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ESPN 2002 Great Outdoor Games, Lake Placid, NY

Contact Point's Rayo De Luz returns from Lake Placid with 2 Gold medals, winning both Agility Large and Superweave Large at the 2002 Great Outdoor Games.
The Invitation

It came as a surprise that Luz had been invited to compete at the Great Outdoor Games. I have seen last year's Games on TV and they looked like a lot of fun. I was very excited and honored.

Luz and I are fairly new on the Agility scene, and though Luz has done very well in competition, making 2001 USDAA Grand Prix Finals and Top 10, and earning his ADCH in record time, it felt unreal that in a few short months we were going to travel all the way to Lake Placid, NY to compete on National Television.
The competitors' list looked as impressive as the USDAA Finals and AKC Invitational put together. For a moment I felt very intimidated. But hey! we were going to give it a try anyway.

The Trip

Since the GOG is a televised event, Luz flew American Airlines to Albany, NY as a "Celebrity Pet". He got to sit in his own seat and was served water and snacks, and played tug at the airport. He loved it.
Upon arrival to Lake Placid we checked into the hotel and went to the venue. The Agility competition was to be held at the Olympic Oval. Due to the high level of security at the Games, we had our pictures taken and were issued proper credentials. We got to look around, set up the crate, talked to other competitors and even gave an interview. Luz was very excited. The real highlight of the day though was unlimited swimming in the lake.
  
 
The Seeding Rounds

On Friday morning the Games began with two preliminary rounds of Agility to determine the running order for the Finals. First round was Standard Agility. Luz ran last by random draw and won. Second round was a Steeplechase type course, which was called Speed. Luz had 2 bars down. Ten faults. Between the winning score and the faulted one, we scraped for the 7th seed.
 
Superweave Large

Superweave competition was held on Saturday, July 13th, at 7:00pm. We had all day to rest after the Friday Agility Seeding rounds. Luz spent his morning swimming in the lake and slept in the afternoon. Small dogs were to compete first. We had never played the Weave Pole Knockout game before, so it was good to see what it entailed.

The first round of the Superweave was for seeding. 16 out of 20 dogs were to go on. Luz made the cut and I learned to watch the judge with the flag, as I almost missed the start. In the next round Luz was racing against Susan Garrett's Buzz. Luz won. It was getting dark and the remainder of the races were postponed till Sunday morning.
First thing Sunday morning, with eight dogs remaining, Luz was to race Stacy Peardot's Secret. Luz won. Now there were only four dogs left: Alicia Calhoun's Suni, Darrel Bommarito's Lacey and Raina, and my Luz. Luz won against Lacey, and Lacey won against Suni. And then came the final race: Luz vs. Raina. I opted not to push for speed and tried to avoid mistakes. By this time we had the course pretty much dialed in. Raina missed a tunnel entry and Luz won.

I couldn't believe it. Not even in my wildest dreams. Everyone was cheering in the stands, cameras everywhere, interviews. Luz had become an instant celebrity. Meanwhile the Standard Agility course was being built...

Agility Large Finals

We had to run 2 rounds of Agility, Standard and Speed. Speed being a Steeplechase type class, where refusals are not judged but SCT is very tight, plus a fast course.

After the two seeding rounds held Friday, Luz was in 7th seed so in the Standard round he ran 14th out of 20. There were no clean runs until Luz managed one. The atmosphere of the Great Outdoor Games, the venue, the TV cameras, the crowds... the run felt great. Out of the remaining 6 dogs 4 were clean: Scout, Mariah, Spring and Secret. Luz won the Standard round.

Since the format of competition at the GOG was faults then time, cumulative over two rounds, it was now all between the five dogs with the clean Standard rounds. I thought Luz had enough speed to win. Going clean in the Speed round was a much harder task.

Luz ran last. The idea was to run clean. Not easy on a speed course. Our run was quite smooth and without a snag until Luz almost blew the contact on the A-Frame two obstacles to the finish. The judge shook her head but didn't call a fault and after a dozen slow motion instant replays on the giant screen, Luz was declared the winner of the Dog Agility Large competition.
Now that was quite fantastic! It surely couldn't be me and my little Luz. I couldn't believe my luck and yet here they were: the two gigantic Gold Medals and the pretty blue ribbons...
Special Thanks to...

Jane Difloure, an Oxyfresh distributor, for sponsoring Luz's trip to the Great Outdoor Games. Without you it would not have been possible.

Mia Emhardt, my dear friend who kindly acted as Luz's official support person. You had us wonderfully organized throughout the whole trip.

Karen Moureaux, Luz's breeder, for breeding such a great puppy for me.
Lisa Layton & Shane McConnell for your faith in Luz and the wonderful opportunity you provided.

Jean McKenzie, our judge, for the challenging and exciting courses.

All my fellow competitors for your support and great sportsmanship.

 
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