Steinman Sweep

Posted on May 17, 2009 by SuperRetrieverSeries.com Staff 

Lyle Steinman from Gower, Missouri, took home first, second, and third at the 2009 SRS Crown Championship and coupled with his wins at the Port Clinton, Firewater, Grand Island, and Huntsville qualifiers, completed the single best year in the history of the Super Retriever Series. 

Steinman guided “Jack” - SRSC SRS Fargo's Gulf Coast Jack-Son QAA – owned by John Caire, through the three-bird final series and bested his performances with his other dogs Rebi - SRS Dynamite's Ms Yankee Rebel MNH HOF – and Coot - SRS Taylorlab Downtown Cooter Brown MNH QAA – (both owned by Steinman and his wife Debby) by ten faults and twenty-five faults (28 to 38 to 53) to take home his second SRS Crown Championship in three years.  Steinman also took home fifth place with his dog River - SRSC SRS  HRCH Big Two Hearted River II MNH HOF QAA – the 2007 SRS Crown Champion. 

“I came in telling everyone that I felt good about this weekend,” said Steinman.  “I knew the boys [Coot and Jack] were ready, River was running as good as she ever has and Rebi knows exactly what to do out there.” 

The only handler who was able to mitigate Steinman's domination was Chris Akin of Bono, Arkansas.  Akin and Baylie – HRCH Boomers Blossom Baylie SH –  owned by Bubba Harrell, recorded the lowest score in the fourth series and inched out River and Steinman for a spot in the final series.  Baylie, the youngest dog in the finals, cleared the first two marks in good shape, but folded on the third and longest mark and finished fourth with a final score of 74. 

But no one had a busier weekend than Shay-D and Mike Gibson of Galena, Kansas.  Shay-D and Gibson were the only amateur team to the survive the fourth series and won a new 2-hole slide-in dog box provided by MountainTop Custom Kennels; however, Shay-D and Gibson weren't on-hand to celebrate their win.  After qualifying for the second spot in the fourth-series running order, they chose to run first and following their run, left immediately for the four-hour drive home to attend his daughter's high school graduation.  Shay-D and Gibson finished eleventh overall.

Steinman's sweep of the 2009 Crown Championship gives him the first three qualifiers for the 2010 Crown Championship.  “Realistically, I think I could have  seven dogs in next year's Crown,” said Steinman, “but then I  think about the talented dogs we have at home like Cha Cha and Diva and I start thinking about having more than seven.” 

“One thing's for certain,” said Justin Tackett, organizer of the Super Retriever Series, “this was definitely Lyle's year and the rest of our competitors have their work cut out for them this off-season.”