Sun rises to the occasion in Mt. Vernon

Mt.Vernon, IL - Tequila Sunrise, the 2002 PKC season's two-time truck winner has won the final Blue Ribbon event of the 2002 season. Sunrise, owned by Tennesseans Buzz Lynch and Ashley Hopkins won the 2002 JOY Super Handler Shootout in March winning the Dodge 4 x 4 in the process. Unbelievably, the best-known son of Rat Attack came back to Lula, Mississippi in April and won the JOY Super Pup Shootout, taking home the second Dodge in as many months! Now, the winningest pup in recent PKC history has done it again, taking the $4000 first prize at Mt. Vernon.

The 2002 pro season also added another notch on the handling gun of the amazing Ronnie Smith of Harrisburg, Illinois. Smith won the 2000 PKC National Champion with Mark Cross' and Terry Walker's Pic Pac Pickles. He came back in the fall of 2001 to capture coon hunting's grandest prize, the PKC World Championship hunting Darrel Newton's Silver Dollar Stone after narrowly losing the National Leader race to Allen Wilson's Millcreek Molly with Chris Allen handling.

Most recently, Smith rocked the handler's world when he signed a three-year contract with Cross and Walker, taking a brand new Cadillac Escapade truck in the process, easily a $50,000 vehicle. Throughout the 2002 season, Smith has been handling for Tim Cramer and John Strickland, alternating between the Bad Habit dog and Swift Creek Ann. Smith and Bad Habit put together a great performance all year in the Blue Ribbon series to capture the coveted Pro Leader crown.

Here's the way they finished at Mt. Vernon to cap the 2002 Blue Ribbon Series year:

1st - Tequila Sunrise
Walker male
Buzz Lynch or Ashley Hopkins, owners
Ashley Hopkins, handler
$4000

2nd - Mack II
Walker male
Junior Jackson or Ron McCauley, owners
Doug Jackson, handler
$1600

3rd - Phire
Walker male
Curt Clemens, owner
Jeff Price, handler
$800

4th - Harley
Walker male
Leon Childers, owner
Scott Engle, handler

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