1st Mixed Breed Dog To Win Westminster Agility Competition Hails From Howard County

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Nimble the All-American dog has become the first mixed breed canine to win the Westminster Kennel Club's Masters Agility Championship with a blazing speed of less than 30 seconds over and through the obstacle course.

(See a link to video of Nimble's record-setting run at the bottom of this story.)

The 6-year-old dog — whose owner and handler, Cynthia Hornor, lives in Ellicott City — competed in the 12" class and beat out 350 competitors with a course completion time of 28.76 seconds.

Nimble happens to be a border collie-papillon mix. Border collies have won eight of the last 11 agility titles, while the top three finishers in this year's competition were all papillons, according to National Public Radio.

Hornor won the Masters Agility title last year with her other dog Truant, a 20-inch border collie.

While Nimble was blowing through the obstacle course, the announcers could not contain their excitement, with one shouting, "Just great!" Nimble made no mistakes running the course. Hornor told the FOX Sports announcer after Nimble's big win that the dog is super fast.

"I love her. She is just so fast. She loves playing the game of agility and she's just an incredible dog to live with," Hornor said.

One announcer proclaimed Nimble's run as "one of the two most impressive runs I've seen all night."

Hornor told NPR she hopes Nimble's big win will be enough to shoot down any misbeliefs that mixed breeds can't be as fast as purebred dogs.

"Agility is the equalizer," Hornor said. "Mixed-breed dogs can be just as fast as purebred dogs."

Nimble was rewarded for her championship showing with a steak and plenty of playtime.

Watch Nimble tear through the course in this FOX Sports video.