May 3, 2001Horseshoe Canada News
Horseshoe Canada News - Sept. 2000
Sylvianne Moisan, 2000 Women's World Champion
There were 77 Canadians participating in the 2000 World Tournament. Many of them
did very well. Among Canadians making it in their respective championship division were:
Adam Ellis from Cookstown, Ontario who placed 3rd in the
Junior Boys championship with a 4-3 win-loss record and 75.85% (the high average of the
group). Lucille Leis from Wallenstein, Ont., finished 6th in the Senior Ladies division
with 3-4 and 56.67%. Howard Weitzel from North Battleford, Sask., ended 9th in the Senior
Men's division with 4-7 and 60.48%.
We had 3 Canadians in both the men's and
women's championship divisions. Our men: Colin Finnie from Kenaston, Sask. placed 12th
with 5-10 and 64.96% (among Colin's wins was a 40-38 decision over Alan Francis!). Stan
Leis from Kitchener finished 14th with 4-11 and 66.59%, while Tom Gallina from Guelph, Ont.
ended 16th with 1-14 and 64.12% (Tom had to drop out after 6 games due to a sore back).
Our women: Sylvianne Moisan from
Chertsey, Que. won the Women's World Championship with 14-1 and 83.65%. Bernice Busch
from Nanaimo, B.C. placed 12th with 4-11 and 63.26%, while Elda Hastings from Shanty Bay,
Ont. finished 16th with 2-13 and 60.72%. Complete results available on the NHPA web site
at: http://www.horseshoepitching.com/wt_00/dailylink.html.
2002
World Tournament to Red Deer, Alberta
The World Tournament which has been
held in Canada only once (in 1997 when Kitchener were hosts) will be back in our Country in
2002. The delegation from Red Deer, Alberta was successful in their bid to become the hosts and obtain
the majority of the vote from the NHPA convention (Eau Claire, Wisconsin was the other bid).
The expected dates are July 29th thru August 10th (these are not etched in stone as the contract is not yet signed).
It is expected that the 2002 Canadian Championships which will be held in Calgary (very close to Red Deer), will be held the week after the World Tournament. A good occasion to take part in both events.
Larry Markle and Ross Stevenson, into Horseshoe Canada Hall of Fame
Two other outstanding individuals have been inducted into the Horseshoe Canada Hall of Fame (established in 1987). The new inductees, Larry Markle of Hamilton, Ontario and Ross Stevenson of Calgary, Alberta, were presented with a plaque at the Banquet held at the end of the 2000 Canadian Championships in Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan.
Larry Markle was born in Napanee, Ontario and pitched
organized horseshoes first with the
Hamilton club in the late 1950s. His first official appearance at the Canadian Championships was in 1962 where he placed 3rd in the B Class. His best performance in the men's championship was a 5th place in 1980. He played in the Intermediate men's division in 1982 (won the title) and in 1990 won the first of 8 Senior Men's Canadian title. Larry has pitched at least 29 years in the Canadian Championships and is surpassed only by Jack Adams who played 30 times in our Nationals. Larry is also a 8-time Ontario Senior champion and was inducted into the Ontario Horseshoe Hall of Fame in 1994. He joins his wife Jean Markle as the first husband-wife inducted in our national Hall of Fame.
Ross Stevenson was born in Kitchener and raised in
Baden, Ontario. He was the first Canadian to win a World Championship, when he captured the 1965 World Junior Boys title. The next year he entered the Men's division and finished runner-up in the Canadian championship. He was also runner-up in 1967 with his record performance of 79.0%, defeating Elmer Hohl but losing to Dean McLaughlin who won the championship that year. In 1968, Ross placed 9th in the Men's division at the World Tournament with an average of 77.8%. In 1969 he moved to Calgary and did not pitch for a few years. He made a comeback in 1972 and after qualifying 37th with 500 points, Ross won what was described as the toughest Class B in history with a 10-1 record and 73.4% average (Ross had practiced only for a month or two before the tournament).
On his way back, he captured the 1972 Manitoba championships. Ross won the 1974 B.C. International Open, but lost the Alberta title to Dale Schafers. He stopped playing again and came back in 1984. He would end up winning the 1988 Canadian Championships (after finishing runner-up 4 times) and won the Alberta provincial championships a record 10 times (including 7 straight). Besides winning 5 straight Canadian Junior Boys title from 1961-1965, Ross has been involved on the organizational part of the game (serving on the Horseshoe Canada executive, helping to establish the Western Canada Classic, ...).
Congratulations to these two very deserving inductees!
2000 Canadian Championships in Manitou Beach, Sask.
The 2000 Canadian Championships were held in Manitou Beach from July 25 thru 29. The champions crowned in the seven divisions were: Howard WEITZEL, Sask. (Men - 64.7%), Bernice BUSCH, B.C. (Women - 66.4%), Randy SCHAEFER, B.C. (Jr Boys - 46.3%), Kristie DEMMANS, Sask. (Jr Girls - 9.2%), Vern TYACKE, Sask. (Senior Men - 48.4%), Ed CLAUSSEN, Alberta (Senior Men 30' - 65.3%), Lucille LEIS, Ontario (Senior Women - 63.2%). The complete
results and game by game summaries are available.
In the men's division, the dreaded "Saskatchewan trio" made the finals: Colin Finnie
defeating his uncle Marvin Ellison, and then was edged in the best-of-three by Howard Weitzel, last year's
champion. In the women's division, the finals opposed the same two players as in 1996 (and 1998) with Bernice Busch making a spectacular comeback to beat 5-time champion Myrna Kissick.
2001 Canadian Championships in Wellesley, Ont.
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