Crim basketball ‘Drubbler’ dies in kayaking accident in Illinois | Crim Festival of Races

LAGRANGE, Ill. (WJRT) – A well-known runner who completed every Crim Festival of Races while “drumming” basketballs died Tuesday after a kayaking accident.

Riley McLincha was kayaking on the Illinois River this week. As he was passing through a lock in Brown County in central Illinois, the river’s current trapped him under some barges and submerged him.

McLincha did not resurface and drowned. The search for his body continued Thursday, but the U.S. Coast Guard said his kayak and a life jacket were found.

McLincha was best known in Genesee County for “dribbling” three basketballs through the course at the Crim Festival of Races, a sport he invented that involves dribbling and juggling.

Crim organisers say he has taken part in every Crim Festival of Races since the event began in 1977 – 46 years ago.

“He was a man of amazing talents and great generosity and a human being who lived his life wonderfully and enthusiastically,” the Crim Festival of Races said of him on Facebook.

Outside of Crim, McLincha was honored for his ability to recite the digits of pi, the equation used to determine the circumference of a circle from its diameter.

Crim organizers say McLincha’s “memory will live forever in the hearts of all who knew him.”

“For me, it’s a return to my roots as a runner,” he told ABC12 in 2010. “It was the first race I ever ran, and I kept going, and that always gets attention – I’m one of the first runners.”