| Joy
-- Roanoak's Express
AAD, Onyx, OA, OAJ, EAC, EGC, OJC, GS-E, RS-O, JS-O, ASCA-CDX, CGC, AKC-CD
Joy is a charter member of the team, having competed in our very first tournament. Lynda and Dick Oleksuk take turns -- grudgingly -- running her in tournaments. Joy was the first member of our team to earn her FM, FMX, FMCH, and Onyx, and she is the fastest non-border collie flyball dogs in Region 9. (Her fastest time so far is a 3.90 on 10" jumps, and that includes the pass delay of the dog following her.) Joy is very competitive, and when running in the anchor position she will turn on the after-burners to try to beat the dog in the other lane. And usually she does. |
Visit Joy's Webpage... http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/6342/joy.htm |
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Zeke
-- Zeke
FMCH
Zeke and Sally Mook are also charter members of the team, and Zeke is the tallest dog. He is an all-American, probably a Labrador X Doberman mix. Zeke is the only one who can carry three tennis balls at a time (and he's working on four). Zeke also does agility. Flyball has been a great outlet for his exuberance -- he used to be a bit of a juvenile delinquent, but now that he's allowed to act crazy sometimes, he is the picture of civilized behavior -- outside of flyball of course |
| Daisy
-- Daisy
ONYX
Daisy is an Australian Cattle Dog (aka "blue heeler"), and probably the most obsessed dog on the team. She doesn't let anything stand in her way -- she has been known to send jumps flying in her wake. She is owned by Woody, who has actually never seen her play flyball. Daisy's first handler, Joy, wanted to play flyball, but didn't have a dog, so borrowed Daisy and trained her. That was a big help for us as Daisy is one of our most reliable height dogs, although Daisy has taken a couple of short breaks for motherhood in recent years. |
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| Autumn
-- Mandell's Autumn Jubilee
CD, FM, AX, AXJ, CGC, TD
Autumn is the first of many golden retrievers on our team. Rosie Higdon, her owner, has managed to recruit a bunch of goldens, and someday we may even be able to field an all-golden team at a tournament. Autumn was somewhat of a flyball prodigy, traveling to her first tournament and earning points after only three practice sessions. Autumn is a multi-talented dog, and her positive influence has helped her "little sister" Annie get up and running. Autumn is on hiatus from flyball while she recovers from knee surgery. |
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| Maggie
-- Maggie Rorrer
FMX
Maggie loves tennis balls and would play flyball all day if her mom, Katie Rorrer, would let her. Maggie is another one of those black All American dogs (Labrador X something?) on our team. She has recovered Very Nicely from knee surgery. |
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Kip
-- Kip
FM
Kip is our fourth border collie, and earned his FDX in two short tournaments. His owner is Dave Spranklin, who is yet another veterinary student, was recruited by one of our founding members Kristen Kline, who to ran our first border collie Jalen - which runs with FurFun in PA. |
| Cally
-- Kiowa's Red Calypso
FM
Cally is our third border collie, and she owns Steve and Jennifer Lyle-Miller. The Millers were on sabatical and just visiting the New River Valley when they discovered our team -- unfortunately they had to move back to Wyoming. But that hasn't stopped them from competing with the New River Express. Yes, Cally and her people have traveled from Wyoming to the east coast on several occasions to play flyball. Talk about dedication! Cally is also one of the older members on the team, but you certainly wouldn't know it to see her run. Steve and Jennifer are trying to get enough interest in Wyoming to start their own team, so if you live out there and need information, please let us know! |
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Mojo
-- Mojo
FM
Mojo is another borrowed dog for our team. His owner, Sid, did come to beginners flyball class with him, and got to run him at the July 2000 NRE tournament. He's a valuable addition to our team because his speed allows our slower dogs to earn 25 point runs. He is also an extremely consistent start dog. |
| Cedar
-- Cedar
FDCH
Cedar is a Jack Russell Terrier who owns Tim LaBranche. Cedar is a very determined little dog, and quite fast. She competed in her first tournament (Jet Set) in March 1999, and did very well. Cedar is a valuable addition to our team not just because of her speed, but because she brings the jump heights down another couple of inches for everybody else. Tim is another one of those veterinary students on our team, but fortunately he's got a couple more years, so Cedar should get to run with NRE for a while yet. Hopefully Cedar will talk her housemate Mallard into playing flyball. |
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| Stone
-- Stone
FDCH, NGC, GS-N
Stone is another one of our black All American dogs. Melissa Avenius has worked very hard with Stone, and her persistence has really paid off. Stone has become a reliable height dog for our team, and we're glad to have him on board. Like Zeke and Riley, Maggie and Stone could practically be brother and sister. |
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| Clipper
-- Gaylan's Lunar Eclipse
FDCH
Clipper is yet another golden retriever that Rosie recruited for our team. Karen Inzana acquired Clipper as an adult, but there certainly haven't been any problems with her bonding and working for Karen -- Clipper has done extremely well in flyball, walking right in and figuring everything out quickly. She has also had some great successes in the agility ring. Clipper got a new little (human) sister just after our tournament in July 2000. Congratulations to Karen, Tom and Lexi. |
