Saturday, November 04, 2006
Saturday at the Nationals
Original sender: Ellen----
The Performance Speed Jumping and Championship Steeplechase finals were this evening, and it was quite a show of speed and handling. The weather was sweater-cool but calm, perfect for sitting in bleachers and cheering your favortie dogs and handlers.
In fact, it's been sunny and in the high 70s to low 80s all week--sorry all you Bay Areans who are apparently enduring rain. Sunrises and sunsets have been gorgeous every time. I have a couple of photos--actually I have about 500, but who knows when I'll actually sort through them and post them online. Maybe Monday if I'm not wiped from the trip home.
I wrote all the dogs' names and times and places, but it's already 11:30 and I have to be up at 5:30 to shower, pack everything out of the hotel room, stop for ice and cash, and be at the site at 6:30 with enough time to get the dogs settled in, pick up course maps, and be ready for walkthroughs of Power and Speed at 7:00. So I'll just hit some highlights.
Performance 12" won by Spike, a JRT, with a time of 33.75. No Bay Teamers involved.
Performance 8" I didn't write down, shame on me. No Bay Teamers involved.
Performance 16" was particularly exciting for the handlers' drive, the speed of the dogs, and the bay teamers competing. Steeplechase events run in reverse seed order based on their earlier placements, and the first two dogs Eed, then Tooney the Aussie set a pace of 36.98, beaten two dogs later by Bay Team's Dave Grubel in another athletic handling experience with Tahoe, coming in clean at 35.37. Mesa the ?? gave it a good shot but couldn't beat Dave & Tahoe with a time of 35.99, then Bay Team's Jim Basic ran Wicked with a smooth and experienced handling style, racking up a beautiful 34.42 time with 1 dog left to go--who had problems with the weaves and fell way back, placing Wicked 1st, Tahoe 2nd, Mesa 3rd, Tooney 4th, and Max 5th.
Performance 22" had several Es, including Linda Mecklinberg's experienced champion Awesome and Bay Team's Sandy Roger's young but zippy Ty. The interesting thing about this class was that not one of the three top placers onthe finalist's podium was a border collie--Jazz the flat-coat was first at 35.17, followed by Gracie the Aussie and Player the Golden.
Steeplechase 12" had 8 dogs, none of them bay teamers. The class was won by Whim the JRT at 34.64; 2nd with Bailey the JRT at 34.77; 3rd with Charlie the papillon at 34.92.
Steeplechase 16" had 12 competitors. Dustin the sheltie ran first with a time of 35.62, which the next 4 dogs failed to beat. Susan Garret with Decaff finally bested them at 35.24, but immediately followed by Marvel the Sheltie (Joe Lavalle) with 34.89 and, 2 dogs later, Taz the Sheltie (Jean Lavalle) at 34.67, and the final dog, Sizzle, stunning the audience with a flawless 33.07 second run.
22" was the largest class with 20 dogs. Razzle the BC started the class with a challenging 33.28, which QUick tried to beat but missed at 33.55. Argos was slower, then a little black dog (Annie?) came in at 33.40. Three dogs later, Bay Team's Silvina Bruera and Maja displayed lovely teamwork with a run of 32.62, raising more cheers from the rowdy crowd. Flash the BC follwed, also breaking 32, at 32.84, leaving Maja the leader even when Bay Team's Jim Basic and Wicked blazed through the course at 32.75, with 11 dogs stilll to go. How low can you go? The next 6 dogs either had bobbles or Es, including Bay Team's Nancy Gyes' youngster Mace, who Eed early, but Nancy showed the amazing resilience and resolve of an experienced handler and used the rest of the run to proof their Aframe contact and handling around the course. With 4 dogs to go, Lightning, purportedly a Sheltie, broke the bank at 31.96 with no faults, and although Typhoon the BC came in at 32.64 and Sybil the BC at 31.10 (but got called on the Aframe) and Pickle at 32.51 gave it a try, Lightning held the 1st place, followed by Pickle, Maja, Typhoon, Spy, Flash, Jazz, Annie, Quick, and Sterling.
26" had 12 competitors, with lots of Friends of Bay Team (FOBT) and Bay Teamers. BTer Rob Michalski and Hobbes started the group with a time of 39.19, followed by FOBT Greg Leal and Coty (father of Bay Team dogs Boost and Bette and who knows how many others) at 36.28. FOBT Aiko ran at 36.37 but got an Aframe call, FLash got an Aframe call, then Linda Mecklinberg and Steller came in at 33.11, setting a new pace for the 26ers; the next 2 dogs couldn't beat it, then BT Nancy Gyes and Panic drove the audience to a frenzy with a time of 32.69; FOBT Rachel Sanders and Fable drove hard and handled smoothly all the way through but just missed Panic's time, coming in at 32.86. Slick followed with a bar down, and then Juice shut them all down with a clean 31.69 for 1st, putting Panic 2nd, Fable 3rd, Stellar 4th, Jester 5th, Coty 6th.
