This past weekend was the final tournament of the 2015-2016 racing season and the year. Huge thanks to FAME who hosted a great tournament. The weather was perfect for racing and we truly appreciate all of the little extras like individual treat bags for the dogs and lots of yummy treats for the handlers. Thanks FAME!
Going into this tournament we had already secured the Region 10 Regular Championship for 2015-2016. This was our first team goal of the season. Our second team goal had still eluded us, breaking the Region 10 Regular Speed Record of 15.980, which would also be a new club PB. We have danced around the record many times at tournaments, sometimes hitting 15’s with a slight early, or hitting 16.0’s with room on our passing / start. We had hit 15.8’s in practice multiple times, but as we always say, none of that matters unless it happens on the lanes…at a tournament…where it counts.
Saturday we finally did it! In our first race we hit a 15.828! New Regional Record and new club PB! We were so excited to FINALLY check this team goal off our list! The line-up consisted of Nika (handled by Sonya, owned by Dave), Callie (Dave), Brooke (Holly) & Feist (Daniel). This line-up also ran a 15.997 on Sunday morning. Aviators definitely had some struggles throughout the weekend, but we were able to pull off 1st both days in Regular 1. Red Eye had a great weekend in Open 1 taking 1st on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday. Sonya rocked her starts with Nika and had two perfects; Kyle was a boxloading superstar and took over duties for our Red Eye team as well as Paws on Deck; Elizabeth did an amazing job running Rev; Karen was a passing calling machine and Christine was awesome at helping rev up Nika. I am also super happy to announce that Christine is now officially part of the PFT family! Christine has been running her awesome dogs Kynkk & Orbit with us for a couple of years now, so it was about time we made it official!
Congratulations to all of the other teams, handlers, and dogs on their accomplishments at this tournament and during the entire season. I believe FAME, OMG!, Maple Leaps and Carleton County all ran new club PB’s this year – Congrats! Next season is going to be so much fun!
This past year has been full of highs and lows for our team. 2016 started off with us losing our oldest dog on the team as Trout passed away. He was the first team dog to pass away and it was a very difficult time for us. Through the winter we continued to train and after a year of re-training, Nitsa hit the lanes in April at our home tournament and did not look back! She rocked as our A team start dog for most of the year. Unfortunately in July she suffered a minor, but nagging shoulder injury, which put her on the sidelines for the rest of the season. Just as Nitsa got injured, Nika made her debut. This little spitfire of a height dog did warm-ups in June, ran ¾ in July and because Nitsa was out, was quickly promoted to start dog of our A team in August. Something definitely clicked in August as she started to run low 3.9’s and 3.8’s. Nika is still figuring everything out and gaining confidence, but she has a bright future and has already become an important dog on our team. Brooke had a rough start to the season, but through A TON of hard work, she turned it around completely and ran flawlessly at the end of the season. Feist, Callie, Maya, Pongo, Rev & Raine were always there, giving 110% each and every heat and running wherever they were needed. Feist, Maya, Nitsa and Nika all posted new personal PB’s during the season. Raine achieved two huge accomplishments this year earning her IRONDOG and her 60,000 point title, the first in PFT history! She is now the #4 Toller in NAFA and well on her way to becoming #3. Speaking of titles, our team dog earned 10 new titles this year! We also went back to back winning the 2015-2016 Regional Regular Championships and as mentioned above broke the Regional Record and posted a new club PB. All in all, it was an amazing racing season!
Now this season is complete and the slate is wiped clean. It is time to start thinking about the 2016-2017 racing season, to determine our team goals, and to dream about the possibilities of what next year could hold.
Good luck to everyone training during the off-season. We are excited to see lots of new pup’s debut in Region 10 next year, hopefully some at our tournament in April!
We are definitely on a high heading into the off-season. Do we have lots to work on? Absolutely! And we can’t wait to get started!
Until Next Time,
*Holly*
Going into this tournament we had already secured the Region 10 Regular Championship for 2015-2016. This was our first team goal of the season. Our second team goal had still eluded us, breaking the Region 10 Regular Speed Record of 15.980, which would also be a new club PB. We have danced around the record many times at tournaments, sometimes hitting 15’s with a slight early, or hitting 16.0’s with room on our passing / start. We had hit 15.8’s in practice multiple times, but as we always say, none of that matters unless it happens on the lanes…at a tournament…where it counts.
Saturday we finally did it! In our first race we hit a 15.828! New Regional Record and new club PB! We were so excited to FINALLY check this team goal off our list! The line-up consisted of Nika (handled by Sonya, owned by Dave), Callie (Dave), Brooke (Holly) & Feist (Daniel). This line-up also ran a 15.997 on Sunday morning. Aviators definitely had some struggles throughout the weekend, but we were able to pull off 1st both days in Regular 1. Red Eye had a great weekend in Open 1 taking 1st on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday. Sonya rocked her starts with Nika and had two perfects; Kyle was a boxloading superstar and took over duties for our Red Eye team as well as Paws on Deck; Elizabeth did an amazing job running Rev; Karen was a passing calling machine and Christine was awesome at helping rev up Nika. I am also super happy to announce that Christine is now officially part of the PFT family! Christine has been running her awesome dogs Kynkk & Orbit with us for a couple of years now, so it was about time we made it official!
Congratulations to all of the other teams, handlers, and dogs on their accomplishments at this tournament and during the entire season. I believe FAME, OMG!, Maple Leaps and Carleton County all ran new club PB’s this year – Congrats! Next season is going to be so much fun!
This past year has been full of highs and lows for our team. 2016 started off with us losing our oldest dog on the team as Trout passed away. He was the first team dog to pass away and it was a very difficult time for us. Through the winter we continued to train and after a year of re-training, Nitsa hit the lanes in April at our home tournament and did not look back! She rocked as our A team start dog for most of the year. Unfortunately in July she suffered a minor, but nagging shoulder injury, which put her on the sidelines for the rest of the season. Just as Nitsa got injured, Nika made her debut. This little spitfire of a height dog did warm-ups in June, ran ¾ in July and because Nitsa was out, was quickly promoted to start dog of our A team in August. Something definitely clicked in August as she started to run low 3.9’s and 3.8’s. Nika is still figuring everything out and gaining confidence, but she has a bright future and has already become an important dog on our team. Brooke had a rough start to the season, but through A TON of hard work, she turned it around completely and ran flawlessly at the end of the season. Feist, Callie, Maya, Pongo, Rev & Raine were always there, giving 110% each and every heat and running wherever they were needed. Feist, Maya, Nitsa and Nika all posted new personal PB’s during the season. Raine achieved two huge accomplishments this year earning her IRONDOG and her 60,000 point title, the first in PFT history! She is now the #4 Toller in NAFA and well on her way to becoming #3. Speaking of titles, our team dog earned 10 new titles this year! We also went back to back winning the 2015-2016 Regional Regular Championships and as mentioned above broke the Regional Record and posted a new club PB. All in all, it was an amazing racing season!
Now this season is complete and the slate is wiped clean. It is time to start thinking about the 2016-2017 racing season, to determine our team goals, and to dream about the possibilities of what next year could hold.
Good luck to everyone training during the off-season. We are excited to see lots of new pup’s debut in Region 10 next year, hopefully some at our tournament in April!
We are definitely on a high heading into the off-season. Do we have lots to work on? Absolutely! And we can’t wait to get started!
Until Next Time,
*Holly*