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| Pip
-- Roanoak's Epiphany
FMX, NA, NAJ, NAC, RS-N, OGC, GS-O, NJC, JS-O, CGC
Pip is Joy's younger cousin, and certainly is a match for her drive, enthusiasm and intensity. Pip is also owned by Lynda Oleksuk, and co-owned by her breeder, Monica Barger of Roanoak Aussies. Like Joy's sisters, Pip's sisters are quickly distinguishing themselves in agility, flyball, obedience and herding. These are truly versatile girls! |
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Visit Tide's Webpage... http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7959/ |
Tide
-- Thunderheart's Crimson Tide
NA, CGC, FDCH, DNA-VP
Jen Carson, who ran our borrowed height dog Daisy, and our borrowed Australian shepherd Mojo, finally got her own dog! Tide is a gorgeous red tri male (no, I'm not at all biased) out of Mystic, who played flyball with the Hairier Jump Jets before she moved to Washington state. He made a nice debut at his first tournament. He is also competing in agility, and really enjoys herding. |
| Annie
-- Gaylan's Twentyone Gun Salute
OA, OAJ, FDCH, TD, CD
Annie is a golden retriever and sister of our first golden Autumn. She has had an interesting start in flyball. Her first joy was to pull up the duck tape at practices rather than retrieve the ball. After mastering the retrieval of duck taped tennis balls, she since has become another good addition to the team (With regular tennis balls). |
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Visit Thea's Website... http://www.homeplacekennels.com/ |
Thea Little
-- Homeplace's Lady Theapolis
FDCH
Thea is a black lab and owns AJ and Buck Holsinger. Thea seemed to have become a flyball dog overnight. At her first tournament weekend she turned in her floppy frisbee for a slobber soaked tennis ball and has not turned back. During those two days she ran a best time of 4.9 and received her FDX. We expect even better things in the future for this flyball machine. |
| Riley
-- Riley
FM
Riley is owned by Kristen Kline, but lately Dave has been running her at tournaments. Riley had a slow start in flyball -- we had to use squeaky toys instead of tennis balls to teach her how to play -- but now that she's put it together, she's a speedy dog. Riley is another one of those black All American dogs on our team, and looks like Zeke's little sister. |
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| Willow
-- MACH Blue Moon Shine on Willow
MAD, JM, SM, EAC, EGC, EJC, GS-O, RS-E, JS-E, FDCH, CGC, TDI
Willow is an Australian Shepherd who was rescued by Michelle Beardsley. Michelle had already done quite a bit of flyball training with Willow before joining our team, and Willow earned her FDCh in her second day of running competitively. Michelle has another NAS in training, Poet, who should hopefully be just as good in flyball and agility as Willow. |
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| Breez
-- Suncrest Jus' Breez'n' Thru
JC, FDCH
Breez is an Afghan Hound who likes playing with tennis balls when she's not chasing 'bunnies' on the lure coursing field. She and her owner, Connie Snavely, participated in their first tournament after only 6 weeks of beginners classes. At their 2nd tournament, Breez thought the idea was to catapult the ball out of the box so she could chase it down, capture it and return it to Connie. She has improved, and her enthusiasm continues to grow. Breez made NAFA history by being the first Afghan Hound to participate and earn a flyball title at her 3rd tournament, the NSL tournament June 2001. She has a growing fan club, and we have all high expectations for her future. |
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Hanna
-- U-AGI Miss Hanna Cabanna
CGC, OA, MXJ, NGC, OAC, EJC, FDCH
Hanna is a Miniature Pinscher who also lives with Connie Snavely. Hanna wanted to do flyball from the first time she saw it demonstrated in 1999 at the Association of Pet Dog Trainers National Convention in San Diego, CA. She didn't have a clue how to play flyball, but was so excited by it that she had to be removed from the area! Hanna has a big heart in her little body and gives her all to everything she does. Hanna earned her FD and FDX titles at her first flyball tournament. Hanna was also the top Min Pin in the Open class in AKC agility for 2000. She is also known for her fashion sense and extensive wardrobe. In the fashion world she is affectionately known as 'Moody Model Hanna'. When not playing flyball or agility, she loves to chase 'bunnies' with her big sister, Breez. |
| Sirius
-- Sirius
FM, CGC
Sirius is a black labrador retriever, and he owns Michelle and David Palmer. He joined the team after taking a beginner flyball class through SCCC. He ran in his first tournament in March 2001 where he earned his FD and hasn't pawsed to looked back. When he isn't playing flyball, he can be found playing in his kiddy pool or with a tennis ball in his mouth. |
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Jesse
-- Ch. Blazin's Cill Padraig
JH, NA, CGC, WC, FDCH
Flat Coated Retrievers are a versatile breed. Jesse has introduced Beth to the conformation and obedience rings, field work, and flyball. Jesse lives for that "hunk of rubber on a rope" known as a Kong. It is his ultimate motivator on land or in water. He also finds food and live birds motivational; however, the kong is more practical for flyball! |
