2022 UKC Triple Crown Winner: NITECH 'PR' Indian Creek Nova
Congratulations to Gregory Wallace on this accomplishment
October 3, 2022
Source: Trevor Wade
Job Title: Coonhound Program Manager
Email: twade@ukcdogs.com
NITECH 'PR' Indian Creek Nova, owned by Gregory Wallace, of Randolph, Alabama
DOB: May 8, 2018
Breed: English Coonhound
Sire: GRNITECH 'PR' River Swamp Crow
Dam: NITECH Looneys Big Oconee River Lola
The UKC Triple Crown Challenge, sponsored by United Kennel Club, rewards the outstanding coonhound who earns the most Triple Crown points at the Winter Classic, Autumn Oaks, and the World Championship. The winner receives $3,000 and a jacket courtesy of UKC. A dog must have participated in all three events to be eligible for the award.
After the first leg of the Triple Crown, the double cast winners at the Winter Classic held in Batesville, Mississippi would set the pace for the 2022 Triple Crown Challenge. Three Black & Tans, seven English, nine Treeing Walkers, and one X-Bred made up the 20 frontrunners, all tied with 100 Triple Crown points.
Then came the second leg at Autumn Oaks in Richmond, Indiana. Out of the 20 double cast winners at Winter Classic, only three hounds were able to add a cast win and 50 points to their resume at Oaks. Those three hounds were GRNITECH(2) PR Black River Poncho, a 5-year-old Black and Tan male owned by Chad McCoin and Brad Hile, NITECH PR Indian Creek Nova, a 4-year-old English female owned by Gregory Wallace, and NITECH PR 15 South Merle, a 2-year-old English male owned by Trent Willoughby. At this point, there were 21 other hounds tied with 100 points that were still within shouting distance going into the last leg of the yearly series.
Just two weeks later we were heading into the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, the World Championship, starting with the Zones. As we sometimes see in this points race, there was one of the hounds, Merle, that was not qualified for the Zones and therefore eliminated from the competition. With Merle being excluded, all eyes were on Poncho and Nova. Poncho was entered in Zone 3 in Portland, Indiana and Nova was entered in Zone 6 in Clarkesville, Georgia. As Friday night at the Zones came to a close, Novas lead grew as she was able to win her cast with Poncho falling just short in his cast. The next night, the results were flipped. Poncho won a tightly contested cast in his zone, while Nova fell short in her cast.
With final results from the Zones in, all other dogs that had been lagging behind were now too far out of the race to make a run in the Finals to catch Nova and Poncho. Both hounds were still deadlocked, now with 175 points. Nova, however, was able to advance through the Zones to the World Finals for a chance to add to her point tally, with Poncho falling just shy of the required points for advancement in Zone 3.
In Thursdays Round 1 at the Finals, Novas run for the World Championship came to an end. This left Poncho and Nova deadlocked at 175 points, and we would go to a tie breaker. The first tiebreaker listed in the Triple Crown rules and procedures is the dog with the highest combined total score. So, lets go to the scorecards. Poncho was a double cast winner at Winter Classic with a 325+ score Friday night and 375+ cast win on Saturday night. He then won his cast at Autumn Oaks with 200+, and then won his cast on Saturday at the Zones with 275+. That gave him a total of 1,175+ over the four cast wins. Nova was able to double up at Winter Classic with 750+ on Friday and 50+ on Saturday. At Autumn Oaks, she won her cast with 325+ and then on Friday at the Zones she won her cast with 250+. That gave her a total score of 1,375+ giving her a 200-point lead over Poncho and making her the Triple Crown Champion.
Congratulations to Gregory Wallace on his accomplishment with NITECH 'PR' Indian Creek Nova the 2022 UKC Triple Crown Champion. They join the following elite group of hounds and owners who have won this award:
| Year | Dog | Breed | Owner(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 2000 |
Dog |
Breed BLUETICK COONHOUND |
Owner(s) STEVE BURKHOLDER, JERRY MCAVOY |
| Year 2001 |
Dog |
Breed ENGLISH COONHOUND |
Owner(s) CHAD BUTCHER, DEAN THOMPSON |
| Year 2002 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) KEVIN PHLLIPS, BT LOVE |
| Year 2003 |
Dog |
Breed BLUETICK COONHOUND |
Owner(s) RON TAYLOR |
| Year 2004 |
Dog |
Breed AMERICAN B&T COONHOUND |
Owner(s) TED FRODERMAN |
| Year 2005 |
Dog |
Breed REDBONE COONHOUND |
Owner(s) SHANE MARCYES |
| Year 2006 |
Dog |
Breed BLUETICK COONHOUND |
Owner(s) DANIEL GLISTA, ED MEAD |
| Year 2007 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) KEVIN PHLLIPS, BT LOVE |
| Year 2008 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) ROBERT RAXTER |
| Year 2009 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) ROBERT RAXTER, SCOTT ENGLE |
| Year 2010 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) LOGAN BURDWELL, MOLLIE BURDWELL |
| Year 2011 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) WILLIAM READ, DOUG READ |
| Year 2012 |
Dog |
Breed ENGLISH COONHOUND |
Owner(s) JODY JESSUP, PENNY JESSUP |
| Year 2013 |
Dog |
Breed AMERICAN B&T COONHOUND |
Owner(s) DEAN MILLER, TIMOTHY WATERS |
| Year 2014 |
Dog |
Breed ENGLISH COONHOUND |
Owner(s) JACOB BARTON |
| Year 2015 |
Dog |
Breed BLUETICK COONHOUND |
Owner(s) EDDIE HARP, LARRY HAMLIN |
| Year 2016 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) NICK BRADY, PHIL PETERSON |
| Year 2017 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) WESLEY HASTINGS, JOHNNY BROWN |
| Year 2018 |
Dog |
Breed AMERICAN B&T COONHOUND |
Owner(s) MICAH AYERS |
| Year 2019 |
Dog |
Breed BLUETICK COONHOUND |
Owner(s) MICHAEL SHEPPARD |
| Year 2020 |
Dog |
Breed BLUETICK COONHOUND |
Owner(s) MARK VANDEVENTER |
| Year 2021 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) WILLIAM WOOD, JUSTIN WALLACE |
| Year 2022 |
Dog |
Breed ENGLISH COONHOUND |
Owner(s) GREGORY WALLACE |
| Year 2023 |
Dog |
Breed TREEING WALKER COONHOUND |
Owner(s) ELLIS KEEN |
| Year |
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