2010 Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship
The 2010 Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship weekend got underway on Thursday evening at the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center when about 60 competitors arrived at the welcome reception sponsored by Hyperflite. Thirsty disc doggers managed to polish off a half keg in less than two hours! Hyperflite’s Nancy Noel adopted a canine from McKamey and many others were seriously in love with some of the shelter residents. The McKamey shelter does amazing work but still struggles to make ends meet, like most shelters. If you are looking for a worthy cause, ask anyone who has visited the center, and they will tell you about what great work the dedicated volunteers do. Think of them when you think of giving to a canine-related cause.
On Friday, at the Last Chance Open Qualifier, more than 250 competitive entries, were ably handled by our judging staff, on two fields. When the fur stopped flying, the last invitations were extended as follows:
Open Division: Samantha Valle & Super Freak, Mark Muir & Rocket, Chris Perondi & Flashy Ferrari, Frank Montgomery & Chicklet, Mark Muir & Gipper, and Jeff Stanaway & Cory
Sport Division: Chuck Middleton & BamBam, Samantha Valle & Super Freak, Nate Bednar & Rizzo, Mark Muir & Gipper, Nate Bednar & Marcy, and Mark Stevens & Starbuck
MicroDog Division: Nadja Palenzuela & Lolita, Tim Geib & Auggie, and Kara Gilmore & Squirt
Pairs Freestyle Division: Lawrence/Jodi Frederick & Jaxson, Frank Buckland/Frank Montgomery & Filo, and Dale/Scott Avick & Dazzle
Youth Division: Brittany Hensley & Wendy, Andrew Wagner & Jewel, and Reid Alexander & Case
On Saturday, the stage was set for the veterans in the Open Division and the wonder kids of the Youth Division to show their stuff. Weather predictions were mixed but we got off to an early start and kept on chugging. In the end it was a near perfect day for disc dogging with our best-ever spectator turnout.
Our brand new Youth Division didn’t disappoint either. These kids brought their A-games and put fear in the hearts of the adult teams who they will soon be trouncing in the Open Division. The top three Youth Division teams were as follows: Scott Avick & Hazel, Brittany Hensley & Wendy, and Brittany Hensley & Lexie.
The Open Division competition was also amazing with exciting freestyle performances from the big guns in our sport. Winning for the first time at the Skyhoundz World Championship were Lawrence Frederick & Flash. In second place, Chuck Middleton & Bling Bling. And our third place team was Matt DiAno & Maggie.
The Gathering of Champions Awards Banquet was huge as usual with approximately 200 disc doggers, family, and friends in attendance. Two kegs of Chattanooga Brewing Company IPA were reduced to empty aluminum in record time.
A highlight of the banquet included the presentation of a Hyperflite Hero Award to MAD Dog’s uber-volunteer Diane Campbell.
The usual goodies, including customized award plaques, books, and posters were handed out to competitors and other banquet attendees. Each banquet attendee also received a Hyperflite Competition Standard Lite disc. A surprising number of competitors used the new CS Lite at the World Championship, even though it was only introduced a few weeks ago.
Hyperflite was also delighted to present the Skyhoundz Lifetime Achievement Award to Hiro Sekiguchi of Japan. Hiro has distinguished himself with many years of dedicated service to the sport. Over the years, Hiro has helped introduce thousands of canine enthusiasts to the greatest canine sport on planet earth.
Finally, Hyperflite’s Jeff Perry announced that, for 2011, Hyperflite will be hosting a Skyhoundz Worlds Week in Chattanooga featuring an Xtreme Distance World Championship and Qualifier, and a DiscDogathon World Championship and Qualifier, in addition to the usual Last Chance Open Qualifier and World Championship. So, plan your vacations and mark your calendars accordingly, because this new weeklong format will keep your canine flying! But don’t worry if you can’t make every event, because the Big 5 Worlds Divisions and Last Chance Open Qualifier will stick to the same Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule for 2011.
After a good night’s sleep, competitors were treated to a 9:30 a.m. start, and we were off to the races. Running two fields, in case of rain, meant that we had an easy and relaxed day. There were many great performances and the crowd favorite Pairs Freestylers dazzled as usual. We finished with a Pairs Freestyle second tie-breaker, the Snapshot round of 10 seconds, to determine the third place team. The enthusiastic crowd stuck around to the very end, savoring every minute of this amazing spectacle.
Here are the results from the Sport, MicroDog and Pairs Freestyle Divisions.
In the MicroDog Division: Lee Fairchild & Gracie, Frank Montgomery & Chicklet, and Tim Geib & Auggie.
In the Sport Division: Chuck Middleton & BamBam, Mark Gose & Colt, Rick Rauwerda & Riff Raff.
In Pairs Freestyle, Frank Buckland along with new pairs partner Sally Zinkhan (and canine Shiloh) again found himself on the podium edging out Lawrence/Jodi Frederick & Jaxson. And the third place team was Lawrence Frederick/Michelle Thomas & Spencer.
The after-competition party at River Street Deli afforded one more opportunity to “hang” with our fellow disc doggers — when we weren’t stuffing our faces with some mighty delicious sandwiches or quaffing down some good microbrew. The Club Cup was awarded again to the Mid-Atlantic Disc Dogs (aka MAD Dog) for posting the highest combined scores at a geographic Regional Qualifier.
We hope that we don’t need to remind you that we love our wonderful disc dog family and will continue to work our tails off to make certain that you return home with that impression.
Finally, we checked with the McKamey folks and they were pleased to report that they raised more than $1,000 in donations during the weekend. At least two dogs were adopted at the event as well.
A special thanks to all those who took their valuable time to attend the Worlds weekend, and support our efforts. But for you, the Hyperflite and Skyhoundz organizations wouldn’t exist. It is our hope that your trips home were safe and that your canines are snug in their beds dreaming of next year’s adventures. If one of those adventures is the 2011 Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship Week in Chattanooga, then we will count ourselves blessed.
Finally, we want to make note of the least recognized, yet most deserving folks of all, namely, the many volunteers who helped during the three-day event. They include, but are not limited to, Judges — Mark Jennings, Ray Lowman, Ron Ellis, Hiro Sekiguchi, and Greg Perry, and our Support Staff — Val Buckland, Diane Campbell, Gavin Cox, David Gosh, Bob & Melanie Griggs, Sawyer Kauffman, Blake & Candy Kilbourne, Julia Kosobucki, Mike Miller, Frank & Nancy Montgomery, Jeff Stanaway, Swanee Swainston, Jim Webb, Peter & Carolynn Williams, and Dolores & Mallory Willis, and Sally Zinkhan.
NEWS FLASH! The Skyhoundz Record Book had to be modified 13 times…
The Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship Wrap-Up Press Release can be found here:
https://skyhoundz.com//downloads/10WorldChampionshipAfterPR.pdf
Fly High, Bite Hard!