Friday, June 27, 2003 | 9:54 a.m.
Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.
After three successful years in Lake Placid, N.Y., the organizers of the 2003 ESPN Great Outdoor Games decided to head west, to Reno-Tahoe July 10-13, for target sports, fishing, timber and sporting dogs.
"Reno-Tahoe will be a great host for the Great Outdoor Games," said Michael Rooney, senior vice president and general manager of ESPN Outdoors. "We're looking forward to sharing the intensity and authenticity of the games with a new region, while we again showcase the best outdoors athletes from around the world with top-quality television coverage."
The excitement of target sports will include archery, rifle and shotgun; the fishing competition will have both bass fishing and fly fishing events; the sporting dogs will compete in agility, big air and retriever trials; and the timber event categories will cover hot saw, endurance, speed climb, springboard, team relay, tree topping, log rolling, and the boom run.
This year there are two athletes from Nevada -- Sparks resident Pam Richcreek and her Shetland sheepdog, Puff, will compete in the small-dog agility event, and Reno resident Jim Crouse, a shotgunner who finished second overall in the National Shooting Sports Foundation standings.
Richcreek eagerly shared information about her 3-year-old canine.
"Puff began competing in dog agility a year and a half ago, and has done very well in a relatively short period of time," she said. "It's a bit daunting to now be going up against the best agility dogs in the country. I'm so proud that Puff was selected to be part of this group."
Also competing in the small-dog agility event will be three-time U.S. world team member Barbara Lombard and her dog, Turbo. They finished third in last year's Outdoors Games. Turbo is Puff's father. So everyone, Richcreek said, "will be able to see where Puff gets her talent from."
The first stop after the Outdoors Games for Richcreek and Puff will be to the retirement home to share the stories of the games with their second family. You see, Puff, is also a Registered Therapy Dog who makes weekly visits to a retirement home in Reno sharing time and love with the elderly residents there.
Soon after Jim Crouse found out the 2003 Games were going to be in Reno, he became more determined than ever to qualify.
"I hope to truly enjoy myself at the games since this could be a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity," he said. "I'm looking forward to competing against some of the best in the country. I would like to find out where I stack up.
"This is a great opportunity for me to expand on my shooting career. To make it into Friday night quarterfinals is my first goal."
Admission to the games will be free for all four-day sport events. For those unable to attend, there will be highlights on ESPN, ESPN 2 and ABC beginning July 19. For information, visit the Website www.greatoutdoorgames.com .
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