Call it the Dog Bowl. Westminster show's canine athletes get their piece of Super Bowl weekend

NEW YORK (AP) — They're at the top of their sport. They run, weave and go airborne. And they went all out for this weekend's championship.

Sorry — no, they're not the Chiefs or the Eagles. They're the agility dogs at the Westminster Kennel Club show, which began Saturday by showcasing agility and other dog sports.

Dog folk often call Westminster the Super Bowl of dog shows, and the comparison might be especially fitting this year. The United States' most prestigious canine competition opened on the same weekend as pro football's Super Bowl, which features the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The rare coincidence comes after both competitions' dates shifted in recent years.

“I always said I wanted people to call the Super Bowl ‘the Westminster of football,’ ” quipped dog expert David Frei, who has a foot in both worlds: He used to work in publicity for the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers.

The Westminster of football? Well, Westminster is 90 years older than the Super Bowl, after all.

And there have been some other connections between the gridiron and Westminster’s green carpet. Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Morgan Fox co-owns a French bulldog who came within a smushy-nose length of winning at Westminster in 2022 and was a finalist the following year. (Many other NFL players also have dogs for fun, if not for show, including Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.)

Whatever the analogy, being at Westminster was a triumph for Guster the rescue pug. He and owner Steve Martin took up agility after Guster started wagging his tail and tilting his head while they watched the Westminster agility contest on TV several years ago.

“We never thought we’d be here. And now we’re here,” Martin, of Austin, Texas, said Saturday.

A border collie named Vanish won the contest, which featured about 300 champion-level canines.

“She’s very intuitive, very natural — probably smarter than me,” handler Emily Klarman of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, told a Fox interviewer in the ring. While Klarman said the win initially left her speechless, Vanish had plenty to say, barking enthusiastically.

A special award for the best mixed-breed competitor went to Gable, handled by Kayla Feeney of Lima, New York.

Westminster added agility in 2014, marking the show's first event with mixed-breed dogs since the 1800s. Last year saw the first mixed-breed agility winner, a border collie-papillon mix named Nimble, who competed again this year.

She's an intentional blend of two top agility breeds. But the sport also draws rescue dogs such as an Australian cattle dog mix named Sawyer, or Soy Sauce for short.

His owner, Dr. Amy Ondeyka, has a complicated work schedule as a New Jersey emergency room doctor and EMS medical director. But she made time for agility after realizing she'd adopted a super-energetic dog who opens cabinets, unzips things and otherwise causes domestic mayhem when bored.

“He's always exciting — he does ridiculous things,” Ondeyka said as he intermittently leaped into her arms during what was ostensibly down time between agility runs. “We have fun, regardless what happens.”

While some dogs do agility to burn off energy, the sport helps others come out of their shell. Tully, a lanky, shaggy, mostly Labradoodle mix, used to be “afraid of the world” but now is excited to go to agility classes and competitions, owner Carla Rash said.

Saturday's competitors were a spectrum of dogdom, from a great Dane to a 7-pound (0.9-kilogramg) papillon, and they included such lesser-known breeds as a large Munsterlander and a Danish-Swedish farmdog.

They navigated jumps, tunnels, ramps and other obstacles as handlers gave hand and voice signals. The object is to be the fastest, without making mistakes.

Regardless of scores, some dogs won cheers from spectators. There was a bichon frise with its tail dyed blue, a standard poodle that took a leisurely trot across an A-frame ramp, and a curly-coated mix that apparently had second thoughts about the weave poles, circled around and went through them again.

Westminster’s traditional, breed-by-breed judging happens Monday and Tuesday, capped by the coveted best in show prize Tuesday night.

That's for purebreds only, but mixed-breed dogs also were eligible for Saturday's obedience competition, an event that Westminster added in 2016. The top prize went to Willie, an Australian shepherd who also won in 2022 with handler Kathleen Keller of Flemington, New Jersey.

Steve Wesler sported a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt as he cheered on partner Jennifer Weinik and Cookie, her Belgian Malinois. They came away with a ribbon, which Wesler deemed more exciting than the Super Bowl — because he was confident the Eagles would prevail.

There are no cash prizes at Westminster, but the agility and obedience winners each get to direct a $5,000 donation to a training club or the American Kennel Club Humane Fund.

The show also featured Westminster's first demonstration of flyball, a canine relay race that involves retrieving a ball.

