World Agility Championships
World Team in Italy: Day Seven - Final Day of Competition

September 26: Montechairi, Italy

Part 2

Large Dog Individual Standard - Linda Mecklenberg Wins 8th Place in the World

The last event of the 3 day long World Championship competition was the Large Dog Individual Standard class. The course was fast and flowing, allowing for handlers to open up and let the dogs go. The first individual to run for the USA was Gerry Brown and Sterling. Gerry was off to a great start until he had a refusal at the #6 broad jump followed by a wrong course by back jumping the #5 jump. The second team member to run was Chris Parker and Mayhem. Chris took to the course in a determined manner. Her run was strong, though they did incur a refusal fault at the weave poles entrance. She recorded a time of 47.56. The final individual to run was Linda Mecklenburg and Awesome. Linda ran in a steady and controlled manner, guiding Awesome to a flawless run in a time of 39.68. This earned her a tie for 10th place with Greg Derrett of Great Britain in the standard class and 8th overall.

In the final standings for the individual large dog competition France's Christelle Bouillot took the gold, Great Britain's Greg Derrett earned the silver medal and the bronze medal went to the host country Italy and Bertuletti Ezio.

At the conclusion of the 2004 World Agility, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the supporters who made the trip to Montichiari, Italy this year to support our team. Your role in helping with team practice and the moral support that you give are greatly appreciated.

We would also like to thank our sponsors at the Iams Company, Clean Run Productions and K-9 Advantix. Without their generous support, the opportunity to compete against the best in the world would not happen.

See you in Spain in 2005!

Small Dog Individual Standard

Today started the final day of competition. The small dog standard course was extremely difficult in that there were several handling discriminations and very tight spacing. Of the 68 competitors, only 11 ran the course without any faults. The first individual to run for the USA was Erin Schaefer and Jag. Erin ran well but unfortunately stepped on the end of the teeter on her way to jump # 7b. This was an elimination fault. The second person to run was Barb Bicksler and Sydney. Barb ran the course determined, however, Sydney was faulted for taking a wrong course. The final individual to run was Kim Sisak and Phoebe. Kim had a beautiful run until they were faulted for a wrong course as Phoebe back jumped #18. Only 5 individuals obtained 2Q's over the 2 days of individual competition.

The final standings for the individual small dog competition was Holland taking the gold, Spain earning the silver medal and the bronze medal went to Russia.

Medium Dog Individual Standard

The medium dog course was very similar to the small dog course. There were several discriminations that required intense handling. The first of the medium dogs to run was Barb Davis and Shimmer. Barb blazed through the course with a very good time but picked up a wrong course at a tunnel #11 by going into the wrong side. The second to run was Jean Lavalley and Taz. Jean was in 10th place going into the final round. She had an excellent run but had a dropped bar at #6a. Finally, Joy Bishop and Keen were last to run. They were in 1st place, however, after a fly-off on the teeter, they were eliminated from the competition.

The final standings for the individual medium dog competition was Belgium taking the gold, France earning the silver medal and the bronze medal went to Belgium.

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