SPARKS, Nev. — Pryor Lake, Minn.'s Zane Ward and his dog Xena took first place in the ESPN Big Air Classic presented by Charter Communications at Sparks Marina with a 23-foot, 6-inch jump in the finals.

In the final qualifying event for this summer's ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge, Xena outlasted 137 other competitors including second-place Wade Coplin and Dwight, who jumped 22-8.

"I'm really excited," said Ward. "I wasn't expecting her to jump that good. She topped her previous personal best by about two feet. It was a long drive down here, but it was worth it."

With the 23-6 distance, Xena improves her chances of obtaining an invitation to the Great Outdoor Games. The 12 spots in the event are determined by a rankings system which utilizes an average of a dog's best five jumps of the year. Additionally, the medal winners from last year's Games also receive invitations. The final rankings will tabulated and will be available on Dockdogs.com on June 16; the top eight will earn invitations.

The rest of the finalists in the event included: third place Mark Stuart and Hogan (21-3); fourth place Robert Payne and Goose (20-6); fifth place Matt Chisholm and Sadie (20-3); sixth place Barry Weiland and Mugz and Tony Muscato and AB (19-4); eighth place Rick Oswald and Thunder (19-0); ninth place Jack Grielman and Sadie (18-11); tenth place Eric Jensen and Sydney (18-3) and eleventh place Matt Venezuela and Nico (17-3).

The Big Air Classic was the first event to take place in the Reno-Tahoe area, which will host the Games this July 10-13. With 138 competitors, the event was the largest of approximately 30 qualifying events conducted this year. Dockdog organizers explained that their previous high was approximately 60 competitors.

"I'm ecstatic with the amount of people we had here today," said Eric Matijevich Director of the ESPN Great Outdoor Games. "We had a record breaking number of dogs entered. It was a great event and I hope people got a taste of what the Great Outdoor Games are going to be about. We really want to thank the city of Sparks for their assistance."

The world's top outdoor athletes will gather at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games in Reno-Tahoe July 10-13, 2003. The event features one-of-a-kind, head-to-head competition in timber and target events, sporting dogs, and fishing. The event is telecast on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 July 19-23.