Hey there folks,
what a great day!!! Breck has been pretty cold and miserable on 2 different occasions, but
this year, the weather was great!...until we started the awards ceremony, but that's ok-
nobody had to play in the rain!
Though the grass is a little patchy, and the field is actually slightly sloped, Breckenridge is
always a great venue. Our sponsors came through and helped out once again, and Total
Performance even threw down a little extra for the "extra" events that we ran! Add the
Pup-Peroni "Pup-Patrol" and you have a lot of cool dog friendly activities in one spot-very
fun for everyone!
The day started with the "Mini" Distance event, and a surprise from a club member-Cathy
Cramer, on behalf of her company, donated 60 Hero Minis to be handed out at
registration! How cool! So needless to say, suddenly EVERYONE was gunning for the Mini
Distance win!!
But just because you have the disc, doesn't mean you can throw it, and some of the club's
mightiest arms were humbled by the 4 inch discs!!!
With 35 teams taking 3 throws each, there were only 8 catches for the entire event!! In the
end the last team to take the field, Fred Parks and Ruby, put up an 87 foot throw and catch
to win this fun event. Way to go Fred! He took home the first "Alien" trophy of the day!
Next the Open freestylers took the field. This division was very fun to watch, and
challenging to judge. The experienced freestylers jumped to the top of the standings, but
for me, it was the performance of a new freestyler that was extra-exciting. Jeri Lawrence
and Shadow took the field, and did a great job! Now, when the results get posted, you
won't see them at the top, but sometimes the scores don't tell the whole story. For her
first try at Open, Jeri and Shadow did awesome! we can't wait to see more from them in the
future. And despite injuries, Michael D, Cathy Cramer, Tracy and Matt all did fine too! The
top 3:
1-Matt DiAno and Maggie
2-Becky Mueller and Flygirl
3-Michael Dillilo and Kinks
I should also mention 4th place, because this team has been out there at lots of
competitions, trying hard like all the teams. In Colorado, we have a very deep level of
talent in Freestyle-the top 3 finishes are all qualifiers for National and World level events
this year. So when a team can come up against them and finally start to get close, it is
something pretty cool! So you can imagine that Cally Sumpter and Zenny Rockstar must be
excited, as they managed to squeak into 4th place! Now looking at the results, you can see
that Throw & Catch was an important factor in the placings of MANY teams, and Callie and
Zen as well. But 4th is 4th! Congrats!!!
The Intermediate division...how do we recap that? How about the same as usual, gigantic,
challenging, competitive? Yup. That about sums it up! From Ruby's high-altitude jumps, to
Kerry Samet's headwear collection, this division was very interesting! the only thing
keeping Matt DiAno from taking home 2 big alien trophies was Jeff Mueller and Flygirl. A
huge 19.5 point round in the finals capped the division off, and secured the win. The top
3:
1-Jeff Mueller and Flygirl
2-Matt DiAno and Molly
3-James Commuso and Jake
The Novice division was a big one-25 teams showing up to play! Lots of local talent made
the scene, and we got to see some very cool dogs at work! The top 3:
1-CR Sturgis and Reactor Core
2-Sue Vissochi and Fabi
3-Mike Cooper and Kiva
And I definitely do NOT want to forget a very special thing that happened at Breck. As a
"thank you" for some hook-ups we gave the DEO Speedwaggin' Flyball team to do shows
at, the Flyballers bought the club lunch!!! 2 trays of delicious sandwiches, veggies, chips,
all courtesy of the very nice, and very generous DEO Speedwaggin' flyball crew! There are
some of the DEO crew that play frisbee with us, Mark and Cari Southerland, for example,
and this represents a very classy act. Thanks again, it was yummy, and above and beyond!
We also ran some other fun events, the "Laika Look-a-Like-uh" event and the Captain
Wallace Marvel Treat Catch competition. Both were very funny! In the Laika look a like
contest, We had Hudson, Casey, Shadow, Chase, Callie, Bonnie, and Jacob. Yup. A Human
entry in the Laika Look-a-Like-uh!! Our esteemed judges, Lena Brydum and Raphe Posner,
thought that Jacob had the stuff, too! Red bandana, black fur t-shirt, tennis ball and
intense gaze!!! Jacob was declared the winner!
The Captain Wallace Marvel Treat Catch was spectacular as always! The presence of the
Pup-Peroni Pup-Patrol meant that the treats were already flying, and this just took it up a
notch!! The field was narrowed down to 3 tough pups: Toby, Shadow (Lawrence), and
Shadow (Posner). after 2 rounds went by with no winner among these 3, Shadow Lawrence
finally stepped up and made a catch thrown by Charlie Lawrence to secure the win, and
some extra treats courtesy of Total Performance! Scott Amans and Toby took 2nd, and
David Posner and Shadow took 3rd!
I would be beyond remiss if I didn't thank the incredible staff who worked super-hard to
put this event on: Russ Friesen, who towed the trailer up, helped set up, helped judge,
etc..WOW! thanks! Matt Diano and Clint Marlow, who laid out an excellent field, Christi
Campbell, Cathy Cramer, Kerry Samet, Jeri Lawrence and Sue Vissochi who all ran a
smooth registration, Amanda Guth and Peter Boyle who did all the data entry and
produced accurate INSTANT results all day long!!! Rick Brydum, who did so much judging I
think the club would have to bring in 4 outside judges to replace 1 Rick!!! Also Kerry,
Cathy, Charlie Lawrence, Sherry Gacke, James Commuso, and Jeri Lawrence, who all judged
as well. Thanks very much to Christi, Becky, Matt and Peter Boyle for working the mic,
Thanks to LENA (yay! She's back!!) who was our DJ Supreme!!! Scott Amans transported a
whole bunch of prizes to the field, Christi and Kerry who painted the Alien trophies;
Thanks BIG TIME to Go Paint! of Evergreen for getting the trophies at the last minute,
doing a special firing of them to get them done on time, and basically enabling my very
procrastinating nature!!...I know there were other people that helped. I do. And if I didn't
just name you by name, I am sorry, you know who you are, and you know that this event
would not have been the great event it was without you!!! Thanks again!!
