I’m upstate too, Albany/ Saratoga area. I can’t help with standards, though. I have a mini, and will echo that a conformation line will produce sound dogs overall.
My Gracie is from mostly conformation stock, although some of the breeders pups have excelled in agility, obedience, tricks, etc. I bought Gracie for agility, and she is showing much promise. She is structurally sound, runs like the wind, and most importantly, as Catherine pointed out, her temperament is rock solid. Confident, no strange fears, and loves to work. The first time she was able to do the teeter in her puppy class without assist, she ran up and banged it down like there was no tomorrow...and there was no looking back after that!
In contrast...My sweet rescue poodle, Lily, spent two years getting over her fears of the teeter, and as much as she loves agility, aspects of her temperament have held her back. She’s a rescue and we’ve gone farther than I ever would have imagined, but she does not have the sound temperament Gracie has.
So yes, build the foundation with a sound structure...but for performance sports, temperament is huge.