USDAA Northeast Regional

On June 12-14, we attended the USDAA Northeast Regional in Bethlehem, PA, hosted by Keystone Agility Club. I have not been to a Regional event in several years, and this was the first one for both Token and Dandy. They were both qualified to run in the Grand Prix and Steeplechase. We did not advance to Round 2 in either due to one error in each run that kept us from having the clean runs necessary for advancement. But I'm very proud of the boys nevertheless!
We also competed in the Team competition (3 dogs/handlers per team, running 5 classes with cumulative scoring). There were 67 teams entered, with the top 33 earning a "qualification". With the intense competition at a Regional event, I didn't have high expectations to qualify.
Token did well on his team, managing to get scores in all 5 of his events (in other words, he didn't get any "Eliminations"). However, his teammates (two other Border Collies) had a bit of bad luck with some off-course Eliminations, so Token's team ended up in 45th place with no "Q". My teammates were fun & supportive of one another, so we still enjoyed the competition.
Dandy was teamed up with a mini-poodle named Beau, run by Lynn S., a long-time agility friend whom I teamed with several times in past years, mostly when I was running Toss. We were unable to find a 3rd so we entered as a Draw, and were matched up with a cool Sheltie named Logan, run by Mary A. With these three boys, we named our team "Sharp Dressed Men" (thanks for the idea, Carole!) All 3 'Sharp Dressed Men' ran well, without incurring any "Eliminations" at all. After the final class of the Relay, we were thrilled to end up in 4th place overall! Of course, they only gave awards for 1st through 3rd....so we just missed the virtual podium. But I could not be more proud of 2-yr-old Dandy at his very first big event, he did a tremendous job! And thanks to my great teammates for helping us earn a Team "Q" as well.
Click Dandy in the Team Relay for a photo of Dandy.
And here is Token in the Team Relay