Athletes throw their weights around at Scottish highland games in Turlock
Last held in 2016, the St. Andrew’s Society of Modesto’s Central Valley Highland Games & Celtic Festival returned Saturday with a new home, at a new time of year, and with new experiences even for longtime participants.
Organizer David Wolff, busy helping run the day, didn’t get to see much of the action, but what he saw impressed him. This is the first year the games have included the sheaf toss, in which athletes use a pitchfork to toss a straw-packed burlap cube over a bar. The men were tossing 16 pounds, the women about 10.
“I had never seen even a picture of a woman doing it,” an awestruck Wolff said, “and I’m standing there watching and here’s this woman, not that big and not muscular looking, and the next thing I know, this thing goes over the bar — and it’s fully 20 feet in the air. ... That’s as much timing rather than muscle to get that.”
That’s the thing: The games are called heavy athletics, but they’re as much about technique as strength. For instance, when tossing a 56-pound metal weight over a bar above your head, you don’t want to lose your balance, land on your rear and have that weight come down on you.
The St. Andrew’s games, now in their 36th year, previously were held in spring at Tuolumne River Regional Park. The move to autumn meant this year’s event came at the end of the competitive season and served as the state championships. Wolff estimated there were more than 150 participants.
Among them was Christina del Gallego of Elk Grove, who was introduced to heavy athletics when she went to one of stepson Miguel del Gallego’s competitions. “I was 55 at the time, and I thought to myself, I wonder if I could do that?” she said. “I started throwing, and this is my third year.”
She lifts weights, especially during the off-season, to build strength. It’s important to be in shape because games are daylong and include nine throwing events. The caber toss probably is toughest, del Gallego said. The pole’s diameter is smallest at the bottom, where it’s held. “Because of that, it makes it waver around, so there’s a lot of technique, a lot of knowledge” that goes into a good toss, she said. “My first caber, I was so nervous, I thought I was going to throw up.”
She didn’t, though, and would recommend anyone giving highland games a try. Competitors are a welcoming group, she said, and the culture, the music and the food can’t be beat.
Former UC Berkeley hammer thrower Zechariah Whittington, now a trainer in the city of Hercules, also got into highland games three years ago. He said the events are a fun way to spend time with family and the friends he’s made while competing. “I love the heritage, the culture, just being able to intermingle with different people and learn about different events and promote the heavy throws,” the 40-year-old said.
Though his track and field background is in the hammer throw, which is a distance competition, he said the height events are among his best. “My stones? They’re getting better, but I’m enjoying it all, I enjoy all nine.” He set field records in four or five events Saturday, was sitting first overall and had a few personal bests, he said. “I’m feeling good.”
Modesto Junior College student athlete Jasjot Bahia competed Saturday in only his second highland games. Just introduced to the sports by his MJC coach, the 19-year-old had his first outing the week before at the inaugural games presented by the Escalon Scottish Cultural Association.
Bahia, whose main events in college are hammer and javelin, spoke briefly after his turn at putting the stone Saturday. He said highland games are a lot of fun, and something he thinks he’ll stick with. “It’s a good community, everybody’s supporting each other.”
For more on the St. Andrew’s Society of Modesto and Saturday’s games, go to www.standrewsmodesto.org.
This story was originally published October 19, 2019 at 5:01 PM.
