ESPN Great Outdoor Games 2005

Marcus Topps sweeps Games

ESPN Outdoors Communications

CELEBRATION, Fla. — Marcus Topps of Garland, Texas, may want to change his canine teammate's name from Juice to "Super Dog." On Friday, the handler swept two Sporting Dog Agility events at ESPN's Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge as his border collie Juice won the Superweave, one day after winning the Large Agility competition.

Juice
Juice earned two gold medals in Sporting Dogs Agility events.
Topps and Juice became only the third team in the six-year history of the Games to sweep gold medals in both agility events. They join 2002 double medalists Olga Chaiko and Luz of North Hollywood, Calif., as well as Erin Schaefer and Jag of Phoenixville, Pa. Juice also was the Large Agility gold medalist in 2004.

The Superweave competition features a modified agility course designed to showcase the speed of the dogs, with teams of dogs and handlers racing against each other and the clock in a head-to-head format on side-by-side courses.

Through bracket eliminations, the race for the gold medal came down to a battle between Topps and his friend and competition rival, Stuart Mah of Bryceville, Fla., with his border collie Qwik.

The two dogs were neck-and-neck through the obstacle portion of the course, but Juice pulled slightly ahead once the dogs reached the extended weave poles. Juice jumped through the finishing hoop only 0.49 second ahead of Qwik.

"It's pretty awesome to get the sweep because it's only been done twice before," said Topps. "It's a privilege and an honor to compete in an event like this."

Topps said it was bittersweet to have competed against Mah in the final round.

"I love running against Stuart," he said of his rival. "He's a great competitor and friend, and I was excited that it came down to us. It was so close, and we were fortunate to pull it off at the end."

Mah and Qwik earned their second Games silver medal of the year and third overall. "I ran as good as I could, but we just came up short," he said. "Juice and Qwik run each other a lot, and today was Juice's day. Marcus is a friendly rival and we support each other, win or lose. All of the competitors are like that and that's what I love about this sport."

The bronze medal went to Jody Lolich-Dietz of Goodrich, Mich., and her border collie Gator. The medal was the first for the duo in three Games appearances.

On Saturday, dogs are scheduled to compete again in The Launch at 2:30 p.m. and the Hot Zone competition at 4 p.m. at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

Superweave (Time)

1. Marcus Topps, Juice - Garland, Texas (0:19.41)

2. Stuart Mah, Qwik - Bryceville, Fla. (0:19.90)

3. Jody Lolich-Dietz, Gator - Goodrich, Mich. (0.20.84)

4. Susan Cochran, Aiko - Sacramento, Calif. (0:22.19)

5. Chris Parker, Mayhem - Jackson, N.J.

6. Donna Rohaus, Cap - New Alexandria, Pa.

7. Dana Schafer-Kailian, Sinjin - Haslet, Texas

8. Sherry Kluever, Ransom - Romeoville, Ill.

9. Theresa Rector, Finn - Paris, Ontario, Canada

10. Lisa Flowers, Dilemma - Westerville, Ohio

11. Olga Chaiko, Luz - North Hollywood, Calif.