2011 Show Me State Disc Dog Championships Results
Novice Results, click this link and open the file
Pro Results, click this link and open the file
Team Time Trial (Ohio Rules) Results are below my comments.
What an incredible weekend we had for the Show Me State Disc Dog Championships this year. The Weather was nearly perfect, both divisions were full of disc doggers, and the competition was tough but super friendly.
Saturday morning was a start to a beautiful fall day. We started our weekend off with "Funstyle". I was asked the question several times if Funstyle is the same as Freestyle. I replied, "Yes"... but you are required to have fun. Props are also allowed in Funstyle, and for the first time ever we saw some this year. Ann Wilhelm and Harley Sue came out in Pirate garb and appropriate accouterments and Bryce Ostrom and Oscar appeared as a classical magician and crew. As it turned out, Oscar's disappearing act was a true show stopper, but that is another story.
Darron Barrus and The Edge showed up big for Funstyle, the weather was perfect for handlers to nail the tricky stuff. Darron brought the tricky stuff on a large platter and cut a little piece off for everyone. It tasted great! Christina Curtis and Loco laid down some thunder in their rounds too. In the novice division Jennifer Huddleston and Annie flipped our lids with a great showing. Gerry Bethel and Jasper had two solid rounds and just edged her and Annie out.
In Timed Course; much confusion (mostly on my part) had me incorrectly stating that the one round best time was held by various players over the last four weeks. Tom Clements and Journey solved my confusion this weekend by setting the one round shortest time, 12.75 seconds. I leaned over to tie my shoe, I heard some cheering, I looked up and Tom was already off the field slapping high fives, I missed it... Now I wonder how he did it. However, the only reason I host competitions is because I like to play with my dogs too. Yard Dart moved fast and I weigh a lot and that slowed down/bent space-time enough to get both our Timed Course rounds in under 20 seconds getting us some gold.
Sunday's first event was Long Distance Throw and Catch. The weather was again dreamy... even an easy tail wind blowing down the field... incredible. Novice Women's was topped by Leah Kerns and Coco with two rounds of solid throwing. Some great throw and catches in the Men's Novice Division have the Pros feeling old. These dudes are throwing well. As for the Pros; there was some good action as Men's and Women's longest throw were set this Sunday. Jackie Rodeffer Sheetz and Towser hit a 66.1 yard monster catch. Jackie and Towser ended up winning the Women's Pro with Kathy Mills and her awesome little dog Hocus Pocus hot on their heels. Great throwing ladies! I was feeling good after Yard Dart caught an 80.2 yard throw, but my hopes for more gold were fumbled with, then dropped into a full port-a-potty after our second round expired without a catch. Darron Barrus and the Edge keep the pace with awesome distance in both rounds and take the win, again. Matt Srum and Draykun, also landing long distance bombs, in both rounds finished with a personal best and some silver.
Last event of the Show Me's... Throw and Catch! Mark Long and his awesome dog use their "Bend It In" technique to capture silver. And Novice gold goes to Chris Knapp and Jack with a huge second round score getting him the win by just a half a point. It always comes down to one throw. Christina Curtis and Loco kicked the pros butts, hats off fellas, you just got beat by a girl. The only respect that us Men have left is that Jeff Sheetz and his young dog Killian scratched out some silver, 'casue his wife Jackie and (the most beautiful disc dog ever) Towser hammered out bronze in this game that is the true test of disc dogging skill.
It is interesting to note that many dogs on Sunday were distracted by some smells on the field. I smelled those spots myself and did not notice a thing. But at least a sixth of the dogs playing noticed that something was amiss with our competition field and stopped and sniffed a few spots on the field. There were dogs that went to catch a disc Sunday morning and then, catch or not, raised their hackles and were on alert for danger. The problem dissipated as the dew dried from the field. From evidence that was gathered; a predator (coyotes, fox, mountain lion, grizzly bear, alien ant) had made a kill, dragged the bloody kill across our competition field and finished it's nocturnal snack down by the creek. It's a Halloween competition, why not be a bit scared???
