SCORESHEET
With a beautiful, sunny, 80-degree day at the Dino Gym (Abilene, Kansas), the setting could not have been more perfect. The inaugural North American Highlander Association nationals are now official and the champions have been crowned.
I would like to start off by thanking all those involved. Elite Nutrition, Aladdin Screen Printing, Al Myers, Scott Tully, my wife Judi, Lon Beffort, Mike Murdoch, Chuck, Tyler and Matt Cookson. You all made things run very smooth and efficient. We ran all 6 events in just under 4 hours. Great job to all.
Now, on to the contest. The lightweight division was quite a battle, coming down to the Atlas stones. Justin Cantwell was very consistent in every event and sealed the win with a fast atlas stone run. In the middleweight division, Mark Wechter got out to an early lead and was not going to be caught. Mark won 5 of 6 events and was on all day in both disciplines. In the heavyweight division, Matt Vincent had a dominating performance along with some huge throws. Matt really showed how being proficient in both SM and HG pays off. The masters division saw John O?Brien get out to the early lead and hold off all the other competitors in his division. John was the only master to load all five stones.
All in all, we saw a great display of strength and athleticism, by all athletes. The highlander format, once again, showed the athletes must be proficient in strongman and Highland Games, not just one of them. You must be an all-around strength athlete.
North American Highlander Association would once again like to thank Al Myers, Scott Tully and all others involved in making NAHA Nationals a huge success in just its first year. A special thank you to all the competitors that came out and put on a great competition. The Dino Gym is an incredible facility and NAHA is very thankful for them hosting the inaugural NAHA Nationals.
Once again, thanks to everyone involved with this event and we hope to see you next year.