Several Bay Teamer teams will be among the 30 championshipi and 10 Versatility teams advancing to the final relay rounds tomorrow. I just couldn't keep up with everything going on, but if you want to read about my own personal experiences and how our team is doing, you can do so at http://www.finchester.org/dogs/dog_diary/
The Performance Speed Jumping and Championship Steeplechase finals were this evening, and it was quite a show of speed and handling. The weather was sweater-cool but calm, perfect for sitting in bleachers and cheering your favortie dogs and handlers.
In fact, it's been sunny and in the high 70s to low 80s all week--sorry all you Bay Areans who are apparently enduring rain. Sunrises and sunsets have been gorgeous every time. I have a couple of photos--actually I have about 500, but who knows when I'll actually sort through them and post them online. Maybe Monday if I'm not wiped from the trip home.
I wrote all the dogs' names and times and places, but it's already 11:30 and I have to be up at 5:30 to shower, pack everything out of the hotel room, stop for ice and cash, and be at the site at 6:30 with enough time to get the dogs settled in, pick up course maps, and be ready for walkthroughs of Power and Speed at 7:00. So I'll just hit some highlights.
Performance 12" won by Spike, a JRT, with a time of 33.75. No Bay Teamers involved.
Performance 8" I didn't write down, shame on me. No Bay Teamers involved.
Performance 16" was particularly exciting for the handlers' drive, the speed of the dogs, and the bay teamers competing. Steeplechase events run in reverse seed order based on their earlier placements, and the first two dogs Eed, then Tooney the Aussie set a pace of 36.98, beaten two dogs later by Bay Team's Dave Grubel in another athletic handling experience with Tahoe, coming in clean at 35.37. Mesa the ?? gave it a good shot but couldn't beat Dave & Tahoe with a time of 35.99, then Bay Team's Jim Basic ran Wicked with a smooth and experienced handling style, racking up a beautiful 34.42 time with 1 dog left to go--who had problems with the weaves and fell way back, placing Wicked 1st, Tahoe 2nd, Mesa 3rd, Tooney 4th, and Max 5th.
Performance 22" had several Es, including Linda Mecklinberg's experienced champion Awesome and Bay Team's Sandy Roger's young but zippy Ty. The interesting thing about this class was that not one of the three top placers onthe finalist's podium was a border collie--Jazz the flat-coat was first at 35.17, followed by Gracie the Aussie and Player the Golden.
Steeplechase 12" had 8 dogs, none of them bay teamers. The class was won by Whim the JRT at 34.64; 2nd with Bailey the JRT at 34.77; 3rd with Charlie the papillon at 34.92.
Steeplechase 16" had 12 competitors. Dustin the sheltie ran first with a time of 35.62, which the next 4 dogs failed to beat. Susan Garret with Decaff finally bested them at 35.24, but immediately followed by Marvel the Sheltie (Joe Lavalle) with 34.89 and, 2 dogs later, Taz the Sheltie (Jean Lavalle) at 34.67, and the final dog, Sizzle, stunning the audience with a flawless 33.07 second run.
22" was the largest class with 20 dogs. Razzle the BC started the class with a challenging 33.28, which QUick tried to beat but missed at 33.55. Argos was slower, then a little black dog (Annie?) came in at 33.40. Three dogs later, Bay Team's Silvina Bruera and Maja displayed lovely teamwork with a run of 32.62, raising more cheers from the rowdy crowd. Flash the BC follwed, also breaking 32, at 32.84, leaving Maja the leader even when Bay Team's Jim Basic and Wicked blazed through the course at 32.75, with 11 dogs stilll to go. How low can you go? The next 6 dogs either had bobbles or Es, including Bay Team's Nancy Gyes' youngster Mace, who Eed early, but Nancy showed the amazing resilience and resolve of an experienced handler and used the rest of the run to proof their Aframe contact and handling around the course. With 4 dogs to go, Lightning, purportedly a Sheltie, broke the bank at 31.96 with no faults, and although Typhoon the BC came in at 32.64 and Sybil the BC at 31.10 (but got called on the Aframe) and Pickle at 32.51 gave it a try, Lightning held the 1st place, followed by Pickle, Maja, Typhoon, Spy, Flash, Jazz, Annie, Quick, and Sterling.
26" had 12 competitors, with lots of Friends of Bay Team (FOBT) and Bay Teamers. BTer Rob Michalski and Hobbes started the group with a time of 39.19, followed by FOBT Greg Leal and Coty (father of Bay Team dogs Boost and Bette and who knows how many others) at 36.28. FOBT Aiko ran at 36.37 but got an Aframe call, FLash got an Aframe call, then Linda Mecklinberg and Steller came in at 33.11, setting a new pace for the 26ers; the next 2 dogs couldn't beat it, then BT Nancy Gyes and Panic drove the audience to a frenzy with a time of 32.69; FOBT Rachel Sanders and Fable drove hard and handled smoothly all the way through but just missed Panic's time, coming in at 32.86. Slick followed with a bar down, and then Juice shut them all down with a clean 31.69 for 1st, putting Panic 2nd, Fable 3rd, Stellar 4th, Jester 5th, Coty 6th.
Several Bay Teamer teams will be among the 30 championshipi and 10 Versatility teams advancing to the final relay rounds tomorrow. I just couldn't keep up with everything going on, but if you want to read about my own personal experiences and how our team is doing, you can do so at http://www.finchester.org/dogs/dog_diary/