A note to competitors:
Due to the fact that the sun was going to set, we had to make a cut in the Throw and Catch divisions to only have our top fifteen teams play in the second round. Having to make a cut for the second round does two absolutely horrible things. #1. Some players don't get their second round, and this breaks a goal of this competition format that ever one should get as much field time as possible. #2. When a team doesn't make the cut to the second round it will effect their Over-all score because no points will carry over to from their second round.
This competition format has goals: Be Fun. Make the event easy for the competitor. Novice and Pro Divisions on the same field. Low entry fees. Give competitors two rounds in all five games. Have a novice and pro Over-all championship held with the same rules and scoring structure.
Sunday morning at registration we had a problem. Late entries... This included people showing up late to pay entry fees, people who were not pre-registered showing up after registration was officially closed, and registered and pre-registered teams that made mistakes or needed to make changes in there registration. A goal of mine as a disc dog event organizer and creator of this competition format is to get everyone all their play time on the field. I failed to get everyone all their play time on the field this weekend. And I hate to turn anyone away, because I know they brought their dog with them.
Registration Sunday was delayed by roughly 50 minutes by late entries. If we had those 50 minutes back we would not have had to make second round cuts, and we would have not had to throw away a whole tree worth of paper that we printed our run orders on. I am, and this competition format are, competitor friendly. I want people and their dogs to have a great time. I will continue to streamline the competition format, and through technology and organization I will continue to suit the maximum amount of disc doggers in the Show Me States Disc Dog Championships. Expect some changes in registration for next year.
On a technical note. Funstyle judges this year were instructed to use the full ten point scale. The reason behind this; is that in the past, competing teams rarely got lower than a 6.0 score from a judge...ever... This made the Over-All score from Freestyle be very high for everyone, out weighing the other three games in the Championships. The intention of this competition format is to have four different games and have them count equally to wards the Over-all Championships in both Novice and Pro Divisions. I scored some teams below 5.0 this weekend and I felt like a big dirty bad meanie, but I think if we have a 0-10 scoring system we need to use all of that range to achieve the goals of this competition format. Also we changed the Over-all scoring denominator for Men's Long Distance Throw and Catch to make 180 combined yards a maximum Over-all score. Increased from 160 yards combined in previous years. This was done because recent long distance records for men this year are in that range.
A big congratulations to the Show Me State Disc Dog Championships Novice Over-all Champions Gerry Bethel and Jasper.
Novice Runner-up is Ashley Younger and Abby
The Three Time Pro Division Show Me State Disc Dog Champion Darron Barrus and The Edge, and our Runner-up Jeff Sheetz and Towser. Missouri salutes you!
I thank the Kansas City Disc Dogs and the St. Louis Disc Dogs for helping with field set up and judging. The people involved with these organizations are ears deep in promoting the disc dog sport and are making the world a great place for human friendship and athletic dogs. I bow before you all and look forward to having an awesome 2012 disc dog season.
Adrian Custer
Event Coordinator
Team Time Trial (Ohio Rules)
1st
Darron Barrus / The Edge
Tom Clements / Journey
Mike Kittinger / Henry
64.07
2nd
Randy Phillips / Gus
Mike Guentz / Rio
Gerry Bethal / Jasper
71.84
3rd
Jeff Sheetz / Towser
Tracy Custer / Courage
Adrian Custer / Yard Dart
83.56
4th
Dan Eber / Boo
Ann Wilhelm / Harley Sue
Bryce Ostrom / Oscar
89.93
5th
Brian Wilkins / Sky
Kathy Mills / Rowan
Rrie Mills / Crossbones
102.00
6th
Tony Burnett / Big Biscuit
Howard Helgenberg / Roxy
Mark Long / Coco
115.94
7th
Kelsey Nichols / Kaiser
Ashley Younger / Abby
Jennifer Hudleston / Annie
149.59
8th
Valarie Eber / Boo
Matt Srum / Draykun
Dotty Esher / Rob
176.88
9th
Steve Collins / Mattie
Mike Fitzgerald / Bexley
Gerry Bethal / Kaizer
185.49 | 
