By DAVID MORSE
For the Star

Sticks and stones were the featured attraction as more than 5,000 spectators were treated to feats of tremendous strength and agility during the 2009 Alaska Scottish High Games and Gathering of the Clans Saturday at Eagle River Lions Park.

Field Event Chairman Tim Kincaid of Eagle River said the tremendous weather helped to bring out the crowds and the best of the athletes competing in the traditional Scottish field events.

Some of the top Scottish Games athletes from around the United States were on hand in the professional divisions, with Larry Brock (Charlotte, N.C.), Ryan Vierra (Hilmar, Calif.) and Harrison Bailey III (Easton, Penn.) making a strong bid for the men’s title, while Denise Ryan (Tempe, Ariz.) ran away with the women’s title, winning all six individual events.

Bret McDonald throws a 28-pound weight for distance, claiming a win in the Masters Class at the Alaska Scottish Highland Games Saturday. Star photo by Amy Schenck

Bret McDonald, of Kenai, won the Masters class, beating David Patterson, of Anchorage, by three points, 16-19, matching the same one-two finish of 2008.

The four-event Novice division ended in a tie, with Ian Johnson and Rick Ingersoll sharing the title.

This year’s games also had strong local representation with John Thomson and Robert Anthony in the Masters class, Greg Keith in the Open class; Nelson Alger in Men’s Novice, along with mother-daughter pair of Darline and Jennifer McLaughlin in the women’s events.

Thomson, who has competed in all 28 Alaska Games, will be taking his passion for the field events on the road, as he competes in the World Masters Championships in Inverness, Scotland, in mid-July.

Thomson said he was given a waiver to compete in the International Games.

“Usually they require that you have to compete in four games in that year,” he explained from a folding chair as he watched the Alaska game’s six professional athletes in the 56-point weight for height event.

Being from Alaska, the geographically isolation from other games allowed for the exemption.

No doubt, his longevity in the sport helped. He said that he is one of four athletes currently signed up to compete in the men’s 65-69 age division.

“I’ll be competing against guys my own age,” said Thomson, 66, with a wry smile, who has been a major proponent for the sport with his son, David, also a longtime entrant, along with his daughter, Darline McLaughlin, and grand-daughter, Jennifer.

David Thomson was not present at this year’s games, said his father, as he recently moved to New Zealand.

Although competitive, the banter among those in the professional event was evident throughout, especially by 44-year-old James Parman (San Marcos, Texas) who sported a Scottish brushed-wool tartan tam with a shock of red hair attached.

Parman wore the headdress for most of the event, but was quick to doff his cap following both successful and unsuccessful attempts. The tam was spread among the competitors with eventual champs Larry Brock and Andrew Hobson also flying the colors.

Parman came up to Alaska a week before the local Hiland Games and hosted a warm-up session for competitors.

This year records fell with regularity, especially in the early events, with Brock claiming the new Alaska mark in the 56-pound weight throw for distance, and first-time Alaska Games entrant Ryan Vierra setting two - in the 20-pound Braemar Stone and the 20-pound Open Stone.

Vierra, 40, is a 20-year games competitor, and already has five World Championships and 11 National Championships to his credit. He tied Larry Brock for third place at last year’s U.S. National Championships.

Former Alaska Games amateur athlete Greg Bell, a seventh-year games competitor, now hailing from Seattle, took part in his first Games at the professional level.

Andrew Hobson, the 2007 Alaska champ, had his best showing in the 56-pound weight for height, narrowly missing on his three record-setting attempts at 16 feet, after winning this year’s event at 15 feet. He set the current Alaska mark of 15-6 at last year’s Games.

“You’re a cheater - nobody likes a cheater,” chirped Harrison Bailey, a fourth-year Alaskan entrant and 2006 champ. Harrison cried for an inspection of Hobson’s bionic knee brace, bringing a chuckle from those nearby.

Not all was fun and jocularity however, particularly toward the end of the day’s events, when a mishandled 75-pound caber stuck a judge.

The man was attended to almost immediately by a neurologist and emergency room doctor, both of whom were attending the Games. The judge was taken from the field by ambulance and was kept overnight at an area hospital for observation, but was released Sunday, according to Kincaid.

Invited athletes were also treated to sport fishing opportunities, both from boat and bank, as well as chances to traverse local glaciers and ice fields, Kincaid said.

“This thing just continues to get bigger. There’s more and more of a turnout every year,” said Eagle River’s John Thomson.

Reach the reporter at editor@alaskastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, July 2, 2009.