Result: NGSPA Open All-Age Invitational Championship

Location: Blue Mountain, Mississippi

Post Date: Feb 2, 2026

Submitted By: Keith Richardson

NGSPA Open All-Age Invitational Championship (l-r): Jack Griffin, Kyle Graves, Keith Richardson, Bill Mason, Sherri Tangsrud with Uodibar's Robbi Jo, Kirk Loftin, David Russell, Korry Rinehart, Mr. John, and Hunter Jacobs.

The eighth NGSPA Open All-Age Invitational was held on January 4-6, 2026, at Hell Creek WMA, Mississippi. These grounds are considered by many to be the best all-age grounds in the country. The MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks has been kind enough to slot us into this time slot every year, and it has proven to be very good as far as weather is concerned. We are the only NGSPA event to be held here.

Hell Creek WMA is owned by the state of Mississippi and managed by its Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, which is led by Lynn Posey, Executive Director, and under the management of Justin Hughes, NE Regional Biologist. Justin has been very helpful to all of the clubs that run here, and last year, he approved the purchase of a new refrigerator at our request. The grounds were opened in 1999 and include dog kennels, a horse barn with 38 stalls, outside paddocks, a spacious clubhouse with cooking facilities, and a nice area for trailers and staked-out dogs with some electrical hook-ups. The exceptional grounds accommodate three-hour-long courses. They are multi-use grounds and field trialers share them with hunters and others who love the outdoors and appreciate God's creation. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks has a deep commitment to multi-use recreation, and we are deeply grateful to them.

Although he retired in 2020, Jack Griffin remains the "face of the Hell Creek WMA." Recognizing the need to stay on top of the grounds, Justin Hughes has retained him to keep the grounds in top shape, which benefits the quail, deer, and turkey that call these grounds home, as well as the field trialers who hold Hell Creek in the highest regard. Jack shows up at every event and is always a big help in many ways, but most of all, he ensures that the facilities and grounds are always in top shape. His work on the grounds is essential and includes mowing and weed control, which keeps the forest from encroaching onto the grass bottoms and reducing game habitat. He understands how fields need to flow for our bird dogs, something most folks cannot grasp. Thanks also to Jeremy Taylor and the Hell Creek Field Trial Clubs, who work during the year to keep the area clean and in good condition.

The grounds are varied and challenging with a number of long bottoms, some piney woods, and smaller tree-lined fields. Despite rain before we arrived, Hell Creek was at a low level, and we were able to use all three courses. There is plenty of dense cover to hold quail. The grounds demand a powerful all-age dog that stays to the front, carries a line to the end, and seeks timely guidance from its handler. Absences of 10 minutes or more are common. The courses flow nicely, but penalize dogs that get behind, won't carry a line, are seen too often, or won't respond to their handler.

We were blessed to have Korry Rinehart and Nick Thompson advise us on how to best organize the courses, including our 90-minute callback. They also used their knowledge as they planted quail in strategic places. All three courses provide their own challenges and opportunities to show and evaluate an all-age dog. Korry and Hunter Jacobs also served as marshals.

We were honored to have two outstanding judges: Bill Mason and David Russell. Both are "bird dog men" and respected judges, having been involved in training, handling, and scouting. Most importantly, both men understand what it takes to be an All-Age Invitational Champion, and they have stellar reputations for personal integrity.

We had a talented crew involved in putting on this quality event. Christy Harris and Tireca (ReRe) Turner teamed up to provide three wonderful meals each day. Many have said that our meals are the best of any trial in the country. Joe Frauendienst oversaw many details both in preparation of the event and throughout it, including the dog wagon, the purchase and care of our strong flying quail, and many other preparation details. Sheri Tangsrud and Becky Dynkiewicz pitched in to help with the administration responsibilities. We could not have put the event on without the oversight, attention to detail, and hard work of our Executive Assistant, Brittiny Haberkorn, and Bobbi Richardson.

