Big Air Trial Results
	Rank	Dog	Handler	Distance
	1.	A.J.	Michael Martin	19.10 ft.
	2.	Tank	Danny Crews	17.07 ft.
	3.	Duke	Michael Joboley	16.09 ft.

Michael Martin competed in high school track and field, his father is a retired track coach and his brother was a long jumper before going on to become an assistant track and field coach at the University of Nebraska.

Apparently, the family's passion for competitive running and jumping carries over to its canine members.

A.J., Martin's 4-year-old black Labrador retriever, leaped 19.1 feet to win the Big Air portion of the Sporting Dogs Challenge held recently at Murray Park in Little Rock, Ark. Big Air is the canine version of the long jump, except dogs jump into water instead of sand. "He does a lot of water work when we're hunting, and this is kind of a fun outlet for him," Martin says. "My parents have a swimming pool, and my dad gets all his friends to come over to watch A.J. for entertainment."

A.J.'s winning leap earned him a berth in the 2001 Great Outdoor Games, which will be held in July in Lake Placid, N.Y.

"I was kind of disappointed last year that I couldn't get him in [the Great Outdoor Games]," says Martin, of Omaha, Neb. "I kept in touch with the organizers, and when I found out about this qualifier, I had to get him entered."

Martin's background in track and field came in handy in the event.

A.J. was clearly the class of the field, leaping 20.6 feet in the first round. With a commanding lead, Martin elected to let A.J. pass on his second and third attempts. A.J. jumped 20.8 in the second round. The distance was thrown out for the final, but A.J.'s only jump still surpassed the other two finalists.

"I don't think he got all of the board on the last one," Martin says. "It's a matter of getting the steps down, just like the long jump."

Tank, a 6-year-old yellow Labrador owned by Danny Crews of North Little Rock, Ark., finished second with a jump of 17.07 feet in the final round and easily won the favor of a partisan crowd.

"When I saw this on TV last year, I said 'That's Tank's event. I've got to get him in it,'" Crews says. "And when I heard about the (qualifier) being held here, we came on down."

Duke, a yellow Labrador owned by Michael Jabaley of Atlanta, Ga., finished third with a jump of 16.09.

The Retrievers

	Retriever Trial Results
	Rank	Dog	Handler	Score
	1.	Bebe	Marty Newport	72
	2.	Mash	Jackie Mertens	74
	3.	Ace	Ken Champagne	75

In the closely contested retriever trials, Bebe, a four-year-old black Labrador, and handler Marty Newport of Hernando, Miss., took first place with a score of 72 points.

Only three points separated Bebe, second-place finisher Mash, a golden retriever handled by Jackie Mertens of Madison, Fla., and Ace, a black Lab handled by Kenneth Champagne of Lafayette, La.

"It was the determination not to quit that got us here," Newport says. "I got a little frustrated because (Bebe) was a little ragged, but she finished strong.

"Frankly, that's the only difference between me standing here and someone else. If I had blown one more whistle, we wouldn't be going to New York."