NSTRA's Purina Top Performance Award Winner Is Pointer

NSTRA’s Purina Top Performance Award Winner Is Pointer Named ‘Jill’

Consistent, quality bird hunting, determination and endurance in multiple National Shoot to Retrieve Association (NSTRA) field trials gave a 4 ½-year-old orange-and-white female English Setter named “Jill” (7XCH Resa’s Mohawk Jill) the most points ever recorded to earn the 2021 Purina Top Performance Award. Along the way, Jill won her second consecutive NSTRA UKC Performance Classic — the first dog to win in back-to-back years — and whelped a litter of puppies.

The highly competitive Performance Classic, held May 2021 in Waverly, Nebraska, included the top 128 qualified dogs. The elimination event has five 30-minute stakes run over three days, and then two finalists run in a one-hour championship final. As in 2020 when she won, Jill delivered a nail-biting victory.

Breeder-owner-handler John Resa of Shelbyville, Missouri, says, “Jill gives her all every time she hunts. She was in great shape going into the pregnancy and bounced back after having pups.”

The Performance Award is based on field trial points earned by all dogs in the country from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021. Jill’s record-setting 3,350 points included winning the Performance Classic and placements of third in the Dog of the Year trial, fourth in the Trial of Champions, and fourth in the Midwest Regional.   

Born Feb. 23, 2017, Jill represents Resa’s third generation of NSTRA winners. Her maternal great-granddam, 6XCH Sue Maggie Sue, won the 1995 Dog of the Year trial, and her maternal grandsire, 17XCH Resa’s Trouble Mace, won the 2005 NSTRA Top Performance Award and the 2008 NSTRA Grand National Championship. Her dam, 12XCH Resa’s Maize, won the NSTRA 2014 UKC National Championship and the NSTRA 2016 Purina Endurance Classic. All are NSTRA Hall of Fame members.

NSTRA began in the late 1960s to extend the upland bird hunting season from a few weeks to a longer period via field trials and championships. Resa, who has competed in the sport for 37 years, is true to the sport, as he enjoys hunting wild birds with his dogs, including Jill.

Jill is fed Purina Pro Plan SPORT Performance 30/20 Chicken & Rice.