2010 Veterinary Team
(scroll down for Judges)
Dr. Paul Gibbons graduated from University of Illinois Vet Med in 1994. He worked in practice in Minnesota and Illinois before going on to complete a residency and a master's degree at the University of California, Davis. He currently lives near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and works in the Exotic Species Specialty Service at Animal Emergency Center. He is passionate about all things boreal and embraces winter adventure in many forms. He was introduced to wilderness sled dog travel at Paul Schurke’s Wintergreen Lodge in 2003 and has been involved with sled dogs ever since. He has participated in the UP200 every year since 2004 and this year he serves as Chief Vet.
Dr Jeanie Wilcox is a '94 graduate of Michigan State University. She has a practice in Gwinn, MI. Dr Wilcox has volunteered at the race in one way or another since it started, has participated as a vet since 1995. She served as the race's head veterinarian and has earned the respect of every musher and volunteer. Dr Wilcox spends much of her off time canoeing, hiking, following her dogs, not on a sled though :( , and camping. Her horses go on some of the camping trips, but she hasn't found a canoe they like yet.
Dr. Sue Laskaska is a 1987 graduate of Michigan State University Veterinary School. She has been involved with sled dog racing medicine since 1998, and has worked 9 of the last 11 UP 200 races. Sue owns the Bay Veterinary Clinic in Gladstone. She lives in Escanaba with her husband and two teenage children. In her spare time, she enjoys snowmobiling, kayaking, and her new passion, scuba diving. This year, she will be joined by her niece Emily Wilkes, who aspires to be a vet as well!
Dr. Nick Vukich is a 1995 graduate of North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine (yes, he know both doctors Topham, however they very rarely claim to know him). Dr. Vukich became involved with sled dog sports while growing up in Ohio after receiving his first husky as a birthday present. Dr. Vukich has worked many sled dog races in the lower US, Alaska and Canada , including the John Beargrease, UP200, Empire 130, Can Am 250, Iditarod, Percy DeWolfe, and the 2005 IFSS World Championships. Dr. Vukich is the 1996 recipient of the Doc Lombard Student Research Award and the 2000 Iditarod Golden Stethoscope award. Dr. Vukich co-owns Bay East Animal Hospital in Green Bay , Wisconsin . His primary veterinary interests include sports medicine, orthopedic surgery, wildlife and exotic animal medicine, and emergency and critical care.
Dr. Kendra Carlson is a 203 graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. After graduation Dr. Carlson completed a small animal medicine, surgery, and emergency/critical care internship at the University of Minnesota . Dr. Carlson is an avid outdoor enthusiast and enjoys kayaking, hiking, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, and camping. When she adopted her first husky cross it was only natural she tries skijoring, which led to an interest in sled dog sports. She has worked as a trail veterinarian on the UP200 and the Percy DeWolf sled dog races for the past two years and is hooked! Dr. Carlson is a member of the ISDVMA and has attended the annual conference as well as the Iditarod pre-race workshop. For the past 3 years Dr. Carlson has done full time emergency/ critical care medicine at the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center in Appleton , Wisconsin . Her primary veterinary interests include sports medicine, emergency/ critical care, infectious disease, and toxicology. She shares her home with her skijoring partner, Abby (a Husky-shepherd cross) and two cranky cats.
Dr. MJ Wixsom is a 1980 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.While in the Coast Guard, she commanded two cutters. She left theCoast Guard and earned her DVM and MS in Veterinary Parasitology fromthe University of Missouri-Columbia in 1989. After 19 years of owningand operating Guardian Animal Hospital in Ashland, Kentucky, sherecently opened Guardian Animal Medical Center. Dr. Wixsom was anIditarod Trail Vet for 3 years and helped with pre-race physicals fortwo years before that. She has previously been part of the veterinaryteams for the John Beargrease, the Race to the Sky, the FlambeauClassic, and the UP200.
In addition to volunteering at sled dog races, she leads a Girl ScoutTroop, does wildlife rehabilitation and release, and is active withthe local gifted kids program, and, several years ago, headed up thedaffodil project in Ashland’s Central Park planting over 12,000daffodils. Her husband, Matt is an attorney. They will celebrate 30years of marriage later this year and have M'Kinzy, a 9 year olddaughter. MJ Wixsom, DVM MS MBAAshland, KY -- USA
The rest of the Veternarians are:
Dr. Tom Gustafson
Dr. Phil Topham
Dr. Kathy Topham
Dr. Kimberlee Buck
Dr. CC Sheldon
Dr. JeniferStephani
2010 Veternarian Nursing Team
Elizabeth Martinez: As a native San Franciscan enjoying Wisconsin, I have been honored to care for the dogs that compete in the UP200/Midnight event since 2004. My expertise as a CVT since 1987 has helped the veterinary team with the treatment of our 4 legged athletes. The passion from the dogs will keep me coming back in years to come. When the weather is not freezing you can find me on the trails with my Icelandic horse Stingur and faithful friend Wishbone enjoying the great outdoors.
Meghan Marks: Wow 2010 is here......another year of sled dog races :)This year finds me still dressing my Hairless Terrier and running my3-legged Terrier in agility. Taking care of your fuzzy athletes hasalways been a great joy for me. Have decided to train myself this yearfor a half - marathon ( walking/jogging ) and do my 50 mile walk forMS again this year.( 3rd yr) Figure if i can not chase dogs for aliving hitting that big milestone of the big 4-0 this year betterinspire me to do something .....although I far from act that old !! Weare here to help the dogs and mushers as we are every year so if youneed anything just holler, HAPPY TO HELP ! Hugs to all :)
Heather Mohan-Gibbons, MS, RVT, CPDT, ACAAB Heather has worked professionally with a variety of animals since 1995 including: marine mammals, wildlife, domestic animals, wild and pet birds, and other companion exotic animals. Currently she is an animal behaviorist, dog trainer, veterinary technician, business owner, consultant, scientist, writer and photographer. She owns her own business in Milwaukee providing in-home training and behavior modification for domestic and exotic animals and travels around the nation to teach animal shelters and veterinarians about animal behavior. Heather has been volunteering with the UP200 vet team race every year since 2007, and also for the Beargrease in 2008. She is looking forward to another great race in the UP!
