Pahrump locals take home hardware at senior games

The Huntsman World Senior Games took place in St. George, Utah Oct. 4-16.

The World Games are for athletes ages 50 and above and features over 30 different sports. These games are used as a qualifying event for the National Senior games. Participants come from all over the country to compete in their events.

Among the events that took place, Pahrump had representatives in the horseshoes singles event and multiple track events.

In horseshoes, Lathan Dilger, president of the Nevada State Horseshoe Pitching Association, and James “Jim” Hatch participated in the singles events. Both players were scheduled to participate in the doubles, but each had to pull out for various reasons.

Dilger, who was competing in the Mixed A class, finished in second place with a 3-3 record and took home the silver medal. Dilger had a ringer percentage of 19.17 for the tournament.

Hatch, who was competing in the Elders Mixed A class, also finished in second place to take home a silver medal. He had a record of 6-3 for the tournament to go along with his ringer percentage of 38.82.

Other Nevada residents who participated and medaled in the Huntsman Games were Larry Workman, from Henderson, and Anita Sorenson, from Mesquite. Workman finished with a record of 6-2 and took home a gold medal in his class, while Sorenson finished with a record of 5-2 and took home a silver medal in her class.

In the Track & Field events, Pahrump resident c came away with medals in two of the three races that he participated in. Caperton is a very decorated track star and has competed in many events over the years.

“My aspiration is to be number one,” Caperton said. “Second or third is okay. I mean, I’m happy I’m coming home with some hardware and there’s some reward there, but my goal is always to win first place medals.”

At the Huntsman Games, Caperton participated in the 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter races. In the 50-meter race, he finished in third place with a time of 7.84 seconds, which was good enough for a bronze medal.

Unfortunately, Caperton didn’t perform as well as he would’ve liked to and wasn’t able to finish in the top three of his 100-meter race. He did redeem himself during the 200 however. He finished in third place, taking home a second bronze medal, with a time of 27.6 seconds.

Caperton is hoping to get one last run in before the end of the year, but he may need to wait until January to get his next event in. His goal is to participate in the National Senior Games next year that is taking place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For this event, each state sends three qualified competitors.

Caperton would like to thank all of his sponsors for helping him along the way.

“I want to say a big thanks to them,” Caperton said. “They’re responsible for me being able to do the things I do. I call us a family, so all those people are very, very serious in sponsoring me.”

Contact Sports Editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com