We love coming to Huntsville. The Huntsville Sports Commission has built a great festival atmosphere."
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Ten-year-old Jagger Pence of New Hope and his 3-year-old Lab "Mocha" saved the best for last as the final youth handler competitors for the Junior Fly SRS Crown Championship on Sunday.
Jagger Pence, 10, of New Hope, and his Lab, "Mocha" took first place in the SRS Crown Championship Junior Fly competition Sunday. Jagger's father, Jeremy Pence gives Mocha a congratulatory kiss. (Paul Huggins/phuggins@al.com) The pressure was off when the tandem ascended the launch pad as the final entry to take their second and last jump. Jagger and Mocha had already clinched the Junior Fly championship with a leap of 18-feet-seven inches, which was nearly three feet farther than the second-place jump.
Even with the best distance in the first round, Jagger said he was disappointed with the way he tossed the buoy into the pool that Mocha lunged to retrieve.
"It went right and drifted over," he said.
The Priceville fifth-grader had no qualms with his second toss. Mocha spotted it clearly on her running approach and then soared 19-feet-7-inches before splashing into the pool.
After accepting his blue ribbon, Jagger, who wore an Auburn football jersey with Rudy Ford's #23 in support of Ford's sick mother, gave all the credit to Mocha. "She's just a very good jumper," he said, noting Mocha made her best-ever jump in Saturday's qualifier at 21-feet-3-inches.
The runner-up in the Youth Handler championship was 8-year-old Rylie Sharp of Hazel Green and her dog, "Hinds," who jumped 15-feet-11-inches. It was her second year to compete in the competition.
This was the seventh straight year Huntsville has played host to the Super Retriever Series national championship. The event is sponsored by the Huntsville Sports Commission and Loyall brand dog food. Sixty dogs competed in the Super Fly and Super V (vertical) pool jumping staged in the parking lot of Valley Bend Shopping Center. Another 35 dogs competed in a series retriever trials at Jones Farm.
The Super Retriever Series returned to Huntsville this weekend, Friday-Sunday, Nov. 1-3, featuring the Super V and Super Fly competition where dogs jump testing their height, distance and speed. Competitors from all over the country attended the event, which was held at Valley Bend in Jones Valley. (Sarah Cole/scole@al.com) Though most of the dogs are retrievers, there were a mixture of other breeds competing, including the Super Fly champ, a pit bull, and a tiny Yorkie named "Waffles."
Visit SRS's Facebook page to see short video clips of the top jumps.
Three dog owners will share a total prize purse of $15,000 in the retriever trials: Lyle Steinman of Gower,. Mo., with Cha and Coot; Stephen Durrance with Dude of Sylvania, Ga.; and Bobby Wills with Bond of Dyersburg, Tenn.
T.J. Yoakum and his pit bull "Little Bear" of Lincoln, Neb., won the Super Fly professional handler championship with a personal best jump of 25-feet-six inches.
Tony Lampert and "Baxter" of St. Louis,. Mo., took first place in the Super V championship with a leap of 7-feet-7-inches. Second place went to Lee Hall and "Astro" of Bardstown, Ky., with a jump of 7-feet-2-inches. Third place went to Bob Sorenson and "Shadow" of New Ulm, Minn, also with a jump of 7-feet-2-inches. The tie-breaker went to Astro.
Hall and Astro won the all-around super dog category for best score in vertical and distance jumping.
The event began Friday with a local qualifier, one of 15 regional qualifiers to get to the championship. The first round of the championship was Saturday. The top six in each category advanced to Sunday's final.
"It went great," said Shannon Nardi, owner and director of the SRS Crown Championship. "We love coming to Huntsville. The Huntsville Sports Commission has built a great festival atmosphere. And I love coming here because the trees are so beautiful."
The event was streamed live on the internet for the first time, and Nardi said the response was surprisingly strong. Each of the five series from the retriever trials is being re-broadcast, and the first series drew 2,500 views, she said.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends:
- Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And Syria
- Massacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And Syria
- National demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
via http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHd5tlEomnnIUkFYDo-jKEcC8vryQ&url=http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/11/huntsville_crowns_national_dog.html
Show Konversi KodeHide Konversi Kode Show EmoticonHide Emoticon