2008 Ironman

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Georgia Region</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Georgia Region"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Trial News"><B>Trial News</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="ironman.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ironman">Ironman</A></div> <div> <A HREF="2007_region_championships.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2007 Region Championships">2007 Region Championships</A></div> <div> <B>2008 Ironman</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=398 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> 2008 Ironman Trial</div> <div> Johnson Farm, Sparta, GA </div> <div> September 20, 2008</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="761" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 505 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="29580e00.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Paul Vaughn, Donald Roberts, Randy Schultz</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="544" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 232 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="293fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The Trophy</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="298fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> All of Us</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Saturday morning dawned unusually cool for an Ironman Trial. Many forgot to bring their jackets- we’ve never had an Ironman that was cool enough! This morning was in the 50’s with a little cloud cover and it felt a little like the fall we all knew would eventually arrive. A lot of folks spent the night before with campers and big rigs- many more showed up that morning for a chance another Welker Original and the title of “2008 Ironman”. Many old (oops, I mean “past”) Ironmen were present, all hoping to take home another coveted trophy. Keith Koon (3 time winner), Keith McDill, Randy Schultz, Bobby Wheat, and Michael Evans all were present to try again. In addition, we had many new members, with many new dogs, and lots of questions about NSTRA and trialing. It’s always good to get new blood in the Region! </div> <bR> <div> Jimmy and Ginger Johnson, of Sparta, GA, and family and friends, opened up the hospitality of their farm for us once again. The grounds were perfect and the meals were way too much! These are some of the finest folks in the South. </div> <bR> <div> We opened up with a 20 minute field trial on 2 fields with 10 birds planted. Lots of action was available for all the dogs of whatever stage of development- perfect for those new dogs after a summer of heat and lying around the kennel. At the end of that, Randy Schultz (last year’s winner- The Rust Man) and Ace (B/M) managed to stumble to the front with 14 points, with several dogs nipping at their heels. We moved on to the pistol shoot. Aiming for a paper plate for 6 shots at 2 different distances- total of 12 points -was not easy with his old eyes, but Randy managed to get a 10 on this one to maintain the lead. Several others were inching up- Bobby Wheat, Jeff Welker, Jimmy Johnson, Bodie Ray, Paul Vaughn, and Donald Roberts, to name a few. The skeet shoot proved too much for Randy who scored 4 out of 12, but Keith McDill showed off with his 12 out of 12 and a strong move to the front, with Donald Roberts close behind and Paul Vaughn, Bobby Wheat, David and Angie Healan and others pushing hard. </div> <div> The fishing hour was eventful in that Keith Koon caught 2 nice fish for a jump to the leading pack and within striking distance of the top score. Once again there was a cluster of hopefuls going in to the horseshoe toss. Jared Roberts, who we think practiced hard for this one, was dangerous on the shoes, and almost got the ringer he needed to take the lead. Bobby Wheat nailed a ringer for the tie for the lead with Paul Vaughn. Then Donald Roberts got a leaner and a point for the 4 points he needed to tie for the lead. Next Randy Schultz came up with a toss for the one point he need for the share of the lead! We had 4 folks tied at 29 points after the entire five events! </div> <bR> <div> Paul Vaughn, Donald Roberts, Randy Schultz and Bobby Wheat went back to the shotguns for a shoot off and the win. Randy went to Keith McDill for some shooting advice and came back with Keith’s Remington 12-ga. that hadn’t missed that day yet. That streak ended the first time Randy shot at the tie-breaker skeet- a clean miss! Bobby Wheat had an off day on the skeet range, too and that left Paul Vaughn and Donald Roberts popping clay after clay until one of them missed. Donald blinked first and <B><U>Paul Vaughn came in to break the next one for the win- and the title of 2008 Ironman!</U></B> Donald Roberts was second, Randy Schultz 3<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Arial" >rd</FONT> and Bobby Wheat 4<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT>. Congratulations to all of you, and a special thanks to Jimmy and Ginger and all their help for putting this together to us- you are the greatest! </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="784" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 216 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="286fabd0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Glenn Johnson Shooting</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="288fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> 2nd Brace</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="28afabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Julianna Johnson</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="779" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 211 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="28cfabd0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="28efabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="260"><div> dy<IMG SRC="290fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>