Considering that wind was the major factor in the Super Retriever Series presented by Natural Life Pet Products, it was only slightly ironic that a black Labrador named Windy won the Virginia event.

Windy, handled and owned by David Opseth of Culpepper, Va., didn't exactly blow through the field. But they put together an almost perfect round in the finals to earn a berth to the ESPN Great Outdoor Games, while padding their pockets with $1,600 and a new War Eagle boat.

	Locals David Opseth and Windy were nearly perfect in their run to the SRS title.

The pair scored 12 points to more than win by a comfortable margin.

Woody Spong and Blue of Hagerstown, Md. Were second with 24 points, followed by David Witt and Karma, of Suffolk, Va, with 36 points.

"This is unbelievable," Opseth said. "As a licensed field trialer I thought I had competed in the most difficult scenarios there are. But this is so much more difficult than what it looks like on TV."

What may not be evident on television is just how strong the wind blew. By any accounting, the wind was the major factor through out most of the competition, but even more so on day one of the Super Retriever Series being held in the hallowed Steeple Chase arena of Glenwood Park. Blowing at a sustained 41 miles per hour, with gusts reaching into the 50 and 60 mile per hour range, the wind racked up points on every dog, as handlers consistently had to fight the affects of suction on lines to marks. And to make matters worse gusts were so loud that whistles couldn't be heard and so strong that many of the retrievers failed to smell downed birds when they were close to them.

"My dog stepped all over the initial mark," said Keith Allison of Pea Ridge, Ark. who was competing with two dogs in the field. "I guarantee you she was trying to nose it out, and the wind wouldn't let her smell it."

A much-needed break

It wasn't much better on day two with the winds cut in half, but still blowing 20 miles per hour. But on the final day the wind gave the handlers a much needed break,

While Opseth and Windy struggled in the first two days, they got stronger as the winds slacked during the competition. By the end of the day the wind had totally laid, allowing the pair to take advantage of a real, home-field comfort zone.

"The wind was the substantial factor," Opseth said. "It was huge. It affected everybody. I was grateful when it laid."

With no wind, and Opseth's experience of training Windy on similar terrain as the steeplechase grounds of Glenwood Park, the two began to shine.

They were the top dogs in the semifinal round, when Stacey West and Rankin (the previous day's leader) ran into trouble on a long mark and picked up the blind retrieve, disqualifying the team.

"You hate to advance knowing that that happened," Opseth said.

But that type of thing happened a lot on the final day. Besides the disqualification, another retriever failed to complete the test and some scores sailed toward and past the 100-point mark.

The "money bird"

The final test was the monster of the two. It started with an initial mark that fell 250 yards from the line and required the dogs to run downhill, across the corner of a pond, drive up a hill and find the bird in thick tufts of fescue.

"That was the money bird," said Justin Tackett, sport organizer for the Super Retriever Series. "That's where the major points were racked up in this test."

The second mark came out at 125 yards angling straight away from the line, and in line with the blind retrieve 300 yards away. The third mark was a dump bird from over the handler's right shoulder, taking four shots — one from the handler and three from the dummy gunner behind the line.

"That was basically an eraser bird," Tackett said. "We wanted to try and wipe out all memory of the two marks."

The final pick up was the blind retrieve that required the retriever to carry a line over a steeplechase jump standing 30-inches high and through a thicket of grass before driving up a hill.

The second mark was set up to show the dog a way around the obstacle of the steeplechase. It proved to be detrimental to four of the six dogs.

"They just had trouble figuring out that they needed to drive over it," Tackett said.

Windy, though, never checked up, looking like a horse in a steeplechase, he drove over the jump and to the blind racking up only four points on the retrieve.

Final round scores

1. David Opseth and Windy, Culpepper, Va., 12
2. Vincent "Woody" Spong and Blue Hagerstown, Md., 24
3. David Witt and Karma, Suffolk, Va, 36
4. Alex Washburn and Honda, Oxford, Miss., 40
5. Jerry Day and Nike, College Park, Ga., 43
6. Scott Greer and Liza, Friendship, Tenn., 65

Semifinal round scores

1. David Opseth and Windy, Culpepper, Va., 12
4. David Witt and Karma, Suffolk, Va, 46
3. Vincent "Woody" Spong and Blue Hagerstown, Md., 49
4. Scott Greer and Liza, Friendship, Tenn., 53
5. Jerry Day and Nike, College Park, Ga., 61
6. Alex Washburn and Honda, Oxford, Miss., 70
7. Derek Randle and Stella, Prairie Grove, Ark., 75
8. Dave Wilson and Trey, Newton Grove, N.C., 75
9. John Terraciano and Titan, Billings, Mont., 85
10. Johnny Keohane and Aggie, Monroe, La., 152
11. Bubba Phifer and Misty, Fortson, Ga., DNF
12. Stacey West and Rankin, Louisburg, N.C., DQ