Enka Campus Employee Claims Barrel Racing Championship
Marie Elliott, navigates a barrel during a race of the Southern States Professional Rodeo Association. She recently won her eighth Championship title.
Marie Elliott, who works in maintenance on the Enka Campus, won the Southern States Professional Rodeo Association Barrel Racing championship at Myrtle Beach in October for the eighth year in a row.
"The championship is the year-end final for rodeo," Elliott said. "Every dollar you win is a point. The top 12 point-earners get invited to the finals. You have to qualify to get there."
For many years, Elliott went in as the top point winner. "This year I went in second and had a good finish," she said.
The first seven years she won riding her now-retired horse. "This year was this first time I've raced on the new horse. He's a young horse and I was real pleased with that," Elliot said.
According to Elliott, barrel racing is all about speed and beating the clock rather than the other horses. "You are judged with an electronic timer that gives time to hundredths of a second," she said. "The fastest time wins, but you get five seconds added if you knock over a barrel. Obviously, if you knock one over, you are out of the money."
Barrel racing consists of a rider on horseback and three barrels in an arena. Once the horse runs through the timer, the competition begins. "There are three barrels set up and you make a clover leaf pattern, either right or left, depending on how your horse runs," Elliott said. Once the horse is finished and runs through the timer, the time stops.
"The time it usually takes to run this depends on arena size," she said. "In the south, I run anywhere from 12- to 16- second patterns. We don't have the gigantic patterns like they do out west. One-tenth of a second can separate first, second and third place."
Elliott has been barrel racing for about 23 years, owning horses for as long as she can remember. Right now, she owns five horses, including her current champion and her previous winner. "He's retired. I take him train riding every once in a while. He worked hard. He deserves the rest," she said.
When asked who was more important to the success of the race, the horse or the rider, Elliott had this to say. "My thing is, you are only as good as your horse. Horses are a major part. You have to get along with them because you are a team."
Now that she has a new team with the new horse she purchased two years ago, she plans to keep training and racing with him. "He's been coming along really well. I'm really excited about him. I'm fortunate to have another good horse. They say you only get one good horse. I'm lucky to have both."
A-B Tech Instructor Headed for Jeopardy!
The line wrapped around the inside loop of Biltmore Square Mall and it wasn't moving. That still didn't stop nearly 2,000 people from standing in it, vying for a chance to prove their smarts on the Jeopardy! game show, A-B Tech staff included.
The Jeopardy! Brain Bus came to Asheville Nov. 19 with the promise of testing at least 1,000 people for the chance to be on the nationally syndicated quiz show.
Jonathan Bricker, Economics and Finance Instructor, hit the line at 3:30 p.m. and was about number 400 for testing that didn't start until 5 p.m. He landed one of the coveted hot pink wristbands identifying him as one of the first 1,000 contestants, guaranteeing him a chance to take a 10-question quiz.
"It was tough," Bricker said, admitting he did not get to move on to the next round. "I did keep my wristband and was excited to get the Jeopardy! keychain until I saw Wheel of Fortune on the back." He was out of the mall by 5:45 p.m.
Tina Fountain, of Accounts Payable, also tried her skill. "I hurried straight from work to the Biltmore Square Mall, only to find the end of the line had stretched all the way throughout the mall and was starting to double back," she said. "It was only when a lady passed out wristbands that I found out how close I was to the end of the line. I had barely made it into the first 1,000. I was probably number 980 or so."
Fountain made the best of standing in line for two hours, making friends with the people in line around her. "As the line progressed, I did some Christmas shopping at the kiosks," she said.
"I was so excited to finally sit at the table and take the 10 question test. After all, I was the Jeopardy! whiz from the couch in my living room," she said. Like Bricker, she quickly discovered how difficult the test could be.
"Question one stumped me, as did question number two," Fountain said. "Now why didn't I pay more attention in U.S. History? In the end, I discovered I wasn't the Jeopardy! whiz I thought I was. Maybe I'll try Wheel of Fortune."
Lee Swendsen, Biology Instructor, showed up at 2:30 p.m. with a chair and a laptop after taking a half-day vacation. He grabbed the 47th spot in line and a chance to be on the show. "It was fun being in line with people talking about themselves, and proving how smart they are. They spoke Jeopardy! trash talk," he said.
"I took the 10-question test, was told I had passed and was given a letter telling me to come to the Renaissance at 9 a.m. Saturday," he said. "They told us Saturday that they had tested 1,700 people on Friday and 70 had passed the pretest."
They were given a 50-question test through a PowerPoint Jeopardy! game. "The announcer, Johnny Gilbert's voice, read the questions to us and we wrote down the answers," Swendsen said. "It's amazing how you can go blank."
While the tests were being graded, Jimmy McGuire of the Jeopardy! Clue Crew, gave contestants the opportunity to ask questions about the show. The people with the top 15 scores, including Swendsen, got to stay while everyone else left. "They took our pictures and got biographical information including the five interesting things about ourselves," Swendsen said.
Next, came Jeopardy! boot camp, where the prospective contestants learned the rigors of proper button pressing, the art of being bubbly and speaking up. According to Swendsen, ringing in is all in the timing of the thumb. "If you wait too long, you can't ring in, and if you press the button too soon, you are locked out."
Swendsen played a mock game of Jeopardy! against two other contestants, including a 75-year-old with some game show experience. "He won $45,000 on the game show 21 back in the 1950s," he said. Swendsen's competitor was able to rule in the category about the actress, Betty White. "But I creamed him in Spam," said Swendsen, referring to the meat product, not the junk e-mail.
After the dust had settled in competition, the powers-that-be tallied up the score. "They said that all 15 of us were qualified to be on Jeopardy! and we could be called to be on the show any time in the next 12-14 months or even as soon as the next two weeks. On the other hand, they also said they always identify more candidates than they can use in one year so 'don't call them, they will call us,'" Swendsen said. "I guess I am pretty obnoxiously proud of myself for doing this."
Holiday Bazaar
Jo Ann Crompton, Executive Administrative Assistant, sold raffle tickets during the A-B Tech Association of Educational Office Professionals Holiday Bazaar on Dec. 7 in the lobby of the Ferguson Auditorium. Homemade cakes, pies and breads were sold, as well as crafts and photographs in a silent auction. The A-B Tech AEOP Scholarship Fund raised $1,140. The raffle winners were Sterling Lawrence, the Biltmore House tickets and the Shirley McLaughlin photographs; Anne Plant, golf; Jennifer Browning, afghan w/stand; Lynne Gabai, holiday basket; and Robby Webb, pick-up truck load of wood.