Ferndale resident Steven Schemstad will be competing against roughly 200 athletes at the 2024 Scottish Highland Games Master World Championships Oct. 4–6 at Clay County Fairgrounds in Green Cove Springs, Florida.
The Scottish Highland Games is an event that combines traditional Highland Games, celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture, with strength athletics.
The 55-year-old Schemstad is the current North American champion in the Masters 50–59 age division.
“I honestly don’t know how I got good,” Schemstad said. “I have always had quick feet, quick twitch, great hand-eye coordination and do a lot of powerlifting and Olympic lifts.”
Schemstad is the current champion in all nine events, including caber toss, sheaf, heavy and light hammer toss, heavy and light weight for distance, weight over bar, and braemer and open stone throw.
Although Schemstad remains humble, he believes he has become a natural at the sport because of his previous experience in track and field. He threw shot put and discus in high school and went to state nearly every year. Afterward, Schemstad coached throwing at Mount Baker High School.
“One of the coaches wanted me to come over to his house and teach him how to do shot put,” Schemstad said. “He was trying to do stone throws, which is exactly like a shot put. I went to his house and he showed me about the Highland Games.”
Since then, he has competed for 11 years across the country. Schemstad’s first competition was at the Skagit Highland Games over a decade ago when he entered as a novice.
“There were about 15 of us and nobody was within 15 feet of my throws,” Schemstad said. “People were wondering how I was doing all that stuff. I don’t know how I became a natural at it but it pissed people off because I broke a bunch of records with no experience.”
Since then, Schemstad has participated in several events each year. In 2019, he traveled to Arizona for his first Scottish Highland Games Master World Championships and finished third, one point behind the champion. Although he fell short, he loved the atmosphere and knew he needed to return.
“I love the camaraderie with the people I compete with,” Schemstad said. “You go there and everybody knows you and welcomes you like family. Everyone cheers you on, helps you out and supports you when you are down. It keeps me wanting to come back.”
Schemstad has competed four times so far in 2024. He won the McMillin Shake off the Dust Exhibition with nine points, the Victoria International Heavy Events Challenge with 10 points in May, the Bellingham Scottish Gathering with 18 points in June, and the Skagit Valley Highland Games with nine points in July.
The scoring for overall place winners is based on the one point method. The winner of each event gets one point, second place gets two points and so on. The competitor with the fewest points at the end wins the championship.
Since Schemstad does not win cash prizes at these events, he found a way to afford his passion. The full-time pipefitter and welder also builds the implements for the competitions he competes in. When Schemstad is not working or competing, he is training for the Highland Games at least three times a week. He also is helping build a fan base for the sport in Skagit and Whatcom counties.
“Me and my buddy help train a gym in Mount Vernon called Northwest Barbell,” Schemstad said. “They had 15 people sign up for Skagit Games and we helped them train twice a week. I don’t want to see it die and I don’t think it will.”
Schemstad will be training for another week before he aims to win each event and capture his first world title.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
