Great Outdoor Games staff
NEW ORLEANS, La. — There are a half dozen ways you could describe the outcome of the Super Retriever Series presented by Natural Life Pet Products held at the Bonnet Carre Spillway near New Orleans.
For instance, it would be easy to call it "Golden" or even "Heavy Medal." Both would be applicable considering the top three places were won by the last three gold medal winners in the ESPN Great Outdoor Games.
Leading the way was Jerry Day of College Park, Ga., who won the Super Retriever Series event with Nike, the daughter of Super Sue, the 2001 gold medalist. He was followed by Chris Akin (2003 gold medalist) who finished second with Abby. And Alex Washburn (2002 gold medalist) was third with Ripper.
Goin' low
After a week of extremely high scores, Day and Nike chalked up an abnormally low 12 points to win the event. Akin and Abby had 15, while Washburn and Ripper had 19.
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| Heavy metal: (from left) Chris Akin and Abby (2nd place), Jerry Day and Nike (1st) and Alex Washburn and Ripper (3rd place) . |
"For me this is a dream come true," Day said. "Ever since I started competing in the Super Retriever Series I wanted to qualify Nike for the Great Outdoor Games, letting her follow in her mother's footsteps."
For Nike, though, the path to the Great Outdoor Games was a little more difficult than the one her mother took.
"Massacre at the Spillway"
The Super Retriever Series event in New Orleans was arguably one of the toughest competitions on record.
In south Louisiana they call it "Lagniappe." In Cajun-speak, it means "just a little bit extra.''
After the qualifying rounds in the Super Retriever Series, many of the retriever/handler teams felt like that "little bit extra" was way too much.
| “ | It was gruesome. I'd have to say this was the massacre at the spillway. ” | |
| — Justin Tackett, Super Retriever Series organizer |
The legendary field trial grounds of Bonnet Carre Spillway served up a whole lot of extra twists and turns on the 63-retriever field, forcing some of the top handlers in the country to go down in a legendary ball of flame, kind of like the first piece of sausage in a bowl of gumbo, hot and hard.
As dramatic as it may sound, the event included a quarterfinal round that is best described as the Super Retriever's Series darkest day, in more ways than one.
For instance it was the first time a quarterfinal round in the Super Retriever Series was postponed because of a lack of daylight. The round had to resume Saturday morning with the running of one retriever, Ripper, handled by Alex Washburn.
In that round, of the 29 dogs that made the quarterfinals, only13 passed the test. The rest pulled their retrievers midway through their runs. Of those that fell, Dave Morgan who held the second and third place spots with Katie and Susie, failed to pass either dog in the fading light. The pockmarked landscape and marshes of the Bonnet Carre Spillway continually chewed up retrievers and spit them out.
"It was gruesome,'' said Justin Tackett, organizer of the Super Retriever Series. "I'd have to say this was the massacre at the spillway.''
All Super Retriever Series tests are set up to be difficult. This one was no different, but Tackett never dreamed the degree of difficulty would reach the level of this one.
"The wind just continually picked up during the day and it just made it harder and harder,'' Tackett said. "It's one of those things when you set it up it doesn't look that difficult. You run your test dogs and they get through it and then the wind starts blowing and things start happening and dogs start dropping like house flies.
"It made some of the best dogs in the country look like rookies.''
The survivors, though, tested the boundary of one last cliché, the cream definitely rose to the top and it had a definite golden tinge to it.
With their finish, Day and Akin will return to the Great Outdoor Games to attempt a repeat of their past gold medal performance. And with Alex Washburn's third place finish, it puts her in a good position to make the Great Outdoor Games with Ripper.
Washburn is already qualified to run in the 2004 Great Outdoor Games with Ticket, the 2003 silver medalist. But there is no guarantee the team will compete. Washburn retired Ticket after the Labrador won the silver medal, but brought her out of retirement to compete at the Super Retriever Series event in Virginia in October.
"She still may be capable of competing,'' Washburn said. "I won't know that until it comes time for the Games."
Final results
1. Jerry Day/Nike (College Park, Ga.): 12
2. Chris Akin/Abby (Jonesboro, Ark.):15
3. Alex Washburn/Ripper (Oxford, Miss.):19
4. Scott Greer/Liza (Friendship, Tenn.):25
5, Mark Lanier/Picabo (Baton Rouge, La.):36
6. Kelly Scott/Rip: 73
