Sunday, Nov 2nd, 2008 | Knott's Berry Farm - Buena Park, CA
AWI World Championships
 Day 2 for the AWI World Championships has come to a close, and it lived up to the competitors expectations in every way.
The
talent was once again phenomenal, the dogs were killing it, and the
support was awesome. Kudos to all those that helped, watched, cheered
and enjoyed the performance of the best of the best!
The
day began with Freestyle. Ishida and led a tight field that had
Lawrence Frederick, Chiba and Kuroda all very close at his heels. The
weather was overcast with drizzle, but no spirits were dampened. The
first freestyle round went smoothly, and eventually the sun broke
through and dried up the field in very short order. The conditions were
ideal for a technical showdown in Freestyle! Lawrence and Harley
brought it BIG in this round and ended up at the top.
 Round
2-Distance-with the top teams seemingly unable to shake one-another in
freestyle, many thought the distance round would settle the event. That
didn't stop Matt DiAno and Maggie, Ishida and Rusty, and
Masao Koshiwa and Gingi from challenging with perfect 17.5 point
rounds. The standings shuffled a bit as top a couple of strong teams
took a misstep in the distance: Chiba and Gaia and Kuroda with Feel
both moved down significantly. Last year's #2, Kouichi Nanba and Rey,
took their nearly perfect freestyle round and added 9 points of
Distance, closing the gap slightly for them. The round was awesome,
with every catch being cheered.
As
the grass clippings settled, only 2 teams really had a chance: the
Defending Champs, Yoshihiro Ishida and Rusty, and Lawrence Frederick
with Harley Davidson. Neither had stepped off their strong freestyle
very much all weekend, and they were only seperated by less than 1/2 a
point.
 The
Final round of Freestyle saw some awesome routines: Chiba and Gaia
showed strong, their 6 in distance forgotten. Local boy Todd Murnan and
Bella had what might be the round of a lifetime, with unreal catches
and energy that had the crowd cheering very loudly! But all eyes were
on the Champs, Rusty and Ishida, and the would-be American usurpers,
Lawrence and Harley. Both teams had good routines, easily capable of
high scores. But it may have been the long trip from Japan, or a long
weekend, eventually Ishida blinked: his freestyle fell off a bit, and
the bid to join Ashley, Bouncing Boo and Sam as the only 3-time champs
was ended for a year. Lawrence Frederick and Harley brought one more
incredible round, only dropping 3 discs. As the shadows grew long,
there could be no doubt: Harley Davidson and Lawrence had earned the
title of World Champions.
It
is always bittersweet to see our friends for the short period of time
that we get to at competitions, and the hugs and handshakes were very
liberal as the awards ceremony died down. 1 more name will get etched
into the Lander Cup base, and for Lawrence Frederick, the quest to
become World Champion has finally yielded fruit. Those who have been
around the sport for a while know that Lawrence and Aerodynamic were
very, very close in 1999, and many, many times after that they were
maybe 1 catch away from the title. But a big, happy-go-lucky border
collie earned the title this year, and has set the bar very high for
those that will try to take it away next year.
Congrats to all the competitors, and we will see you all next year!
A full picture slideshow will be available shortly.
Click Here for final results! |
Day 1 of the AWI World Championships are now complete, and we have
had a terrific day here in Sunny Socal. What? You heard that it rained?
ok, well, for a couple minutes, but it was immediately followed by
bright SoCal Sunshine.
disc-very very innovative exchanges and
throws... Kazunori Chiba and Gaia made our backs hurt with flexibility
and speed on throws... Lawrence and BOTH of his top 10 dogs are dropping
jaws like bombs with moves no one can duplicate...
Frightening!!! The level of talent here is scary! The moves are horrifically difficult, as competitors from all
over the USA and Japan are trying to get into those last qualifying positions for the official start to the World
Championships, which will start Saturday morning in La Mirada, California!
Horror! 
The number of discs that died! The canines are running loose! They have plastic in their sights, and no
flying disc is safe! Quite simply, the dogs are moving beyond what was previously thought to be amazing, and have
entered the realm of "stupendous"!! The dogs were simply killing it today, with second efforts and stretches that
were awesome to behold.