It's been such a busy season that we've not been very good at keeping the blog running ... but we couldn't let the BFA Championships pass by without a little mention!
We brought 3 open and 2 foundation teams to Champs this year ... that kept everyone on their toes and meant that we raced every day of the competition!
Speed trials for our open teams went so-so! Both Kingfishers and Kestrels pulled out 5 clean runs across the 9 heats - Kingfishers setting a seed time of 21.15s and Kestrels 17.34s - job done! Kites on the other hand made it all look very difficult, achieving just 2 clean runs, but thankfully managed a seed time of 18s in the 4th heat! They went into the weekend in divisions 7 (Kestrels), 10 (Kites) and 24 (Kingfishers).
Kingfishers have been our rock solid team all year - keeping it clean and winning divisions wherever we competed. And Champs was no exception, winning all 5 races in their division to place as Divisional Champs! It was quite the stellar performance from Kizzy, Luna, Erny, Jimbo and Luna - and their handlers Julie, Mel, Andrea, Ant and Ivan.
Kingfishers line up - Luna (and Mel), Erny (and Andrea), Luna (and Ivan), Kizzy (and Julie), Jimbo (and Ant) along with team rep Sharon, and boxloader Abbie.
Kestrels and Kites were racing in divisions on the same day, and although both teams had their work cut out, they both benefitted from the fact that a team in their division broke out! Kestrels won 9 out of 20 heats and Kites won 13 out of 21. Kestrels place went to the wire on the very last race as lots of teams had won the same amount of races - but they succeeded in achieving 2nd place. Kites racing was also close, but they were in contention for first place (having won the same number of races as the other top team), but placed second having lost to the tied team.
Kestrels line up Jess (and Olivia), Piper (and Alison), Yuna (and Elvene), Maya (and Carike), and Toby (and Sue), along with team rep Ivan and boxloader Sharon.
Kites line up Moo (and Abbie), Buzz (and Ivan), Cassi (and Sheldon), Dory (and Helene), and Bracken (and Jo) and boxloader Daren.
Our two foundation teams delivered some great performances - particularly during the morning races where almost every heat was clean and the teams were operating like a well-oiled machine. It is a big day for foundation dogs, some of whom have only been doing flyball for a short time - so the afternoon races saw some lapses in concentration, some drift in focus and just a little tiredness meaning a few non-clean runs crept in. The competition was pretty tough in the foundation divisions, and we walked away with 4th (Kubs) and 6th (Kookies) place - but so much more in terms of experience gained and confidence grown!
Our Champs foundation teams Kookies (left) and Kubs (right).
Well done to all our wonderful dogs, their handlers, and all the support from across the club that goes into getting out there and racing the best that we can.
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