A former minor league baseball pitcher with a good arm has won $5,000 and bragging rights at Canada's first mobile phone throwing championship.
Jeremiah Sammy, 25, of Brampton, Ont., was crowned the winner Saturday after he chucked an old cellphone 78.88 metres across the football field at the University of Toronto's Varsity Centre.
The competition, sponsored by cellphone provider Mobilicity, also rewarded Sammy and two runner-ups with Samsung Galaxy S III smartphones equipped with a year of unlimited phone services.
James Turner came in second place with a toss of 48.46 metres and Ziggy Strawczynski came in third at 43.89 metres.
The three qualifiers earned their spots after beating out a crowd of people who were at the stadium for a football game between long-time rivals, the University of Toronto Blues and the York University Lions.
The cellphone throwers had hoped to beat the Guinness World record of 101.46 metres, set in August by Ere Karjalainen of Finland.
Prior to the contest, Canada's first professional female javelin thrower and 2012 London Olympian Elizabeth Gleadle was on hand to provide some tips to the hopefuls.
"Anybody can do it if they can just try to get the right whip on it," Gleadle said.
Sammy said he had been practising his throw with an old smartphone since hearing about the contest online.
