Barry Lyons and Skeet took the gold medal in the 2000 GOG retriever trials.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.— Frankie Yelverton and his Labrador retriever, Skeet, are defending the gold medal from the retriever trials in the 2000 ESPN Great Outdoor Games.

This year, Yelverton actually plans to attend.

Yelverton of Monroeville, Ala., was unable to attend the inaugural Great Outdoor Games in 2000, opting instead to have Barry Lyons handle Skeet in the retriever trials. In fact, Skeet was a last-minute fill-in, replacing Lyons' first choice, a female Labrador that came in heat prior to the competition.

The combination of Lyons and Skeet produced a gold medal, one in which retriever experts said hinged largely on Lyons' ability to handle dogs.

"There's no doubt that (Lyons) is the man," Yelverton said. "In UKC, if you want a dog to receive a UKC Grand Hunting Retriever Champion title, that's the guy you want. He can read a dog. In many cases, he knows what the dog is going to do before the dog does it. I'm not the handler, Barry Lyons is."

But this year, Lyons is the one unable to attend the Games, leaving the handling responsibilities to Yelverton. With such an impressive lineup of retrievers, Yelverton knows that a repeat performance won't be easy.

	“	I can't fill (Barry) Lyons' shoes. But I've got Skeet, and I hope he'll make me a small part of it. ”
		— Frankie Yelverton

"I can't fill Lyons' shoes," Yelverton said. "But I've got Skeet, and I hope he'll make me a small part of it. If he pins the marks and lines the blind retrieve, we won't have a problem. He'll take me out of the equation."

Yelverton said he has a lot of confidence in Skeet. The black Lab worked the course with relative ease in the 2000 Games, and is expected to have an advantage over much of the field, which hasn't run on such a difficult course before.

"Still, it's going to be tough," Yelverton said. "If you ran this same test eight times, you're likely to come up with eight different winners. That's how good this field is."

Regardless of the outcome, Skeet won't be relegated to the doghouse. Like always, the Labrador will continue to live indoors with the Yelverton family, play outside with children and accompany Yelverton on duck hunts.

"Skeet's the nicest animal you will ever hope to meet," Yelverton said. "We're just proud he's part of the family."