Tom Donovan of Reno finishes up his 10-minutes of single-jack drilling Saturday during Nevada Day festivities.
Carson City’s Tobin Rupert pounded out a “pretty good drill” Saturday, he said, but finished behind leaders in the Nevada Day Single Jack World Championship competition.
“I’m really proud of myself,” he said after he finished with a drill of eight and 29/32nd inches. “It was a pretty good drill.”
But he said he had sinus problems in recent days and despite the good effort he couldn’t muster the drive needed. He figured he would wind up in the middle of the pack or a little higher, speaking prior to the top competitors taking their turns.
The winner of the 41st annual Nevada Day world championship, determined later in the afternoon, was Emmit Hoyl, a Colorado resident. His drill was 13 and 28/32nd inches, according to Tim Brown, one of the event judges,
Hoyl aced out Tom Donovan of Reno, whose 13 and 25/32nd inches was just 3/32nd of an inch off the champion’s depth. Third place went to Steve MacDonald of Golconda, whose drill was 12 and 6/32nd inches.
First place won $2,000, second took $1,500 and third garnered $1,000.
Rupert said he loves single jack rock drilling. “It’s a great sport,” he said. “You just get to lay it out.”
Carson City’s Ryan Green also was a local competitor, but said afterward he drilled about seven inches. He said he’s new to the sport and is keeping with it, watching leaders and working at it for future competitions. His target is to recoup and build from Saturday’s effort. “It certainly wasn’t what I wanted,” he said of his Nevada Day result.
On hand to watch the competitors was Fred Andreasen, seven-time world champion single jack rock driller. He said he recorded those triumphs during the 1975-85 decade, taking third in 1975 and winning for the first time in 1976. Andreasen made his own drill bits in those days, as did many contestants, he said. His deepest drill during his victory run, he said, was nearly 14 inches.
