Dallas Big Air challenger Skeeter upsets world record holder Little Morgan

RENO, Nev. — Big Air produced a big upset Sunday at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge.

Skeeter, a 3-year-old female black Labrador, and her handler, Terry Casey of Parker, Texas, upset holder Little Morgan and handler Mike Jackson of Shakopee, Minn., the Outdoor Games' defending gold medal champion and Big Air world-record holder. Little Morgan settled for the silver medal. Dwight, handled by Wade Coplin of Stevensville, Mont., took the bronze.

"Someone needs to pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming," Casey said as emotion overwhelmed him, breaking his voice. "This has been a dream … "

Skeeter put together two personal-best jumps, a 23-foot, 4-inch bomb in the second round, followed by a final jump of 23-3 to beat Little Morgan, handled by Mike Jackson of Shakopee, Minn. Little Morgan's 22-4 final jump wasn't enough for gold, but his 26-6 jump at the 2002 Games remains the world record.

Casey said 23-2 was Skeeter's personal best prior to Sunday.

"I'm very shocked, because I honestly felt it would take one of the dogs here to (record) a personal best to beat Little Morgan," Skeeter said. "She went out and put two (personal bests) together and was far better than she's ever done."

Jackson wasn't sure what happened to Little Morgan. It appeared the black Labrador left the dock about six feet too soon on his first jump, posting his worst jump of the day, a 19-10 leap. It was the first time Little Morgan trailed all day after jumping 22-07, 25-09 and 24-10. He followed the 19-10 jump with a 22-04 to finish, but it wasn't enough.

"We've put together big jumps on the last jump all the time, but it wasn't to be today," Jackson said. "I'm not sure what happened on the first jump."

Skeeter's performance didn't shock Jackson.

"I knew Skeeter was a good competitor," Jackson said. "I've said that she is really built right for this sport. She has the best build of all the dogs. She'll be a good champion."

Mixed Doubles Boom Run: Fischer cousins win gold by slim margin

Minnesota's Jamie Fischer stamped the 2003 ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge with his own personal seal Saturday afternoon, capping the last event of the weekend by winning his third gold medal, teaming with his cousin Tanya to capture the gold in the Mixed Doubles Boom Run by a margin of three-tenths of a second.

"Going three-for-three is like no other feeling," Jamie Fischer said. "I can never replace that. It's history for me, that I can tell my kids about."

The 16 athletes who competed in the Men's and Women's Boom Run events were paired by random draw for the Mixed Doubles competition, and both Jamie and Tanya Fischer said their win was made sweeter by being able to share it with a relative.

"That keeps the Fischer tradition, and it's nice for us because we're close enough in age that we hang out together even when we're not working out," Jamie Fischer said.

Boom runners race across a bridge of loosely connected, spinning logs laid end-to-end, round a marker, and dash back across the bridge. The final times of the gold-medal match showed a difference of just over three-tenths of a second.

In the consolation round, Wisconsin's Abbie Hoeschler teamed up with Minnesota's Doug Goodmundson to school Abbie's sister, Lizzie Hoeschler, and the girls' uncle, Fred Scheer. The Hoeschler-Goodmundson tem finished in 33.133 seconds, while the Scheer-Hoeschler team struggled across the logs in 1:16.107.

Top outdoor athletes from around the world compete for entry into the ESPN Great Outdoor Games, held in Reno-Tahoe July 10-13. The ultimate championship of outdoor sports features one-of-a-kind, head-to-head competition in timber and target events, sporting dogs, and fishing. While entertaining large crowds on site, the ESPN Great Outdoor Games also draws a worldwide television audience airing on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports beginning 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 PT July 19.