Bay Team reports from Scottsdale 2007
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Entries are in reverse chronological order (I hope).
Steeplechase/PSJ Finals (saturday night)
I love the color of finalists walking a course in their bright matching shirts. PSJ finalists had pale yellow shirts; Steeplechase finalists wore brilliant yellow. The bright lights throw everything outside the ring into a shadowy universe that has no meaning for any of us; all that we can see, and all that matters, are the brilliant colors and shapes of the obstacles against the bright green grass and the methodic dance of the finalists in their finery.
We sit in the bleachers and pick out the people we know, or know of. We munch popcorn or other far more gourmet goodies, depending on the foresight and generosity of the people around us.
We know that we're going to be in for a spectacular treat of rocket-fast dogs and of handlers outperforming their prior best efforts and each other. And, because this is scored time plus faults, we know that anyone with a bobble, bar, or contact fault is going to hustle even more to try to make up the time. A recipe for an exciting evening!
You can read Karey Krauter's take on these events, read her course analysis, and see the course map here on the USDAA site.
The course
The course has two sets of weaves and only one Aframe, so there's only one chance for a flyoff (penalty points) but plenty of opportunities for missed weaves, which aren't penalized but do waste precious seconds. Both entries are a little challenging because of the anticipated speed of the dogs:
- The first entry requires a sharp turn with the dog blasting out of a tunnel, seeing two jumps easily in front of him but having to bear left quickly enough to hit the weave entry. This means that the handler has to signal quickly and also that the entry to the poles becomes the more difficult "open" or "soft" side, where the dog is running straight at the opening rather than wrapping around the first pole.
- The second entry is after a pinwheel, also to a soft entry to the poles, where the natural path of the dog is possibly to the second or third pole, not the first.
There are also four tunnel entries on the course, all to U-shaped tunnels, making every one of them a challenging choice for the dog if the handler should fall behind, mistime a cross, or misjudge a send away.
And the reverse pinwheel at the back side of the course after a wide, fast sweep up the side looked like it could present problems.
8" Performance Speed Jumping
Four dogs competed at this height. Lucy the Cavalier King Charles ran first with a clean but not spectacularly fast run of 45.44 seconds.
Chip, the JRT, ran fast but had an offcourse.
Phoebe with Kimberley Sisak is fairly well known to Californians, although that's because she travels here from out of state for many of our regionals. Her papillons are known for running as fast as the Border Collies and for winning many an event--Phoebe is a past national champion. They didn't let us down, shaving 10 (!) seconds off Lucy's time with a clean run of 35.10.
Lastly, Pip the Toy Fox Terrier, with Nancy Louise Jones, ran fast but couldn't match Phoebe's speed, 4 seconds slower at 39.58.
12" PSJ
Dustin, the Sheltie, led off, trying to match Phoebe's speed, but slightly a second slower, at 36.27, plus a bar down.
Bounder, also a sheltie, ran slightly slower than that at 37.05, with a bar down also.
Bodie, the miniature poodle, spooked at the crowd noise and it looked like he might not run at all, but finally realized that the roaring and yelling monster behind the bright lights wasn't a danger, and really picked it up, although they had a refusal (time wasting) at some point and a 5-point fault (?), finishing with a time of 51.02.
Susan Anderson and Jenny the sheltie, from Colorado (?) now, but formerly of California and with plenty of old friends in the California bunch, ran another fast course. Was barely slower than first two dogs, at 38.09, but it was the first clean 12" run, putting them into first place.
Savvy the Sheltie wowed the crowd as he blasted around the course, but he "cheated" by skipping one of the pinwheel jumps for an Elimination, although his course time was an amazing 34.97, the fastest so far in the evening.
Still, the left Jenny Anderson as the winner.
16" PSJ
Revel, Barb DeMascio's BC, ran first, and set the pace with a clean and fast run of 35.60.
