Canadian and world champion Lindsay Hodgins was one of two Lakeland athletes to excel at the Canadian Horseshoe Pitching Championships in High Prairie last week.
Hodgins, of Elk Point, won her first Canadian Women’s championship. She had previously won junior women’s national titles in 2013 and 2014, and the women’s world championship in 2019.
Hodgins was undefeated through last week’s championship, posting a 70 per cent ringer average over 15 matches.
She will compete at the next World Championships in Lansing , Michigan in 2023.
And Vic Ouellette of Cold Lake took second place in the Elder/40 per cent ringer division. Ouellette posted a 12-3 record with a ringer average of 43 per cent.
Hodgins and Ouellette both won their divisions at the Alberta provincial championships in June. They also both won at the Western Classic tournament in High Prairie, a tune-up for the national championships.
Top pitchers qualify for the national championships through Horseshoe Canada Association-sanctioned tournaments. A player does not have to be a national champion to compete at Worlds, but must qualify through four tournaments. Results and ringer percentage must be reported to Horseshoes Canada to qualify for the world tournament.
Hodgins, who is originally from Vancouver Island, says that while she is able to train at home she has to travel outside of the Lakeland for high-level competition. “Competition is important and there’s really nothing close by,” she said.
Ouellette agrees. “You can train all you want, but you need to have that extra pressure of pitching when there’s prize money on the line,” he said.
