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SAMSON-POWER...ONE OF THE
LONGEST CONTINUOUSLY RUNNING STRONGMAN WEB SITES IN THE USA! SINCE JUNE OF 1999!
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At: Riverfront Park, Salem, Oregon July 8th, 2000 Reported by: J.V. Askem  The crowd gathers for the Crucifix to watch Kelly Hernandez on the left facing the eventual women's winner, Julie Havelka on the right.  Left: Mark Wechter of Aurora, Oregon wins the middle weights (175 lbs to 225 lbs) for the second year in a row.    Left: Big Mike Kromer, winner of the heavyweights. Middle: Don Dyer, winner of the masters. Right: Light weight, Luke Gillock presses the most reps with his log (19). _____________________________________________________________________ This was second year for this affair, which was held as part of the Salem's annual Sports Fest. And I have to say, this contest was easily the largest part of that Sports Fest! Even with demonstrations of gymnastics and martial arts also going on in the park, the SMC by far drew the majority of the crowd. From my observations it was well organized and well run contest. Kyle Sexton, owner of several Gold's Gyms in central Oregon, plus his staff are to be commended. MC'd by Gold's Albany's head personal trainer, Jim Murphy, the contest flowed along like clock work! It wasn't like other contests I've been to with a lot of dead time between the events. This contest had 5 divisions! A womens open division, light weight men (up to 175 lbs), middle weight men (175 to 225), heavy weight men (over 225), and a masters over 40 years old. All the contestants in all the divisions did the same events. Only the implements sizes and weights were changed for the different divisions. The first event was the Log Press for reps. One clean, then press or jerk it for maximum reps overhead. This was followed by the Tire Flip with the Crucifix Hold coming third. Then a half hour lunch break, followed by the Truck Loading, a heavy Stone Toss, with the Truck Pull coming last. The weights of the Logs went from 75 lbs for the women, 120 for the light weight men, 170 for the masters, 210 for the middle weight men, and about 260 for the heavies. The Tire weights varied from 300lbs to about 700 lbs. Although it was found out later that the wrong tire was delivered for the women's event. Thus only 2 women, Julie Havelka and Julie Archer, were able to flip a tire that probably weighed in excess of 400 lbs. The Crucifix weights varies up from 15 lbs, to 25 lbs, to 35 lbs plus for the heavyweights. The Truck Loading was simple enough! Load kegs (5 kegs for the women and lights, and 6 kegs for the heavier classes and masters) on the back of a flat bed truck for time. The women's and light weight men's kegs weighed about 80 lbs, with the heavier guys lifting 160 lb kegs. The Stone Toss was also simple enough. Just throw a stone, which varied up in weight, 25 lbs, 35 lbs, and 45 lbs, for distance. Although no spinning was allowed! I guess they were afraid one might get away and land in the crowd. Finally, the truck pull was also very basic. Contestants pulled trucks of various sizes according to their divisions. The trucks used, which were provided by a local auto dealer, were a Toyota Tacoma for the women, lights, and masters. Then for the middle weights pulled a larger Toyota (a larger model than Tacoma). And finally, the heavyweights pulled a full sized Chevy Silverado. Now, it should be noted that the Truck Pull, the Keg Loading, and Tire Flip were all done up a hill, not on flat ground. So this was tougher than my pictures will show. Also, for any competitors who are really serious about this stuff, GET YOURSELF SOME ROCK CLIMBING SHOES! These are a must for the truck pulls. A lot of valuable points were lost by competitors who didn't have the right foot gear. All total, 43 contestants took about 8 hours to contest, and even at that length I didn't see the crowd thin. Most stayed right to the end to see a phenomenal truck pull by new comer Brice Gimbel (23 seconds over a 100 foot course). Other notable performances were Michael Kromer, who won the heavyweights, just a week after competing the American Hercules contest in Indiana, and Julie Havelka, who won every single women's' event. Julie is also a nationally ranked 181# powerlifter (SQ-474, BP-308, DL-435). THE FINAL RESULTS Mens Light Weight (there were 12 total entries in
this division) Mens Middle Weights (there were 16 total entries in
this division) Masters Mens Heavy Weights (there were 8 total entries in
this division)
    Left to right: Julie Archer, Lisa Kromer, big Dean Munsey, and a special honorable mention to 49 year old Teresa Lantz for getting in there and competing against women half her age.   Left: Kelly Hernandez loads kegs against Julie Havelka. Right: Then Julie gets set to throw the stone for distance.   Left: Lisa Kromer faces Teresa Lantz on the Crucifix. IMO the event was somewhat inconsistent on judging form, as you can see. But this event did give the competitors a break from the more grueling events. Right: Lisa's other half, Big Mike flings a 160 lb keg.     Left to right: Tod Becraft on the stone toss. Tod is also the Oregon state chair for the APF. Then Brice Gimbel follows through on the stone toss. Julie Archer on the truck pull. And finally an honorable mention to the oldest competitor, 62 year old Buddy Rohrs. IMO, it's not really fair to have 62 year olds up against men 20 years younger. |