Heather Darbo-MacLellan Mrs. Heather Darbo has always been interested in wildlife, exotic andzoological animal medicine. Growing up in Alabama she lived out in thecountry and always seemed to attract all creatures that needed hercare. After completing high school she continued to pursue herinterest with animals. She received her Veterinary Technology Degreefrom Snead State Community College in June 1997 and moved to Birmingham, Alabama to work at the University of Alabama/Birmingham.She spent her spare time volunteering at the Birmingham Zoo Animal Hospital.
In August of 1998 Heather moved to Chicago, Illinois to advance herVeterinary Technician skills. She worked at a 24-hour emergency clinicand again had to spend her days off volunteering at the Lincoln Park Zoo, teaching children about all the wonderful creatures we have inour world. Heather then traveled around the midwest and was fortunate enough to complete an externship at the Milwaukee County Zoo Veterinary Hospital. Then she came to the Animal Emergency Center and Specialty Services to advance her emergency skills.
In 2001 Heather accepted an internship in New York City at the AnimalMedical Center. While in New York, she completed her Certification as a Veterinary Technician Specialist (Emergency and Critical Care). Sheis now the Director of Nursing and Blood Donor Program Coordinator atthe Animal Emergency Center and Specialty Services. She have presented lectures at Veterinary Technology Programs throughout the U.S. This will be her second UP200 and she has recruited her husband, a Registered Nurse to help the Vet Team. They are very excited to see the dogs run and make sure they stay in tip top shape during the race.
In her spare time, Heather likes to rollerblade, bike, hike, camp,sail and canoe with friends, family and pets. She lives in Glendale with her husband Don and 3 Dachshunds; Tootsie Roll, Jabba the Mut and Chocolate Chip.
Beckie Kilvington has been a CVT since 1996, and involved with thecanine athletes since 2003. Beckie has been involved with the JohnBeargrease since 2003, and has been the Head Veterinary Technician forthe last 3 years. She has been adding more races to her resume everyyear, including the Apostle Island races and this year being her firstyear at the UP200. Beckie loves the people that the races bringtogether and the amazing canine athletes that are the basis for theevents. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with her husband andstep-daughter as well as camping, horseback endurance/trail riding,and of course, keeping the Beargrease veterinary team in organizedchaos during the off season.
The rest of the veternarian nursing team is:
Lindy Demers
Heather Darbo-MacLellan
Heather Feldhusen
Amber Ackley
Jamie Zimmerman
Ariel Hudson
2010 Judges
Head Judge / Stan Passananti:
Stan won the UP 200 in 2001. He was followed closely by Keith Aili and Frank Teasley. These three were terrific competitors and this year the race belonged to Stan. Often we see him coming in second or third but this time he was obviously ready for them. He contributes winning to very good dogs that year. Actually 2001 was the first year that Stan ran the big race or the UP 200. He says he will always remember the comments from Dick Mackey who served as race judge that year. Dick Mackey’s comment as Stan finished the race in first place was “those dogs are finishing at the same pace as when they began the race”. Stan says he will always value that comment from an Iditarod competitor.
In the same year, Stan finished the Can Am second behind Keith in the fastest Can Am ever run. He had faster dogs on some of the runs but over the long run, Keith beat him. In 2002 Stan completed the Iditarod again just behind Keith. Stan and Keith were both rookies that year and were running in friendly competition to accomplish the goal to finish. After the race Stan commented, “It was tough. No doubt about it. You learn a lot about dogs. But I thought it was pretty exciting. The memories I have are going to last forever”. His Iditarider contributed $710 for that race.
Stan always wanted to win the Beargrease. However in his best effort his main leader was injured and he finished second to Cliff Wang. Stan reported that when his daughter went off to college they got away from dogs and no longer have dogs. I was surprised when Stan told me that he became a race car driver. He raced a Porsche and a DSR for a few years. With his knowledge of the concrete business in Chicago, Stan along with his brother and others was able to help the Chapman’s in building their dog yard and cabin. The Chapman’s had become neighbors when they bought property near Ely, in Northern Minnesota. Rebekah Chapman bought many of Stan’s dogs. In fact, Stan handled her dogs when she made a remarkable run in the UP 200 moving from the back of the pack to finish in the top five.
May, 2004 Stan along with Rebekah Chapman organized a potluck held in Northern, Mn. This informal event created much discussion among mushers and those interested in mushing to discuss checkpoint strategies and nutrition. This was a great opportunity to talk about dogs and past races and share stories from the trail. These events are wonderful because there is no pressure among the attendees, just good stories and information. This was reported by Eric Morris, another musher that we all know.
Stan also helps his community by co-sponsoring a city wide clean up day. Currently Stan owns and operates a waste management business. Stan has had many adventures: racing dogs, racing cars, flying float planes. However in looking back he believes his most thrilling adventures were when he raced sled dogs. He loved the UP 200 and stated there is no better race because of the exciting beginning down through the streets of Marquette with the excitement of the dogs and the enthusiastic crowds urging the teams and then on through the woods and trails. There is no other race like it including the Iditarod. (written by Sherry Smith)
Judge / Carl MacKenzie
Judge / Tom Shepski
Judge / Al Orazietti
