Highland Games Press Releases

At the 68th-annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in 2024, two track and field athletes secured their first Outstanding Men’s Athlete and Outstanding Women’s Athlete honors. Samuel Cleek from Kingsport, Tenn., and Natalie Bitetti from La Crescenta, Calif., earned...

Adriane Wilson finished first in four of the seven women’s heavy athletic events during the 2024 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, thereby claiming the top spot overall for the competition. This is a repeat win for Wilson, who took first place at these games in...

Nik Aston placed in the top four in all seven men’s heavy athletic events during the 2024 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, earning him the top spot overall for the competition. This year marked Aston’s sixth competing at these games and his second as a...

Adriane Wilson finished first in five of the seven women’s heavy athletic events during the 2023 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, thereby claiming the top spot overall for the competition. Wilson was the runner-up at these games in 2022. The 43-year-old personal...

At the 67th annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in 2023, two track and field athletes secured their first Outstanding Men’s Athlete and Outstanding Women’s Athlete honors. Ty Smith from Elizabethton, Tenn., and Amanda Pasko from Charlotte, N.C., earned the...

Garrett Blatnik finished first in four of the seven men’s heavy athletic events during the 2023 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, earning him the top spot overall for the competition. This year marked Blatnik’s fifth time competing at these games and his third as a...

Pictured: Tai’lah Ware, Dashia Canada and Kimora Chaulk compete in the women’s 100-yard dash during the 2022 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. Moses White of Deep Gap, N.C., didn’t need shoes to finish first place in the 880-yard dash during the 66th annual...

Pictured: The top three women competitors in heavy athletics pose at the 2022 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games: overall winner Meagan McKee (center), the runner-up Adriane Wilson (right) and the third-place finisher Elissa Van Vleck (left). (Photo: Skip Sickler)...

The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and Gathering of Scottish Clans took place July 8-11 at MacRae Meadows at the base of Grandfather Mountain in Linville, N.C. The four-day weekend was brimming with bagpipes, astounding athletics, merry Highland melodies,...