Our incredible sponsors made this trial possible. Greg Blair and Purina support all three of our NGSPA Invitationals, which showcase the excellence of their product that is currently being fed to all dogs competing in this challenging endurance event. They provided important financial assistance, including 12 bags of product for the Champion handler, 12 bags for auction, and helped with an original oil painting of the champion by Leah Brigham, gifted to the owner. Garmin provided an Alpha TT25 tracking collar to the champion's owner, and SportDOG gave us a training collar for auction. The winning handler also received a $5,000 purse, and the owner also received a $500 Cabela's gift certificate.

All attendees received an exceptional package of gifts, including a warm and rugged Carhartt vest with the dog and owner's names and logo, a custom-made leather saddle bag by Haggis Saddlery of Ontario, Canada, a dog vest with logo by Ruff Wear, an embroidered Mud Creek handler's gear bag, and a nice t-shirt with logo.
The Guidelines and Philosophy are essentially the same as the NGSPA Shooting Dog Invitationals. We ask the judges to pay close attention to our NGSPA All-Age Standard. The 12 top winning all-age dogs from the past year are invited. This year, we only had 10 dogs due to an unusual number of dogs that were unable to participate. The field of dogs was very competitive. There are three continuous days of running. The first two are hour stakes, and the third day is a 90-minute callback, which tests the endurance and stamina of the top dogs like no other trial in the GSP world.

As with all our Invitationals, the judges maintain a consistent pace, staying on course and expecting the handler to "show them their dog," understanding that it is the handler's job to show his dog, not the judge's job to follow the handler around. Handlers were free to leave the "path" and do what they needed to show their dog to the judges. Handlers are expected to quickly gain the front after bird work.

THE RUNNING OF THE DOGS;
GENERAL COMMENTS ON BIRD WORK
Day One was exceptionally difficult. It started out quite cold, with a hard frost, and it never really warmed up. We don't know the reason, but there were very few birds found, and a lot of dogs disappeared for most or all of the hour. The second day was better, but not up to standard. On the callback morning, birds were planted in the dark, and we had record finds. We will alter our bird planting strategy for next year based on what we learned.

CALLBACK DOGS
The judges called back four dogs: Chicoree's Riden High Trixie ("Trixie"), Uodibar's Robbi Jo ("Robbi"), Twin Creeks Running Rocky ("Rocky"), and Slaterock's Mountain Heart ("Rommel").

THE CHAMPION
Uodibar's Robbi Jo (Robbi), owned by Sherri Tangsrud, handled by Kirk Loftin.
On day one, Robbi had one divided find and a good race. Robbi had three finds, one of which was divided and a strong race, on day two. During the 90-minute callback on day three, Robbi had a back at 8, and six finds at 12, 50, 63, 68, 72, and 80. She looked great on all her birds, pointing with intensity and no movement. She showed a good balance of independence and "handle." Her handler showed her well, and he was able to stay in the "money hole" without much verbal guidance, just watching Robbi work. Robbi took all lines to the front with speed and power, disappearing out of sight without breaking off. She had a strong finish on "one mile bottom," where she ran out of sight with her speed undiminished. She ran all-age but was also a bird dog, being one of the few dogs with a find on the first day, and she had the most finds on the second day, with six finds on the last day that were nicely spaced out, but providing periods between them where she blew out the front, disappeared, and was eventually found standing on point. Robbi had the whole package and put on the performance of a true All-Age Invitational Champion. It should also be noted that she was 11 years old, which only adds to the impressive nature of her win.

Champion's Bracemate
Chicoree's Riden High Trixie ("Trixie"), owned by Rondal Alexander and handled by Dan DiMambro.
On day one, Trixie was gone from the cast off. She had two finds (one was divided) and a strong race on day two. Trixie was braced with the champion on day three, and together they complemented each other and had a race that was exciting to watch. Trixie had seven finds and three backs. She exhibited beautiful, classy style, took all the lines to completion, and ran with exhilarating speed. Her finish in "one mile bottom" was big and powerful. She was hurt by her absence on day one.

