GENOA, Nev. Youth won out over experience in the finals of the Retriever Trials at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games Wednesday.
Boomer, a 4-year-old black Labrador retriever, captured the first gold medal of the 2003 Games as he and his handler, Chris Akin of Jonesboro, Ark., finished with 34 points, handily beating three other dogs, including the past two gold medallists.
"You're talking about the best dogs in the world being out here," Akin said.
"You're running against dogs with a lot of experience. It just shows you how much heart Boomer has got."
Boomer's 38 points came on a challenging course set up on the Buyington Ranch, about 45 miles south of Reno. Each dog was required to retrieve four marked birds and one blind.
First-bird blues
All three other dogs struggled on the first bird thrown, a long retrieve that required a water crossing before the final pick-up of the retrieve on land.
Super Sue, the 2001 Great Outdoor Games gold medalist struggled mightily on that mark and it ended up costing her and handler Jerry Day of Atlanta, Ga., a medal. They finished with 101 points, putting them in fourth place in the finals.
The silver medal went to 2002 gold medallist Ticket and her handler, Alex Washburn, with 57 points. The bronze went to 9-year-old Cody and his handler, Bill Autrey of Bentley, La., who had 94 points.
Akin, who went third, saw Super Sue and Cody struggle on the long mark. He didn't want Boomer to have the same problem.
"When you see dogs of that quality having so much trouble with a mark, you've got to be paying close attention," he said. "If not, you're going to be way behind them because those are quality animals.
"So you're darned right I paid attention to that long mark. That's the only bird I marked because I wanted to know exactly where it was, because I knew once he came out of the tulles, I was going to handle it just like a blind all the way to it.
"That's what I did and it worked out."
The gold medal gives Akin and Boomer the right to return to next year's Great
Outdoor Games to defend their title.
"I'm looking forward to it," Akin said.
This was the final Great Outdoor Games for both 12-year-old Super Sue and
11-year-old Ticket.
"Just being in the final four is very rewarding for me and for her," Day said of Super Sue. "I'm still proud of her."
Washburn said the same of Ticket.
"I'm really happy. I got a gold, I got a silver and now I'm retiring her," Washburn said.
While their dogs are retiring, neither Washburn nor Day are giving it up.
They both have other dogs they plan to introduce next year.
Results Retrievers
1. Boomer/Chris Aiken, Jonesboro, Ark.
2. Ticket/Alexandra Washburn, The Plains, Va.
3. Cody/Bill Autrey, Benidji, Minn.
4. Super Sue/Jerry Day, College Park, Ga.
5. Titan/John Terraciano, Billings, Mont.
6. Ice/Jim McMahan, Covington, Tenn.
7. Pepper/Larry McMurry, Little Rock, Ark.
8. Windy/Dana Giovannello, Cabot, Ark.
9. Scout/Mark Schuta, Zimmerman, Minn.
10. Elvis/Jack Jagoda, Goldvein, Va.
11. Ritz/Eric Fangsrud, Ronan, Mont.