Scottish club to host IHGF World Heavy Events Championships in Palmer

PALMER — Organizers of the Alaska Scottish Highland Games like to commemorate anniversaries.

They found a great way to celebrate their 35th.

The Alaskan Scottish Club will host the IHGF World Heavy Events Championships when the group hosts its 35th annual Alaska Scottish Highland Games June 25-26 at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer.

“It’s pretty exciting. Every fifth-year anniversary, we try to do something special,” Tim Kincaid, president of the Alaska Scottish Highland Games, said recently.

Kincaid said the Alaska club has hosted a pro category for about a decade, and four world champions have thrown during past Alaska games. Kincaid said the Alaska group has featured a certain level of competition, which proves it is capable of hosting an event of this caliber. And now, Palmer can be added to a group of sites that has hosted the world championships. The world championships have been in places such as France, Scotland and Ontario, Canada in recent years. New Hampshire and California are among the states that have also hosted the games in recent memory.

Kincaid said 10 competitors have been invited to participate in the world championships in June. The list includes the top two competitors in the United States — Matt Vincent of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Dan McKim of Greenwood, Missouri — who have combined to win the last five world titles. The list of international competitors includes participants from Poland, Scotland, England, Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Each competitor competes in eight different events: two stones, two weights, two hammers, a weight for distance and the caber toss. All eight events factor into each competitor’s final score, with points awarded in each event the same way cross-country running races are tabulated. First-place receives one point, two points for second place and so on, Kincaid said. The lowest total score is the overall winner.

Of the two stones, one is 16 pounds and the other is 22 pounds. The heavier stone is thrown braemar style, which calls for simply standing and heaving. There is no spinning, like in the track and field shot put. The two weights are 28 and 56 pounds. The Scottish hammers are 16 and 22 pounds.

Each competitor will participate in four events each day, during the two-day world championships.

In addition to the world championships, organizers will also host their annual amateur championships, which typically draws more than 50 people over multiple divisions each year. The men are divided into A and B divisions, based on ability. There is also a women’s division and a master’s division for men 40 and older.

In addition to the athletic events, the two-day games also features a pipe band competition on June 25 and a trio and drum salute competition on June 26.

The June games will make the third year organizers have hosted the games at the state fairgrounds. Prior to 2014, other than a couple of years in Anchorage, the games were hosted in Eagle River.

“We just outgrew that place,” Kincaid said.

Kincaid said, last year, the games attracted 7,000 who purchased tickets to attend, in addition to those who performed and volunteered. The group is hoping for about 10,000 guests this year.

Kincaid said the group recently reached an agreement with the Alaska State Fairgrounds to host the games in Palmer through at least 2019.

For more, see alaskascottish.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.