Oklahoma couple champs in wife-carrying contest

<br>NEWRY, Maine (AP) _ An Oklahoma couple emerged from a course of log hurdles and a muddy water hole as champions in this year's national wife-carrying contest. <br><br>A New Hampshire woman was

Sunday, October 13th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEWRY, Maine (AP) _ An Oklahoma couple emerged from a course of log hurdles and a muddy water hole as champions in this year's national wife-carrying contest.

A New Hampshire woman was part of the second-place team.

Warren and Wendy Straatman of Owasso, Okla., came to Maine well-prepared for the challenge. The Straatmans are two-time winners of the Oklahoma Wife Carrying Championships, and the latest event was their third annual attempt to win the elusive national title at the Sunday River ski area.

The Straatmans' faced an unmarried pair of teenagers from Tillsonburg, Ontario, in their heat. The Canadian pair, Erin Moody and a lanky, 6 foot-tall hockey player named Zachary Smith, took the lead as the 278-yard race began.

The Canadians, winners of the Canadian National Wife Carrying Championship at Tillsonburg in July, wore bright white T-shirts and painted Canadian flags on their faces. The 17-year-olds also brought along a contingent of fans to cheer them on.

Moody and Smith remained ahead after nimbly scrambling over the hurdles. They hit the water pit running.

``I think we had (the race won), but we went too fast into the water. It was too muddy. My head went under and then my whole body,'' Moody said. Smith pitched forward and the pair submarined to the other side, arms and legs flailing wildly.

Moody quickly climbed back on Smith's back and shoulders and the two dashed to the finish line, but they ended up ninth while the Straatmans went on to win the championship.

The Straatmans navigated the course, which included two, 3-foot-high log hurdles and the 22-foot-long lagoon, in a minute and 15 seconds.

The second-place finishers were John Lund of Wenham, Mass., and Anni Thomas of Concord, N.H. Randy and Lisa Chapman of Fairfield, Maine, took third. Sixteen couples competed.

While Moody and Smith didn't win, organizers named the muddy lagoon Lake Ontario in honor of the teens' efforts.