Misha, a mixed breed (maybe Sheltie?), put the pedal to the medal, with the audience watching the clock, trying to guess whether they could beat Revel's time, and they did, at 34.63, passing Phoebe's time for the first time in the evening, and taking over the "hot seat" (where the current leader sits until either they're unseated or they're declared the winner).
Rip and Sharon Frielich, long-time Bay Teamers and 2nd place finishers from last night's PNS finals, were next. They ran an amazing run, even faster than Misha by two hundredths of a second, at 34.61--but those hundredths of a second came at the expense of a missed A-frame contact for 5 faults.
Kaya, another "all breed", popped the Aframe early in the course, then had an offcourse and an assortment of bobbles.
Joplin, a BC with Reggie Rogers, upped the ante again, racing past Micha's time by .8 seconds for an astonishing 33.83 clean run, taking the hot seat.
Squeaky the BC knew that everything was on the line and really pushed it, but lost it with bobbles, an Aframe flyoff, and a bar down.
Summit, another BC with Kim Terrel, tried but couldn't unseat Joplin, posting 34.60, which was still enough by .03 seconds to drop Misha to 3rd.
This left Brink and Sandy Rogers, another Bay Teamer and the winner of the previous night's PNS. Sandy was ready to pull every trick in her bag out into the open and we were ready and eager for her to do it. They made the first weave entry beautifully, zoomed through the turn to the Aframe, Brink got a paw into the yellow zone--and Sandy released Brink instantaneously. The crowd went wild--as one person commented, "I've never seen Sandy release on contacts early, never!" They looked like they were acing the course, but we hung on the clock as they ate up the seconds, knowing that the time to beat was 33.83. The clock ticked closer and closer, and they got closer and closer to the finish, and then Brink was over the last bar with a clean run--and an amazing photo finish of 33.82 seconds, winning by .01! The stands started chanting "SanDY! SanDY!"
When she took her victory lap, once again, instead of running around the ring, she took the opportunity to do two perfect Aframes with perfect 2-on,2-off stops, to be sure that the contact wasn't permanently broken.
22" PSJ
The 22"s were almost anticlimactic after that finish, although the class ran well, and fast. Katie the BC started with a clean run of 38.95.
Steele, a Golden Retriever, showed what speed this breed can have, but ended up with a couple of course bobbles, a popped Aframe, and a missed weave entry, all adding up to a misleading course time of 45.66.
Blitz, another BC, took Katie off the hot seat with a clean and darned fast run of 36.26.
Gracie, an Aussie, squeezed past Katie's time, with 38.46, but with a popped aframe for 5 faults, couldn't make it into the top 3 at the end.
Next to last came Sprint, a wonderful Flat-Coated Retriever; I love seeing these other breeds at the top of the sport and wish there were more (says one who "went over to the dark side"). Their run was nearly flawless, and they posted a blazing time of 35.38, knocking .9 seconds off Blitz's time.
Finally, Stacy Peardot-Goudy ran with her very experienced, past-finalist BC, Able, and they also blazed around the course, but as the hundredths of a second ticked away, they couldn't quite beat the flat-coat, ending up at 35.72, only .34 seconds slower.
Thank goodness for electronic timing--times between placements like we've seen all weekend could never be accurately judged by a person with a stopwatch!
Steeplechase finals
Maybe later, sorry...
Bay Teamers in Scottsdale Newspaper
- Posted by Efinch 16:34, 9 November 2007 (EST)
Nancy Marmol and Jeanne Nixon got write-ups, photos, or both in the Scottsdale newspaper! Click an image to see a larger version.
Videos videos videos
- Rav Johnson's Grand Prix final run
- Tika Steeplechase Classic, Borderin' on K-Aus (plus Fable Sanders) Team Jumpers
- Luka's Steeplechase-winning run
- Assorted finalists/winners at Agilityvision.com (added 14:38, 13 November 2007 (EST))
Friday's Performance National Standard Finals commentary
- Posted by Efinch 17:49, 7 November 2007 (EST)
Anyone who feels that they're taking a step downward by moving their dog to Performance would have had their fears allayed by watching the PNS finals. The dogs and handlers are as astonishingly fast and accomplished as in the regular Grand Prix finals.