“It's a lot of organized chaos,” Hillary Brown said after competing with her Boston terrier, Paxil. His teammates on a York, Pennsylvania-based squad called Clean Break were a standard poodle, a border collie and a whippet-border collie mix.

“It's a blast. The dogs love it,” Brown said.

This story corrects that the dog named Cookie won a ribbon, not the overall prize, in obedience.

Chloe the poodle watches as Colleen Swierkocki takes a photo at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)wld

Nico Hutkin, center, reacts after feeding a dog during the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Champion, an All-American breed, sticks out their tongue at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

People utilize the empty demo ring benching area for dogs at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

A dog competeswld in the Masters Agility Championship Finals during the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Kimber, an Australian Cattle Dog, competes in the Masters Agility Championship Finals during the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Hadley Cooper, left, and Amanda Gabriele take a selfie while watching the Masters Agility Championship Finals during the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Alicia Bismore with her dog Dazy, waits for the flyball tournament at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Handlers and their dogs wait for the start of the flyball tournament at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Judy Harding wears a sweater featuring a Shih Tzu while holding her dog Tova at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Alicia Bismore and her dog Dazy rub noses as they wait for the start of the flyball tournament at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

A dog waits near the demo ring benching area at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Colleen Swierkocki takes a photo of Diane Stenberg and her golden retriever, Brook, at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Katrina Wallace poses for a photo with her mixed breed, Beatrice, at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Ellie, an All-American half Pomeranian and half Husky, looks up while surrounded by supporters at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Benny, left, and Tansey, Norwich Terriers, sit in a stroller at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Ellie, an All-American half Pomeranian and half Husky, waits for a treat at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Dogs compete in the Flyball tournament at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Taylor Jones scored 19 points as No. 1 seed Texas opened the women's NCAA Tournament with a 105-61 victory over No. 16 William & Mary on Saturday night.

Booker had her double-double by the end of the third quarter for the Longhorns (32-3), who advanced to a second-round matchup with No. 8 Illinois (22-9), which beat No. 9 Creighton earlier Saturday.

Texas is a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year after reaching No. 1 during the regular season for the first time since 2004 and winning a share of the Southeastern Conference championship. The All-American Booker was the league's player of the year.

Yet the early moments of their tournament were anything but smooth against a quick and spunky opponent making the most of its chance in the spotlight. William & Mary (16-19), which had never made the tournament until this year, quickly tested Texas with an up-tempo attack that had the Longhorns off balance early.

“We looked like we hadn't played in two weeks,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “We’ve had a long layoff. But I have to give them credit. That team was fearless. That’s what I want my team to be.”

The Tribe were within 23-18 at the end of the first quarter before Texas slowly and steadily enforced its will to take control.

The Longhorns' considerable size advantage with Jones and Kyla Oldacre in the post, and the 6-1 Booker on the wing, had Texas dominating rebounding and scoring in the paint. Oldacre finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

“When Taylor and Kyla are at their best, they are hard to stop. One subs out and another one comes in,” Booker said.

Bryanna Preston finished a fast break with a layup, Oldacre muscled her way over two defenders for a basket and Booker scored twice as Texas opened an 18-point lead and took control from there.

Bella Nascimento led William & Mary with 19 points.

“We came out swinging, come out fighting. We did everything we could to stay in the game,” Nascimento said.

William & Mary: The Tribe's first NCAA Tournament was short but sweet: They got a chance to taste victory with their First Four win over High Point. The Tribe was the only team in this year's tournament with a losing record, and coach Erin Dickerson Davis and her program had success to build on. After the game, the players gathered in a group hug on the court and cheered.

“We're so happy to have had this season and I'm proud of these girls,” Dickerson Davis said. “They have laid the foundation. Now we have a standard. We were fighting to get there. We have a taste of it.”

Texas: The Longhorns were uneven on both ends of the floor for long stretches, with sloppy passes early and leaving open shooters on the perimeter. Texas was never in danger of losing, but Schaefer has plenty to clean up going forward as the competition only gets better.

“We’ll need to play better,” Schaefer said. "I don't think anyone in my locker room thought we played very well, and yet we win by 40.”

Texas made just three 3-pointers but dominated scoring in the paint 56-22.

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Texas guard Rori Harmon, left, pressures William & Mary guard Bella Nascimento (5) during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Austin, Texas, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)