and Burns.  
 
Baltren and Holtgrewe each cleared 23’ in the 10-lb. sheaf over the bar, with the win going to Baltren on countback for her third field record. Third place was a tie at 21’ between Sopronyi and Burns.

With a tough caber of 15’ and 55-lb., scoring was by degrees, with best attempt of 65 degrees from Baltren; Weber was second at 50 degrees and Holtgrewe third with 45 degrees.
 
Overall placings
1. Felicia Baker Baltren
2. Ashley Weber
3. Christena Georgas Burns
4. Christine Holtgrewe
5. Sefra Wilson
6. Anitra Sopronyi
7. Jennifer McClain  
8. Gretchen Hall 
 
Baltren was on top form with the hammers, setting two new field records and has set a future goal in breaking the hammer world records. Weber will join Baltren at the finals of the IHGF All American Highland Games Championships at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival in September.
 
In all, the games were fantastic. A total of 15 ground records and 5 world records were established between the categories. This year’s lightweight class was exciting to watch as top lightweight Karl Gehrke battled against tough opposition from rookie Peter Doyle, who put up a fantastic all-round performance to edge Gehrke for the win by a few points and also set a world record in the 42-lb. weight over the bar at a height of 19’ 1”. Doyle, who only started competing at the end of last year, has a great future ahead of him if he continues on the path of Highland games.
 
In the woman’s lightweight class, Mikaela Sullivan and Jarvina Routt set a total of 8 records between with them, with Sullivan setting world records in the light and heavy hammer at 93’ 6-1/4” and 71’ 6-1/2” respectively, and field records in the Braemar stone at 30’ 5” and in the open stone at 39’ 2-1/2”. Routt set a total of 4 field records with 69’ 2-3/4” in the light weight for distance, 50’ 2-1/2” in the heavy weight for distance, 25’ in the sheaf toss, and 17’ 6” in the weight over the bar.
 
In the woman’s masters 50+ group Mona Malec set 2 field records with 81’ 6-1/4” in the light hammer and 65’ 4” in the light weight for distance. In the woman’s masters 70+ plus group Sarah Stephenson set 2 world records: 16’ 5-1/2” in the open stone and 11’ in the sheaf toss.
  
The IHGF would like to thank athletic director Michelle Crownhart for hosting the second leg of the IHGF All-American qualifying series and applaud the first-class games that she and her crew put on. The next games in the IHGF All-American Highland Games qualifying series will be the Las Vegas Highland Games on 13–14 April 2019.
 
                                                         ###

You can also follow IronMind on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.                        



Want to talk grip, strongman, weightlifting . . . everything strength? Visit the IronMind Forum.