Nothing beats sitting in the bleachers and watching how the runs shake out.
View course map. The most challenging handling part of the course was the inside/outside/upsidedown loop-de-loop from 6 through 12, although in the end it was teeter flyoffs and DW contacts that proved to be the differentiating factors.
8" PNS
Dana Pike and her JRT Maybe, winners of the 2000 Grand Prix, ran first, posting a clean run with a time of 38.23. They moved quickly and efficiently around the course with no notable bobbles, getting the crowd into the mood for a fast and exciting evening.
The second dog up, Phoebe the Papillon with Kimberley Sisak, didn't let them keep the "hot seat", however. This team won the GP in 2004 and the Steeplechase in 2001 and 2004, and they don't seem to have settled in for retirement, blazing through the course in 34.14, cutting 4 seconds off of Maybe's time.
Third up was Mickey the all-american; I cheered to see a mixed breed in the finals. Mickey's run was smooth and clean, but their time of 41.89 couldn't unseat Phoebe.
BJ the JRT started out fast but took an offcourse after the teeter. They completed the course nicely and the audience cheered enthusiastically, as they did all weekend for all of the finalists.
Max the Miniature Schnauzer was the first of several dogs over the weekend who was quite intimidated at first by the bright lights, weird equipment, noisy crowd, and the judge racing right alongside him on the back side of the dogwalk to check his contacts, and it wasn't clear at first whether he was going to run at all, but eventually picked up the pace and finished clean at 54.22.
Tater Jang, the Pomeranian and a Bay Team favorite, also started out looking worried and a bit befuddled. We speculated that that's because he was woken suddenly from a nap, carried at a full run for half a mile, and then unexpectedly had to run a course he wasn't prepared for. (The handler, Raymond, of course was fine.) Read more about how they almost missed their run here and here. Eventually, Tater, too, got the feeling and flew around the rest of the course, for a clean 58.54.
Judy, another all American, raced spectacularly around the course, but that included flying off the teeter at full speed and racing past the weave entry; they finished with 10 faults and a time of 45.20.
Chip, a JRT, also ran fast, but the handler moved a little soon and pulled him past a jump, for a refusal and more lost time. They finished in 43.10.
Last to run, Pip, a Toy Fox Terrier, also demonstrated blazing speed with a teeter flyoff and and offcourse into the wrong side of the tunnel in the tough handling section of the course, drawing a moan from the crowd.
Placements: Phoebe, Maybe, Mickey, Max, Tater, Chip, and Judy, with Pip an honorable mention.
12" PNS
The 12" class distinguished itself by having almost all runs clean, wowing the audience.
Bounder the Sheltie led off with a time of 35.14, not quite as fast as the 8" winner. They held the lead through 3 dogs, including Chance the Sheltie, Bodie the Min Poodle who was spooked by the lights, judge, and audience, and Fannie the Min Poodle. The 5th dog up, Sydney the sheltie, blazed through the course with lovely handling for 34.15, and they remained in the hot seat through the rest of the 5 runs, with dogs trying hard to beat their time and coming in between 35 and 38 seconds each time, but Sydney ended up winning. (No Bay Teamers/northern Cals in this group, that I'm familiar with.)
16" PNS
This group had lots of Bay Teamers (Brink and Sandy Rogers, Rip and Sharon Freilich, Tahoe and Dave Grubel) and several familiar names (Rebel and Barb deMascio, Echo and Ken Fairchild, Sweep and Sarah Scott Dow, who won last year...). With only 3 exceptions, this class was all Border Collie.
Rebel and Barb ran first, and they burned up the course with a nearly flawless run in 32.90, earning a roar from the crowd.
Dorie and Kathy Wells gave it a good try with a clean run, but 38.40 time.
