Tree-Mendus Fruit's
International Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship
36th Annual Pit Spit Results

Rick “Pellet Gun” Krause
takes 15th World Championship!



EAU CLAIRE, MI (July 4, 2009). With a gentle northbound breeze, the southbound winning pit of the International Cherry Pit Spitting
Championship sailed 48 feet one-half inches, the sixth lowest distance in the 36 year history of the event and the shortest distance ever spat by a Krause to win the coveted championship title. Rick “Pellet Gun” Krause, 55, Tuba City, AZ and son Brian “Young Gun” Krause, 30, Jackson, MI,  have dominated the event in 22 of the 36 years. Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, near Eau Claire, MI, has hosted the event.
Young Gun is a seven-time international champion and holder of the world’s record at 93 feet 6-1/2 inches.  Second place was
taken by Jace Rowley of Santaquin, UT with a distance of 45 feet 4 inches, and third by Joe Lessard, Sr. of Blenheim, ON Canada with a spit of 40 feet 6 inches.

In the Women’s Division, Marlene “Machine Gun” Krause, wife of Pellet Gun, took top honors with a 36 foot 3 inch spit. It is Machine Gun's sixth win.  Amanda Jennings, the only woman to ever place in the Championship, took fourth place with spit of 29 feet 10 inches. Amanda gained fame in 2007 when she nearly took the World Championship, losing with the last spit of the day to Pellet Gun. Jennings took eighth in the today’s Championship competition.

Morgan Krause, 5, of Dimondale, MI and son of Brian “Young Gun” Krause, won the Youth 5 & Under Division, and brother Brady, 11, the Youth 9-12 Year-Old Division. Chloe Bartz, 8, of Niles took top honors among the 6-8 year olds for the second year in a row.

Two women, Destenie Garcia, 15, of Niles, MI and Amanda Jennings, 19, of St. Sault Marie, Canada, qualified in the morning
Qualification Round for not only the Women’s Competition, but the Championship as well. It is unusual for women to out-distance the men, hence a separate division for men has not been necessary.

The dignitary winner was the Honorable Judge John Donahue of St. Joseph. Donahue served as Measurement and Line Judge along with Trial Judge Dennis Wiley, Benton Harbor, MI.


The 37th International Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship will be July 3, 2010 at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, MI on the Official Cherry Pit Spitting Court. As far as the pits fly, it is the premier and epitome of summer Olym-pit events. The contest founder is Herb
Teichman of Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm in Eau Claire, Michigan site of  the tournament since its inception. Eau Claire, a small Southwestern Michigan community, recognized as “the Cherry Pit Spitting Capital of the World” in the July 2003 edition of Readers Digest, takes a matter-of-fact—perhaps even phlegmatic—view of the international attention it garners annually as the nearby Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm hosts its International Cherry Pit Spit competition over the Fourth of July holiday.

This year marks 36 years of unbroken competition. Tree-Mendus is a family-oriented, agri-tourism destination in Southwest Michigan. The farm features U-Pick fruit, family recreation, and a country store. For more information on this year’s event, call 877-863-3276. 


Championship
Rick "Pellet Gun" Krause, 55        48' 0.5"       Tuba City, AZ
Jace Rowley, 30                             45' 4"          Santaquin, UT
Joe Lessard, Sr., 62                      40' 6"          Blenheim, ON

Women's Division
Marlene Krause, 46                       36' 3"           Tuba City, AZ
Ann St Amand, 46                          32' 8"           St. Joseph, MI

Youth 9-12
Brady  Krause, 11                           23'               Dimondale, MI

Youth 6-8
Chloe Bartz, 8                        18' 10"          Niles, MI

Youth 5 & Under
Morgan Krause, 5                        15' 11"           Dimondale, MI

Dignitary
Judge John Donahue                   22'                 St. Joseph, MI