Records smashed in every way at the Hororata Highland Games

Media Release - Monday, November 07, 2016

Records smashed in every way at the Hororata Highland Games

Not only has the 6th annual Hororata Highland Games has seen a record corwd of well over 10,000 people attend and a record number of competitors it also saw Jacko Gill set athrow and Luke Reynolds equaled the 56lb WOB record with 14ft and set new field record in the 16lb sheaf with a toss of 30ft. For the first time a lady won the Hororata Pie eating competition and a New Zealand record was believed to be broken for the most number of post-it notes on a car.

The Gough CAT Oceania Heavyweight Championship was won by Australian athlete Luke Reynolds, with Jacko Gill coming second in his first Highland Games competition.

“I am really glad that Hororata was my first experience of Highland Games, it was inspiring and I can’t wait to do more. The size of the event blew me away; I have never competed in an athletic event with such a huge crowd unless you are at an event like the Olympics or Commonwealth Games,” Jacko Gill reflected on his Games experience.

The event attracted nearly 100 Highland Dancers, which is one of the biggest competitions in New Zealand, 11 Pipe Bands, 54 solo pipers and drummers, 12 Tug O‘ War teams, four teams spun their way to glory in the Highland Spin, 30 people took aim at the Small Bore Shooting Championship and 12 Amateur men and women heavy atheltes toss, threw and strained for the Hororata Highland Games heavy championship.

2016 Cheiftain Kyle Warren wowed the crowd with a contempaory performance on his bagpipes of We Will Rock Up to rev the competitors up before the might Hororata Stones.

“Overall I was really impressed with the event, it is certainly one of the best Highland Games I have been to in the world. I commend the organisers on how they engage young people in the event right through from the competitions to the Have A Go events, it is unquie to the Hororata Highland Games,“ commented Kyle Warren, 2016 Chieftain.

Hundreds and hundreds of people came to the Hororata Highland Games and had a go at tossing a Caber, Sheaf and Haggis as well as trying archury, the Farmers Walk, mini digger challenge and much more. 16 school teams competed in the Deep South Junior Warriors with the Darfield High School team winning.

“All of this would not be possible without the Clan Hororata volunteers, we had a record number of people volunteering at the event this year and they should all be extremly proud of the event they staged. Many, many people have commented on how professional the event is and how welcoming they feel,“ commented Event Manager Cindy Driscoll.

“This event seems to capture peoples heart right from Clan Hororata, to competitors, our sponsors, stall holders and visitors. It has a very special athmosphere and we are already looking to how we can build on this for 11th Novmber 2017.“

Ends

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