'09 Ribbons (3 events)

I will let the picture speak for itself......

'09 National Championship

The trip out to Ohio took almost five and a half hours. The weather was bitter cold, but thatdidnt stop Cadbury from Jumping her heart out (Don't be fooled by my shorts, I wear them year round).

Cadbury started the weekend out low and progressed upwards. Her first jump was at 15'4" and increased to an 18'7" to secure the top seed in Junior finals. Cadbury led the first round in Junior finals with a 19'0" jump matching her personal best.

One team left to go before we clenched the win with our first jump; and they out jumped us by 3". Cadbury and I put on our game faces (see pic below) and tried to outdo our personal best. We came up a little short....

I could not be HAPPIER with my 8 month old little girl for showing she was the second best Junior jumper in the nation!

2nd Event

Seeing all the fun Cadbury had from our first event, as well as her constant improvements, it was not to long before we competed at our second event. Our second event was located in Carterville, Illinois. At this event not only did we compete in the Big Air(long Jump), we competed in the Speed Retrieve.

With Cadbury never practicing nor understanding Speed Retrieve (S.R.) she took to it rather quickly. S.R. is a doggy drag race where the dog has 20' of dock to run and 38' to jump and swim and pull the flappy/designated toy off the apparatus. Cadbury's first time competing in this new event, she secured a time of 9.171 seconds.

Cadbury, once again, started out with an improvement right out of the gates. Cadbury's first jump started at a 15'1", Senior division, and finished out the qualifying rounds with a 19'0" jump. Cadbury's 19'0" was enough for her to make finals where in she took 5th place in the Senior divsion.... Cadbury earned her Senior regional title at this event.

First Event Ribbons

After returning home, I had to take a picture of all the ribbons Cadbury had acquired in one short weekend.

Where it all Began!

It all started in Springfield, Illinois. Cadbury loved to swim and jump, so a friend of mine introduced me to the wonderful sport of Dock Jumping. I found the closest event to our home, which turned out to be the Illinois State Fair.

This was Cadburys debut. The rules stipulate that all competitors must be 6 months old. Cadbury started out slow with a meek 8'1" jump which placed her in the Novice division. I was beside myself that Cadbury even jumped off the dock into the water as she has never been exposed to a dock prior.

As the weekend progressed, I found Cadbury improving on

her first jump. Cadbury's next jump was a 10'1". This jump

placed her in the Junior division. Five waves later, and an

increase up to 14'7", Cadbury earned herself a national Junior title.

Cadbury's Junior title earned her an invite to the

National Championship in October.