Midwest Chapter

[okietreedude1]

Yesterday the Midwest Chapter held thier TCC in Springfield Mo. First off, my hats off to Tim Crews and Ryan's T-N-T of Springfield for putting on a GREAT weekend.

After getting the park set up Fri morning, the judges and 30 climbers arrived for gear inspection and orientation, dinner, etc. Friday nite.

Saturday morning greeted everyone with sunshine and nice temps. After final announcements, we were blessed with the voices of Andi & Dani Schnell of Boone, IA as they sang our National Anthem (this is becoming a tradition).

As the prelims finished, the top 4 climbers were announced. They were: 4th) Randy Hake, Wright Tree Service, Bettendorf IA; 3rd) Trent Commer, Suburban Landscape Mgnt, Wichita, KS; 2)Jeff Evans, Ryan's TNT, Springfield, MO; 1st) Noel Boyer, Ryan's TNT, Springfield, MO.

All 4 climbers treated the audience with spectacular climbs.

The final placement after the MC was: 4th) Jeff Evans, 3rd) Trent Commer, 2nd) Randy Hake, 1st) Noel Boyer. Noel was the 2002 and 1998 winner also.

I would like to provide the placements in the events to recognize the event winners, however at this time I don't have a copy. As I do, I will update.

Once again, Congrats to all the MWC climbers and best of luck to Noel and all International TCC competitors.

 

[mquinn]

i watched a few hours of the events in springfield. lots more people there than the one other competition i saw several years ago in seattle. pretty park, good weather, great trees--very nice event.

i didn't know any of the competitors, and so just heard names being called out by encouraging co-competitors and family members. i think jeff must have been the one i watched in the footlock competition who was simply amazing - looked as easy as strolling (and maybe it was to him). whoever it was, his time was called out - 21 seconds - he seemed to just fly up the rope, and then the amazing thing: that was third place so far. apparently someone had made it in 16 seconds! louie hampton was part of the ground crew at that station and told me that the difference was probably that the other guy was taller. i can't imagine he could have been any smoother or quicker, so i guess the advantage of some height would pay off in that event, all else being equal.

an elderly lady approached me as she'd come to the park for a walk but decided to stay and watch the rest of the competition instead. she said she didn't see any notice of the event in the local paper, and i guessed it might not be advertised except in arborist publications. is that right?

congratulations to all competitors. and thanks for the entertainment.

 

[Louie_Hampton]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
louie hampton was part of the ground crew at that station and told me that the difference was probably that the other guy was taller.

[/ QUOTE ]

At ~5 foot, "They's taller" is a good excuse for a lot of things. I don't know if it was really a factor in this or not, but the guy who was up in 16.something was smoooooth.

I had a lot of fun up in Springfield. I understand the Midwest Chapter runs the comp. in the same city two years before moving on. I'll have to keep an eye to the calender and see if I can run up again next year. Too much fun to miss.

Louie Hampton

 

[okietreedude1]

The winner in the footlock was Trent Commer from Wichita, KS. He is a previous winner of the MW TCC. He's been in the trees bout 12 yrs now. I dont think height has much to do as he's not much taller than Jeff. However, in my opinion, I've always thought taller was better for this event. If in doubt, how did Chisolm get his record at 11.? Any thoughts on this Mark????