Brink and Sandy Rogers, perennial finalists who have placed in the Grand Prix as far back as 2001, I believe, were up next, and it became obvious within seconds that Sandy was out to win--she released Brink early from the dogwalk, the instant that a paw touched the yellow zone, which no one in living history had seen her do before. Brink responded heartily, giving a performance that drew the crowd to the edges of their seats when they had a wide turn over one jump, and when the run was over, the clock showed an amazing 30.09, cutting nearly 3 seconds off Rebel's time, with 11 dogs still to run.
Sweep, last year's champ, ran next and gave it a game try, but ended at 33.81.
Rip and Sharon Freilich are also Bay Teamers who've appeared in the finals on many occasions in the past, for example, winning most of their classes at the 2000 Nationals in San Diego. Sharon and Sandy had been sitting together before the class started, and it was clear that the friendship also provided tremendous motivation and inspiration; Rip flew around the course, but couldn't quite catch Brink, posting 31.50, just behind Brink.
Sassy Marshall also had a blazing run, but at 32.24, couldn't' quite catch the Bay Teamers. The crowd loved this tight competition!
Tahoe Grubel, the Aussie who took 2nd last year in both PNS and Veterans, looked to be another dog startled and worried by the judge; she took a long look athe judge and had a very slow dogwalk; she gradually sped up to her usual zippy self as Dave flew around the course, but they couldn't make up for the early distraction, ending at 34.36.
Echo and Ken Fairchild had yet another fast and clean run, with everyone guessing whether they could possibly beat the Bay Teamers, but posting a slightly slower 32.64.
The last 6 dogs, all knowing that they had to push their limits to overtake the leaders, finished the class with faults--the ACD with dogwalk up and down faults; Hannah Stover with DW down, Cody Abbot with a runout followed by offcourse, Wilder the Sheltie with a runout, Joplin Rogers with a teeter flyoff--and even with that, they couldn't beat Brink or Rip, posting 31.57 compared to Rip's 31.50, and then Dot with a runout.
Placements: Brink, Rip, Sassy, Echo, Rebel, Sweep, Tahoe, and Dorie with clean runs.
Entertaining note: Other winners took victory laps; Sandy took the opportunity to run Brink across the dogwalk, twice, making sure that she stuck her contacts! Now, there's a winner.
22" PNS
Only one Bay Teamer made it to the finals, Annabelle with Liza Buckner. Another competitor who has appeared in --and won--many past finals with other dogs, Linda Mecklinberg with her young (?) dog, Super, also appeared, and southern Cal handler Julie Koblin with Elvis the all-american.
This group was fun to watch because of the wide variety of breeds: 4 Border Collies, 2 Aussies, and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, an All-American, a Golden Retriever, a Flat-Coated Retriever and, yes!, a Great Dane!
The first two dogs were OK but not as blazing as we had just seen in the 22", with times of 36.00 and 38.65.
Elvis, who ran third, pumped it up with a nice, fast, clean run of 33.17. The next three dogs were in the 37 to 39 range, then Annabelle picked up the pace again with a clean run of 34.95; two dogs later, Sprint, the Flat-Coat, passed her up with 33.77.
The next to last dog, Scout with Mark Pavelka, again had the audience nearly rising from their chairs with an amazingly fast run, particularly for a 22" dog, racking up 31.05--still a second behind Brink in the 16" class but faster than anyone else--but got called on their dogwalk up.
Linda Mecklenberg ran last, and her dog missed the weave entries, resulting in a slow time.
Placements: Elvis, Sprint, Annabelle, Gracie, Morgan (the great dane), and Cody with clean runs.
Team notes
- Posted by Efinch 15:20, 7 November 2007 (EST)
- Jan DeShera reports: "My team with Gael ended in 31st place (and they took only 30 for the relay!) and I am proud that Gael did not step a single foot wrong throughout the trial--"
Photos photos photos
- Posted by Efinch 23:37, 6 November 2007 (EST)
I've uploaded a ton of photos of the nationals and Bay Teamers and friends there. http://elf1.smugmug.com/gallery/3786927
Sunday News Flashes
- posted by Hnewman 20:04, 4 November 2007 (EST)
After a morning of run-throughs at Connie Tuft's place with some other "not-at-Scottsdale" North Bay Teamers, I'm hanging around the house doing chores and checking the USDAA site for updates. I'll post them as I see them.
