Hill qualifies for Nationals from Midwest regionals

 

The Rubber City Jugglers attracted 107 people to the Memorial Day Madness festival and the IJA Midwestern Regional championship May 24-25.

 

Benji Hill of Thomasville, N.C., won the championship with a strong display of five club backcrosses, thereby gaining a berth as one of ten finalists in the U.S. Nationals in San Jose. Hill, winner of last summer's IJA Teams Championship with Dana Tison, also included a variety of moves with three clubs and flashy bounc­ing of four silicone balls. John Palmstrom of Kent, Ohio, finished second with a routine that included bouncing a ball on his head while jumping rope. Third place juggler Bob Whitcomb from Columbus, Ohio, did three clubs on a free-standing ladder as well as up to five clubs.

 

Monetary prizes of $100, $50 and $25 went to the top three places, along with custom trophies topped by three miniature clubs and a clock. The Sunday afternoon show drew a disappointing crowd to St. Vincent High School auditorium, but those in attendance were glad they came.

 

Appropriate to Memorial Day, the Canton Brass Ensemble started the championship with a moving rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

 

Emcee Barrett Dorko of the Rubber City Jugglers next introduced Andrew Head, the 1985 IJA U.S. Nationals champion. Head performed a non-competitive skit about baseball that began by kicking three balls up from a unique bat-shaped prop. He concluded with the expert hat manipulations that have won him wide acclaim. As current U.S. Nationals champion, Head automatically qualifies for this summer's finals.

 

On Saturday jugglers enjoyed work­shops by Tommy Gabriel and Hill on numbers juggling, David Cain on cigar boxes and devil sticks, John Palmstrom on nested cups and ball spinning, and Dorko on Mills Mess the easy way. Festival organizer Kevin Delagrange led IJA officers on a tour of the University of Akron, site of the 1987 IJA convention.

Delagrange will chair that effort next July 15-22. A Saturday night party climaxed in an oatmeal box stack balance relay race.

 

IJA MIDWEST REGIONALS Scoring Totals

                                     Total         Tech.       Perf.

1. Benji Hill...................78.7.........34.7.........44

2. John Palmstrom......60.8.........26.3.........34.5

3. Bob Whitcomb........60.3.........25.3.........35

4. Debby Goetschi......55.8.........24  ..........31.8

5. Tommy Gabriel........52.7.........22  ..........30.7

6. David Cain...............38.5.........15.2.........23.8

(1/2 pt time penalty)

 

Judges: Todd Smith, Terry Butler, Joe Sullivan