Twin Creeks Running Rocky ("Rocky"), owned and handled by Kirk Loftin.
On day one, Rocky had no finds, came from behind twice, and was gone from 30. Rocky made up for day one and was the strongest dog on day two. He had four finds and a fast, powerful race. All his finds were independent of his bracemate and were quality finds.
Rocky had another good race for the entire 90 minutes with no letdown on day three. He had 8 finds at 3, 8, 30, 34, 45, 64, 75, 86 (three were divided). His bird work was not as solid as on day two, and he was together with his bracemate a lot.

Slaterock's Mountain Heart ("Rommel"), owned by Andy and Becky Dynkiewicz, and handled by Dan DiMambro.
Rommel had a find at 28 but came from behind twice. He had a decent race on day one. On day two, Rommel had three finds (one was divided) and one NP. He had a good race and a strong finish. Rommel had 6 finds at 8, 14, 24, 30, 45, and 54 (three were divided), and one NP on day three. He had a strong, powerful race, but he disappeared, and after an exhaustive search by scout and handler, Dan called for his tracker.

THE REST OF THE DOGS
Monkeyshines Callme The Breeze ("Breezy"), owned by Helmut Schoen, handled by Dan DiMambro.
On day one, Breezy had one NP and came off her lines, although she had nice ground speed. Breezy had a divided find at 29 on day two. Her run was again marred by not completing her lines.

P W Bert's Joke On Us ("Bart"), owned by Keith and Bobbi Richardson, handled by Rich Robertson.
Bart was lost from his cast off on day one and was scratched on day two.

Stoney Hill's Pinnacle Dee ("Dee"), owned and handled by Kirk Loftin.
On day one, Dee had one find at 29, then was gone for 30 minutes before returning to the course. She had a good, strong all-age race while she was seen. Dee had two finds (one was divided) and one NP on day two. She had a solid race, but not as strong as the callback dogs.

P W Race To The Front ("Raycee"), owned by Keith and Bobbi Richardson, handled by Rich Robertson.
On day one, Raycee had a nice 15 minutes with an NP before the road. She disappeared to the front in the piney woods and evidently took the bridge to Course 3, and was gone. The tracker was pulled at 30. Raycee got into a head race with her bracemate on the cast off and was not seen again on day two.

Hi N's Allison Miranda ("Allie"), owned and handled by Kirk Loftin.
Allie was clearly sick and was picked up on day one, and scratched on day two.

High Standing Cuttin Edge ("Woody"), owned by Anthony and Dayna Rusciano, handled by Dan DiMambro.
On day one, Woody was gone after the cast off. Woody had a find at 19 in the piney woods and an NP. He came from behind once and had a decent race on day two.

GENERAL COMMENTS BY THE JUDGES
The judges recognized the difficulty of day one and discounted it a lot. The second day was warmer and sunny, and the bird finding improved as did the dog's races. On the third day, the races improved even more, and of course, the bird finding was spectacular due to the planting of the birds that morning. They were impressed with the excellent sportsmanship and camaraderie during the running and at our meals. The judges commented that our GSPs could compete anywhere in the country against their "long tail" dogs. They, along with everyone else, enjoyed the many youngsters from 3 to 7 who were riding horses or being carried or ponied, and all loving their experience. All in all, it was a great time, and a really strong Invitational Champion showed herself.

Blue Mountain, Miss., January 4
Judges: Bill Mason and David Russell
NGSPA OPEN ALL-AGE INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats on two consecutive days; third day callback 90-minute Heats] - 22 German Shorthairs
Winner-UODIBAR'S ROBBI JO, F1662507, German Shorthair female, by Uodibar's Against All Odds-B D K's Sin City Casino. Sherri Tangsrud, owner; Kirk Loftin, handler.