Grand Prix Results! (podium finishes bolded)
- 12" (11 dogs) - Quill Rogers - 3rd place. (1st place to Eve Julyan, a PWC.)
- 16" (15 dogs) - Luka Deacon - Winner. (Marci Mantell's Wave had a faster time by 0.29 seconds, but knocked bar #17.)
- 22" (23 dogs) - Rage Spyr - Winner; Rav Johnson - 8th place; Mace Gyes - 14th place.
- 26" (17 dogs) - Icon Fosty - 5th place; Maja Bruera - 6th place; Fable Sanders - 9th place. Cap Yi knocked a bar and missed an obstacle. (1st place to Juice Topps for the 3rd time.)
DAM Team Final Results
- 4th - Thyme is on our Side (Mace Gyes, Spy Basic, Thyme Freilich)
- 13th - El Cap's Risky Relay (Ashley Deacon, Cap Yi, Maja Bruera)
- 31st - Dart N Borders (Gael DeShera)
Versatility Pairs Final Results
- 10th - Aging Graysfully (Zelda Sirbello and Ellie Gustafson)
- 14th - Hungry Hungry Hippos (Milou Winata and Apollo Fosty)
DAM/Versatility Pairs Relay Results
- DAM 3rd - Thyme on our Side (Mace Gyes, Spy Basic, Thyme Freilich)
- PVP - no Bay Teamers, Click Here for results
Saturday Summary
- posted by Hnewman 14:23, 4 November 2007 (EST)
I'm not there, but I pulled this summary from the USDAA website. I hope Ellen will fill in the details, especially if I missed someone whose name I don't recognize. You can find full results and many stories, including some by our own Karey Krauter and Tanya Chadwick at the USDAA News Site.
Steeplechase/PSJ Finals (podium finishes bolded)
- 16" - Luka Deacon (Winner)
- 22" - Jammer Strenfel (6th place)
- 26" - Cap Yi (2nd place), Fable Sanders (4th place)
- P16" - Brink Rogers (Winner), Rip Freilich (6th place)
Bay Teamers (and Friends of Bay Team) in the GP Finals
- 12" - Quill Rogers (6th)
- 16" - Luka Deacon (bye)
- 22" - Rav Johnson (13th), Mace Gyes (bye), Rage Spyr (bye)
- 26" - Maja Bruera (2nd), Cap Yi (3rd tie), Fable Sanders (10th tie, bye), Icon Fosty (12th)
Team/Versatility/Veterans Gamblers
- 12" - Brandy Mae Nixon (4th)
- 16" - Luka Deacon (Winner)
- 22" - Mace Gyes (24th, highest Bay Team finisher that I recognized)
- 26" - Tala Leal (Winner)
- P16" - Tahoe Grubel (6th)
- P22" - Apollo Fosty (4th), Diva Greene (7th), Annabelle Buckner (11th)
- V16" - Cruiser Johnson (2nd)
- V22" - Pivot Gaiser (Winner)
Team Standard
For some reason, USDAA has not yet posted the 26" Team Standard results or any of the Performance or Veterans Standard results. From the 12", 16", and 22" dogs, only Mace Gyes finished in the ribbons at 7th. I know first-hand that Cruiser Johnson finished 2nd in P16".
More Team updates
- Posted by Efinch 00:52, 3 November 2007 (EDT)
Some Bay Team results from yesterday:
Team Snooker
- 12", Roxee handled by Rob Michalski for Barbara Jones placed 2nd with 59 points (the top 5 dogs all had 59 points; more than half the dogs had more than 50).
