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2019 COMPETITOR ROSTER | BIOS

17 ROBERT MILLER 18 JAMES CURRIER
CALIFORNIA REGIONAL VIRGINIA REGIONAL
TENDER: JERRY CONTRERAS TENDER: ALEXIS AQUINO
JOAN JACKSON MASONRY TOP NOTCH BRICK AND BLOCK
SACRAMENTO, CA NORFOLK, VA
For 54-year-old Robert Miller of 51-year-old mason James Currier
John Jackson Masonry in Sacra- is returning the Las Vegas arena for
mento, the SPEC MIX BRICKLAY- the second year in a row. Last year
ER 500 is a contest that brings him he finished just shy of 500 brick,
back to his roots. Laying primarily and took a lot of lessons from his
block with his company currently, Miller relies on his 38 years of first time competing.
bricklaying experience, going all the way back to his days in Penn-
sylvania when he started working with brick and natural stone. Currier had never even heard of the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500
until just before the Virginia regional in 2017. He noticed an ad-
He prefers working with brick, claiming it “doesn’t weigh as much vertisement on his phone, and tracked down his local rep to learn
as block, and it looks better.” His love of the trade and his experi- more. There weren’t any spots available, so Currier just went to the
ence with a trowel was all Miller needed to qualify for the world regional to watch. fifteen minutes before the event started a mason
championship. He didn’t put in any practice; he just confidently dropped out, and Currier stepped up. Not only did he get to par-
walked onto the lot of Silverado Building Materials in Sacramento ticipate, but he qualified for Las Vegas. This year he just hopes to
and won. But he did mention he’ll be putting in a little extra effort improve on his performance.
for Las Vegas. “I’ll clean my level up,” he said.
Back for his second consecutive championship, Currier promises
This will be Millers second shot at making the SPEC MIX BRICK- the results will be much different this year. His new strategy is to
LAYER 500 Hall of Fame. increase his stamina by working out, and to build a few practice
walls before he flies out to Las Vegas.

19 DAVE SONTAG 20 JOSE MARIO LANDEROS
ALBERTA REGIONAL NORTH TEXAS REGIONAL

TENDER: SUNNY HARVEY TENDER: ALDOLFO GONZALEZ
GUNTHER’S MASONRY ARTISAN MASONRY
CALGARY, AB ROYSE CITY, TX

David Sontag is appearing in his When the words “trowel’s down”
third SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER were announced on a sunny af-
500 World Championship. He has ternoon in Dallas, Texas, regional
been a mason for three decades. history had already been written.
From a young age, David’s dad Mason Jose Mario Landeros and
would take him and his brother out every Saturday to work. While his mason tender Alolfo Gonzalez blew away the competition,
other kids were watching cartoons, they were stacking block and winning a trip to Las Vegas and the regional SPEC MIX TOP
brick. CRAFTSMAN award by over 150 brick.

David is hoping to take home the title, and is looking forward to Landeros, a 38-year-old mason with Artisan Masonry in Dallas,
a long drive home in a shiny new truck. He’s proud to take part in TX, was easily motivated for this year’s regional. “It’s exciting to
an event that turns the work day into a sport that requires speed, compete with other bricklayers to see who is the fastest and of
endurance and skill. He says to be viewed as the best in this field of better quality,” he said. That enthusiasm translated into a winning
masons would be exciting. game plan for Landeros and Gonzalez. With the help of their em-
ployer, they were able to build several practice walls to improve
David would like to thank his wife first and foremost, followed by their quality and speed.
his friends and colleagues at Gunther’s Masonry.

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