Lake Placid, NY — Nick Fiacco and his dog Sosa, a three year old Chocolate Lab from Saranac Lake, won the ESPN Great Outdoor Games local dog qualifying event held Saturday, June 1, at Mirror Lake.

By taking first place with a jump of 19 feet 11 inches, Nick and his dog beat their previous best jump of 19 feet 3 inches. Since Sosa had pre-qualified for the 2002 Great Outdoor Games based on his second place finish at the 2001 games, an invitation to the 2002 games was extended to the second place finisher of today's event.

Chris Michael and his dog Zoe, a three-year old Chesapeake from Troy, became eligible for a spot to compete in the Big Air dog competition at the Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge, July 11-14, 2002 in Lake Placid.

Zoe, who was competing in her first amateur event, won an invitation to the 2002 Great Outdoor Games with a jump measuring 19 feet 10 inches. The jump impressed the more than 200 spectators in attendance at Mirror Lake, but did not shock her owner.

"We have been practicing for some time and I knew she could do it," said Chris Michael, Zoe's owner. "I can't wait to see how well she will do at the Great Outdoor Games in July."

"We were delighted with the fantastic response the community had towards this event," said Eric Matijevich, Great Outdoor Games Director. "This was a great opportunity for the people in the Adirondack region to see how exciting our free events can be."

Handler	Hometown	Dog	Jump 1	Jump 2	Score
1.) Nick Fiacco	Sarana Lake	Sosa	19.11 ft	18.05 ft	19.11 ft
2.) Chris Michael	Troy	Zoe	14.03 ft	19.10 ft	19.10 ft
3.) Tyler Yeager	Gunther	Wellsboro	15.07 ft	18.11 ft	18.11 ft
4.) Kris Cheney Seymour	Saranac Lake	Colden	18.00 ft	16.04 ft	18.00 ft
5.) Jason Corrigan	Toronto	Blaze	16.06 ft	17.05 ft	17.05 ft

Complete Big Air results

The ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge will return to Lake Placid, N.Y. July 11-14, 2002. The free-to-the-public event features competitions in fishing, sporting dogs, target sports and timber events. The event airs on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports beginning July 20.