Highland Games Press Releases

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,...

Pictured: John Van Deusen claimed first overall during the professional men’s heavy athletics division at the 2021 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. Photos by Skip Sickler | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games has a...

Pictured: Competitors in the elite women’s heavy athletics division stand in the winner’s circle after competing in the 2021 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. From left, Hannah Linzay claimed second place, Elissa Van Vleck won first overall and Adriene Wilson came...

Pictured: Appalachian State University senior Casey Meinert pole vaults into the title of Outstanding Athlete in Track and Field at the 2021 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. Photo by Skip Sickler | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation Two Boone residents...