- 16", Luka and Ashley Deacon placed 2nd with 59 points, their time of 40.51 beaten only by Hemi at 40.30. (The top 5 dogs all had 59 points, well more than half had more than 50.)
- 22", Thyme Freilich placed 10th for a ribbon (and Cirque Freilich placed 12th); 21 of the dogs had 59 points.
- 26", Maja Bruera placed 2nd (22 dogs had 59 points).
Team Jumpers
- 16", Luka and Ashley Deacon placed 2nd with a time of 24.42. (Sizzle won at 24.18.)
- 22", Jammer and Moe Strenfel placed 10th for a ribbon.
PVP Jumpers
- 16" Brink Rogers placed 3rd and Tahoe Grubel placed 4th.
- 22" Mike Wargo placed 3rd (and Apollo Fosty placed 6th, just missing a ribbon.)
PVP Snooker
- 16", Rip Freilich placed 2nd and Tahoe Grubel placed 6th, both with 59 points.
PVP Teams after Jumpers/Snooker
115 PVP teams entered; a maximium of 12 teams will go to the finals. After the first two rounds, with Gamblers and Standard still to go, some of the top-finishing teams with Bay Teamers are:
- Rip Freilich/Brink ROgers, in 2nd
- Tahoe Grubel's team in 5th
- Hungry Hippos--Caroline Winata and Channon Fosty in 12th.
Team placements after Jumpers/Snooker
201 regular teams entered; a maximum of 30(?) will go to the finals. After Jumpers and Snooker, some of the top-finishing teams with Bay Teamers were:
- BMW (Krauter, Parkinson, Wheelock), 12th
- Borders by the Bay (with Cirque Freilich), 13th
- Thyme on our Side (Mace Gyes, Spy Basic, Thyme Freilich), 26th
- El Cap's Risky Relay (Luka Deacon, Cap Yi, Maja Bruera), 37th
- Paws Interstate Express (Little Bear Marmol's team), 39th
- Greene Team (Tack Damarodas with linda & robert Greene's dogs)
- Dart N Borders (with Gael deShera), 49th
- Heath LeClair's team (with Langer & Leal dogs), 51st
- DivaLuscious (Roxee Michalski's team), 56th
Friday's Team Standard
The course had several 180-degree turns and a sharp call-off from the dogwalk to the weaves, among other hazards; the elimination rate seemed high (to me). This could greatly affect team placements.Runs weren't finished the last time I checked results.
Performance National Standard Finals
- Posted by Efinch 23:51, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
Bay Teamers do well!
- Tater the Pomeranian and Raymond Jang placed 5th of 9 8" dogs with a clean run. (The overall 8" winner: Phoebe the Papillon with Kimberley Sisak.)
- of the 14 dogs in 16", Bay Teamer Dave Grubel placed 7th with Tahoe the Aussie with a clean run at 34.36 seconds, Sharon Freilich and Rip placed 2nd at 31.50, and Sandy Rogers took 1st with a spectacularly fast run with Brink at 30.09, a second faster than any other dog in the evening's competition.
- At 22", Liza Buckner and her aussie Annabelle placed 3rd with a clean run at 34.95 seconds. (Overall winner: Elvis the All-American, from southern Cal. Go all-americans!)
- Posted by Efinch 00:34, 3 November 2007 (EDT)
USDAA has posted the results with brief commentary in the order the runs occurred: http://usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=666
Thursday's Performance National Standard
I didn't run this course or watch it.
Some Bay Teamers made it from the quarter to the semifinals (the full list is on the USDAA news site):
- Tater Jang, placing 3rd in 8"
- Molly Bourne, in 16"
- Ty Rogers, in 22"
- Annabelle Buckner, in 22"
Efinch 23:20, 1 November 2007 (EDT)
Thursday's Team Jumpers
Course map is available in the same news site mentioned below, under "Thursday Courses in Agility at the Cynosport World Games."
