Crozet’s Eli Sullivan wins back-to-back horseshoe throwing world championships

CROZET, Va. (WVIR) - An 11-year-old Crozet boy will have a lot to tell his friends when he heads back to Henley Middle School later this month.

Eli Sullivan has won another national championship in horseshoe throwing. He now has back-to-back titles in his under-12 cadet age group.

“It was pretty cool,” he said. “People come congratulate you on how you did. It was cool.”

Eli peaked in the championship round at the World Horseshoe Tournament in Michigan earlier this month: 80% of his throws were ringers.

“I got used to the environment. Just kept humming to myself and doing the same thing, humming songs. Alan Jackson, George Jones,” he said.

“Neat to see the fruits of his labor pay off,” Evan Sullivan, Eli’s dad, said. “He puts a lot of time into it. It was nice to see the excitement on his face when he actually pulled it off.”

Eli goes for the three-peat next year at the World Horseshoe Tournament in Washington state, but he’ll be moving up in class. It should be an easy transition throwing with the under-18 year old juniors: Eli already throws 30 feet, 10 feet further than he is required to competing with the under-12.

Eli goes for this fourth straight state title in the coming days in Winchester.

RELATED: Crozet’s Eli Sullivan hopes to build on horseshoe world championship

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