Krause wins on last spit
Published 2:18 am Monday, July 9, 2007
By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
EAU CLAIRE – As far as Rick "Pellet Gun" Krause can recall, 7-7-07 was the first of his 14 International Cherry Pit-Spitting titles settled by his last toss.
July 7 made it an appropriate seven straight for the Krause dynasty.
The "dripping-wet cool" Krause, 53, needed 58 feet, 1 1/2 inches, to withstand an unexpected challenge of 52 feet, 5 1/2 inches, from first-time women's winner Amanda Jennings, who surpassed her qualifier, 50 feet, 7 inches.
Last summer Krause managed 67 feet, 5 inches.
Amanda, a part-time cashier, won her division at 47 feet, 6 1/2 inches, over her mother, Kalamazoo native Lynn Jennings, an X-ray technologist who propelled her pit 36 feet, 5 inches.
The Jennings family vacations at a cottage on nearby Smith Lake.
The self-proclaimed king of pit spitting from Tuba City, Ariz., and the 17-year-old high school senior from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, were the only competitors to exceed 50 feet at the 34th contest on Saturday at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm.
Even world record holder Brian "Young Gun" Krause of Jackson, who turned 29 the day before on his father's 11th wedding anniversary, stalled at 49 feet, 6 1/2 inches.
"I wanted you to beat him," six-time winner Brian confided to Amanda.
Brian still holds the world distance record, 93 feet, 6 1/2 inches, set in 2003.
Rick Krause came to the line dripping wet after emerging from a dunk tank hauled onto the court. He retrieved his winning pit, threatening to sell it on eBay.
"Today was a rough day," Krause said. "Amanda put the fear into everybody. I was a little bit worried because I wasn't getting the wind to come around real good. I got just a little bit of a break on that last one. I was kind of lucky this year. She did a great job for the ladies division. We'll see you next year, Amanda."
Vaulting into the forefront of spitters "just comes with age and experience," Jennings said. "I've come before (for eight years) and had fun. I will be coming back for sure. I'd like to win. Coming in third was the best I've ever done in women's. I've never competed in championship before. This was my first year."
In fact, she was the only female to qualify along with nine men, including Dowagiac Union High School guidance counselor Randy Luthringer, 39, of Niles, who reached 39 feet, 6 inches for fifth just behind Canadian infantryman Matthew "Phantom of the Orchard" Salter, 39, of Windsor, Ontario, at 40 feet, 11 inches.
"I thought it was crazy" that she led the men until the final pit, Jennings said. "I didn't think it should have been that way. I thought I was going to do the worst out of all of them because I'm just a girl" who plays soccer in Canada. "I almost wanted to be beat. It's not about the prizes," but the "fun."
"Last year I had my best spit on the last one," Krause said, but Brian, as the defending 2005 champion, "was up after me, so the pressure was on him. I don't think I've ever had my last spit win. I probably got a little bit better roll on that last one. I didn't see it take off. The wind kind of swirled and stopped. Maybe it wasn't blowing at all when I spit that last one or I got it down past where it was affected. I moved over a little to the right hoping I wouldn't catch as much wind. I was lucky it stayed in. It almost went out of bounds."
The outcome worked better than his soggy entrance.
"I almost drowned twice coming over," grinned Krause, who wears a cherry-red "Pellet Gun" helmet and tinted his beard crimson.
"I thought it would be cool if I could come up out of a tank," Krause said. "I could just see the headlines: 'Stunt goes wrong; pit spitter dies.' I just barely had my nose above water, then it would slosh. It was hitting my ears and I couldn't hear."
The Teichmans inducted "Uncle John" Foster, Steve Reed, "Gentleman Joe" Lessard of Ontario, Canada, and Judge John Hammond, who married the Krauses on the court in 1996. Marlene "Machine Gun" Krause was second to Amanda in the ladies' spit with 46 feet, 6 inches, trailed by another former champion, Ann St. Amand of St. Joseph, 36 feet, 8 inches.
Alexis Teichman, 11, a five-time champion who will be a seventh grader in Berrien Springs, won among youth 9-12 with 25 feet, 11 1/2 inches.
Claire Shea, 6, of Bloomington, Ind., captured the youth 6-8 bracket with 17 feet, 9 inches.
Grandson Cole Krause won 5 and under with 19 feet, 9 inches.
Lessard led dignitaries with 31 feet, 2 1/2 inches. Judge John Donahue and state Rep. Neal Nitz, R-Baroda, tied for second at 30 feet, 6 inches. Donahue won the spitoff, 40 feet, 4 1/2 inches, to 22 feet, 6 inches for Nitz.