This course, like many over the years at Nationals, presented different challenges in different rings. Despite having multiple judges review the courses, built supposedly identically in separate rings, there were obvious differences to handlers who had to walk and run the "same" course in different rings. The initial 4 jumps formed more of a straight path for the dogs in one ring than in the other ring, in which you could barely see the edge of jump #3's bar when looking over 1 and 2. The worst difference was the path through the broad jump at #9/10/11/12. In one ring, a large percentage of the 26" dogs were eliminated when they cut across the side of the broad jump and blasted into the tunnel without having a chance to come back and correct the broad jump.
That's because, as dogs landed from #10, they could see the tunnel opening looking across the start of the broad jump and through the side. Even experienced handlers lost their dogs in this way. Various handling strategies were attempted--handlers who could be ahead of their dog on the inside of #11 to shepherd their dog straight had better luck than those who trusted their dog to take the broad jump correctly. Some people handled it on the outside to try to keep their dogs' attention forward instead of towards the tunnel; sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn't. A little RFP to pull the dog back in after #10 so that their line then went straight across #11 seemed to work, too.
However, the angles of the obstacles in the other Jumpers ring made this to be not nearly the same challenge.
Thursday's Team Snooker
Today's Team Snooker proved to be a speed contest for the most part. The course consisted of only jumps and tunnels, and 4 reds were optional, but virtually all the dogs on the leader board (with a couple of 12" exceptions) as of late afternoon had 59-point runs. Most teams attempted all four reds.
One interesting challenge in Ring 4 was the proximity of a tunnel in Ring 5; the rings were separated by only a ring rope, no space, and the other course's tunnel was as close to the dogs as other equipment on the correct course. So some dogs went offcourse in the other ring, and a good number of other dogs may have lost a second or two veering off in that direction.
The course map is now posted on the USDAA news site (mentioned below).
Wednesday's Grand Prix Classic
USDAA posted the course map and results here: http://usdaa.com/news.cfm.
This course was taken from 1988. It had shorter distances between obstacles than you'd see now, and very unusual transitions--from a table next to the center of the dogwalk, directly onto the dogwalk; and then over a jump next to one end of the weaves, directly into the far end of the weaves. The former didn't cause people much grief; the latter proved a challenge for most folks. Also challenging was a chute to the back side of the A-frame, which many people tried to get ahead on, pulling their dogs off for a refusal.
They provided nice plaques, but only for the top 3 finishers in each height (performance and regular). I believe that Rip Freilich was the only Bay Teamer to place in this event.
Photos
Internet issues last night (so typical). I posted some photos from the trip here. Here are most of the Bay Teamers who attended the awards dinner, some with their Lifetime Achievement awards displayed.
Back row: Leslie Bickel, Jeanne Nixon, Nancy Gyes, Erika Maurer, Dave Grubel
Middle row: Ashley Deacon, Jim Basic, Scott Herr, Rob Michalski, Katrina Parkinson, Sharon Freilich, Linda White (partially hidden), Nancy Marmol, Liza Buckner
Front row: Sharon Murphy, Belinda Head, Sandy Rogers, Kathy Wheelock, Lisa Williams, Karey Krauter, Tania Chadwick, Ellen Finch
Efinch 09:10, 1 November 2007 (EDT)
Info/news from USDAA
...is posted here.
In Scottsdale
Nancy M and Ellen F arrived in Scottsdale late this evening. We're in our hotel; I have Internet access; what more could I hope for? In the morning, since neither of us are competing in Wednesday's bonus class, we'll have a leisurely breakfast and mosey our Yul-Brenner-like way over to Westworld to check in, set up, and see what's the haps.
More postings at http://tajmutthall.org. Efinch 02:56, 31 October 2007 (EDT)
Excitement builds
Bay Teamers are making their nefarious (or honorable) plans for Scottsdale. Read more:
- Bay Teamers at Scottsdale 2007 (list of members and dogs)
- USDAA nationals in Scottsdale (general info about the event, site, area, trip)
Efinch 13:33, 25 October 2007 (EDT)
