CELEBRATION, Fla. — Ron Watson and his border collie Split overcame gusty winds that hindered all competitors and won the gold medal in the Hot Zone flying disc competition Saturday at ESPN's Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

	Border collie Split braved the winds and took home a gold medal and $10,000 for his handler Ron Watson.

The Hot Zone event, in its first year as part of the Games, is designed to showcase the leaping and catching ability of dogs, their speed and the strategy and throwing accuracy of handlers.

Dogs must make a catch in each of six zones within the field of play and within three minutes. Dogs must make the catches in the air and cannot land in Zone 6, the Hot Zone, except on the final catch.

Watson and Split, of Hagerstown, Md., won the competition by advancing through most zones in the final round, with high winds severely limiting the accuracy of disc throws and none of the final four competitors able to complete all six zones.

The field of 12 was narrowed to eight after the first round of competition, and the Watson-Split duo was one of three to advance, despite not completing the zones within the time limit. A system of tiebreakers determined the three advancers.

Watson and Split advanced to the finals by placing third in the second round, after completing six catches in the third-fastest time.

Winds had significantly increased in the area by the final round of Hot Zone. Handlers battled the wind while throwing the discs, and wind gusts often carried the discs far away from their intended target, eating up precious clock time and preventing teams from completing the zones.

After Australian shepherd Rocket and handler Ed Jakubowski of Salem, Conn., opened the final round by advancing to Zone 2, Watson and Split were the second team on course and managed four legal catches, moving to Zone 4 before time expired.

	Bronze-winning Nevi snatches the disc during the blustery finals.

Autumn Trainor of Nashville, Tenn., the only female handler in the competition, and her dog Nevi were twice going for Zone 4 when Nevi landed in the Hot Zone and had to start over. They earned the bronze medal.

The last team to compete, Tim Geib of Atlanta and border collie Jesse, also only made it to Zone 3 and earned the silver medal on a tiebreaker.

"The wind speed wasn't really the problem," said Watson, who won $10,000. "It was the angle. It was coming from behind, and a tail wind drives the discs down.

"The dogs have to be in the air when they make the catches, and when the wind is like that you have to keep the disc low, and that is a big problem for leaping.

"I never thought that the final would come down to a war of attrition," he said. "We got really lucky to make it out of that first round the way we did. Today was just our day."

Final standings

1. Ron Watson, Split — Hagerstown, Md.
2. Tim Geib, Jesse — Atlanta, Ga.
3. Autumn Trainor, Nevi — Nashville, Tenn.
4. Ed Jakubowski, Rocket — Salem, Conn.
5. Greg Tresan, Moxie — Ball Ground, Ga.
6. Darron Barrus, The Moo — Pelham, Ala.
7. Ronnie Cole, Austin — El Cajon, Calif.
8. Paul West, Nick — Southlake, Texas
9. Steve Hickman, Daisy — Katy, Texas
10. Todd Duncan, Calvin — Cumming, Ga.
11. Mark Gose, Mya — Kokomo, Ind.
12. Danny Venegas, Venus — Wellington, Fla.

The Games will be aired on ESPN and ABC Sports July 13-17, 2005. Click here for the broadcast schedule.