Sixth time's the charm for shotgunner
Texan shooter overtakes teen after record number of tiebreakers
Reno, Nev. Brett Dorak of Wisconsin hit 59 shots in a row and had to hit just one more Friday night to win the gold medal in the shotgun competition at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games.
But the 17-year-old, college-bound student missed what would have been his final shot of the evening, sending his match with Scott Robertson of Texas into the tie-breaker rounds. Then, in the longest shoot-off in Great Outdoor Games history, Dorak and Robertson remained tied until Robertson prevailed when Dorak missed a shot in their sixth five-shot elimination round.
"I was starting to think he would never miss a target tonight," Robertson said. Robertson captured the gold by missing only one of 30 shots in the elimination rounds.
Robertson, 31, also found himself in the unusual position of being the subject of "old man" jokes throughout the night. Robertson is an eight-time national champion in shotgun competition, but this was his first gold medal in the ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge. He finished fifth in 2002 and seventh in 2001.
Robertson unseated 2002 gold medalist Robbie Purser of Georgia in the semi-final rounds, 19-18. Purser went on to win the bronze medal round by defeating 16-year-old Travis Mears of Texas.
Fly Fishing: Utah angler gambles for gold and wins
West Coast anglers took top honors at the One-Fish Fly Fishing Competition during the ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge, but the East managed to avoid a shutout.
Utah's Lance Egan led the way with an 11-inch trout that he traded for a gold medal on Friday, trailed by silver medalist Lance Stanchfield of Wise River, Mont., who came in with a 10 1/2-inch catch, and bronze medalist Foster Hetherington of Brandon, Vt., who recorded a 10 1/4-inch trout.
The one-fish event is a gamble in which the angler has just three hours in which to first catch a fish, then decide whether to declare it as his or her official catch and record its length, or release it and try for a longer fish. Although organizers expected great fishing out of the Truckee River, spiraling temperatures made for a tough competition, as large trout proved scarce.
"Fishing the river was brutal," Egan said. "Or, I should say the catching was tough. It is a pretty river, but the fishing was brutal. I don't know if it was the water temperature. People tell me there are a lot of fish in the river."
Women's Timber Endurance: New Yorker turns experience to gold
With a strong performance in her specialty event, Cortland, N.Y.'s Peg Engasser took advantage of a slow start by New Zealand's Michele Bolstad to win the Women's Timber Endurance on Friday at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge.
Engasser used her expertise in the weight chop to build a lead on Bolstad, who had trouble with her chain saw in the opening portion of the event.
"I had a little hiccup at the beginning," said Bolstad. "The chain sort of touched the top of the wood and after that I rushed my underhand."
But even with a several-second lead, Engasser didn't get comfortable until finishing off her final "cookie," as Games participants call the wooden discs cut from the timber competitors' logs.
"You're not supposed to, but this time I could hear every hit she made," Engasser said. Bolstad almost made up for lost time in the single saw, but her early problems proved too much to overcome.
In the bronze medal match, New Zealander Karmyn Wynyard held off Australia's Amanda Beams to take home the bronze medal.