New accomplishments keep coming!

We just found out tonight that as of April 28th, not only is Spirit currently the

#1 Whippet in AKC Lure Coursing,
she is also the
#1 Sighthound in AKC Lure Coursing!

We are thrilled and shocked at this news. What an exciting time for us here - for as long as this lasts at least :)

Deana

Introducing NEW ASFA FIELD CHAMPION

Cali N TNTs Spirit of the Wild of Nitro FCh SC
"Spirit"

Congratulations!

to Spirit for finishing her ASFA field championship at MAHA's Lure Coursing Trial in Reidsville, NC today! Thank you to judges Sandra Moore and Jim Anthony for her first placement wins this weekend!
Thanks to Donna, Robin and Dora for this wonderful girl.
Also thanks to Mike for taking her.

Deana, happy and proud as always.

Spirit wins BOB at 2009 AWC National Specialty

Spirit wins BOB
at the American Whippet Club's
National Specialty AKC Lure Coursing trial

in Atlanta, GA, April 4th, 2009
This young (only 17 months old) girl never ceases to amaze me and made my first AWC National event a memorable one for sure.

On Saturday, the field consisted of 110 dogs (4 stakes of Open whippets (78 total), 1 large stake of Special whippets (26 dogs) and 1 stake of veteran whippets (6 dogs)). The course was a bit more challenging than normal for us, it was about 840 yards long and consisted of rolling hills.
As the day started, Spirit ran well and ended up winning her open stake (Yeah!) for her first Major win (5pts.)! I was so exited, I was in tears. This the first time I have had a dog go first in an AKC trial, so I was trilled! I knew that meant she qualified to run for BOB but at that moment I was so excited about the major win I remember saying to my husband Mike, "I am so happy for this first place, I don't care what she does from here on today, I just want her to have fun running!".
Well, run she did.
I must admit, her third run of the day, the semi-final run, brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't have asked any more out of this special girl in that run and in my mind I will always remember it as perfection. After a short wait I was told she won her course and qualified for the last run-off, the other winner was "Roger", a 6 year old male from the specials stake. I will admit I was a bit worried about the last and final run. She had already run 3 long, hard runs, and as a young girl I had not pushed her this hard yet. Spirit, however, never seemed to have any doubts at all. As they yelled "Tally-Ho" she bolted out of my arms as if she hadn't even run yet that day, took control of the course and finished strong!!
As expected, they kept me waiting for the final results, but once announced I almost couldn't believe they called her name - "Spirit" - as the winner!

Thanks to Donna and Larry Richards, Robin and Scott Horner, and Dora McDonald for this wonderful girl! Thanks to judges Ian Davies and Katie Kaltenborn for noticing my special girl. Thanks to Roger (the other semi-finalist) and all the other whippets who participated in the trial for wonderful competition! Thanks to all the wonderful people that I meet this weekend while coursing, especially David Howton for all of his hard work! And finally, thanks to Mike for all his help, support and of course these photos!

These first few photos of Spirit are taken by Mike on Saturday:

Spirit after her final run wearing her BOB winning collar made by Gail Boyd:
Spirit and Deana in the Hilton Hotel later in the week:
Deana, Robin, Scott, and 4 littermates (Spirit, Missy, Flyer and Double Live) - all 4 littermates placed on both Saturday and Sunday! Way to go pups!
Deana and Spirit in the confirmation ring on Thursday:
Spirit behaved well in the ring and overall showed well for me.


Great job Spirit! We are proud of you as always!!!!
Deana