Individual Gold Medals in Dressage, Eventing and Jumping were awarded to highlight a successful conclusion of the 2006 CN North American Young Riders’ Championships (NAJYRC) at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, VA (USA).
DRESSAGE
The closing ceremonies began with the presentation of medals to the top Dressage competitors.
After helping Canada West win the Gold Medal in the team competition, Pia Fortmuller went on to claim the Individual Dressage Gold Medal. Sitting in fifth position on August 2, Pia Fortmuller came back even stronger on August 4, piloting her mother’s 11-year-old Hanoverian mare, Donagna, to a score of 69.500%, thus clinching gold in her stride. Fortmuller has been riding Donagna, bred by her grandmother Ursula Bahlsen, for six years and is coached by her mother, Dagmar, as well as Canadian Olympian Leslie Reid. Taking the Silver medal with a score of 69.400% was Bobby McKee of USA Region 5, while Caroline Roffman of USA Region 3 received Bronze.
In addition to the individual and team awards, a Gold Medal was awarded to Young Rider Musical Freestyle winner Bobbie McKee of Phoenix, AZ, with a score of 71.1% on Jamalone. The Silver Medal was won by Amanda Harlan of Oakville, CA, earning 70.6% on Liberte, and Bronze went to Caroline Roffman of Wellington, FL, with 69.7% on Bulgari 5. The Junior Musical Freestyle competition was unbelievably close, with only three-tenths of a point separating the top three. Julie McKeen of Camden, ME, won the Gold Medal on Heslegaard's Stravinsky with a score of 71.4% Hannah Holland Shook of Charlotte, NC, won the silver Medal with a score of 71.35% on Cape Town. Earning the Bronze Medal was Amanda Stearns of Royal Palm Beach, FL, with 71.1% on Mitchell.
EVENTING
In Eventing, Alexandra Zavoyna of Unionville, PA, jumped a fault-free Jumping round on Merloch to win the Gold Medal in the CCI 2-star Young Rider Championship with a final score of 49.2 penalties. Also jumping clear rounds were Silver Medalist Rebecca Barron of Monticello, FL, riding Oberon IV to a final score of 51.5 and Jessica DiGenova of Norval, Ontario, who won the Bronze Medal on Upolu with a score of 52.1.
"This is my third year to compete at Young Riders'," said Gold Medalist Alexandra Zavoyna, "but it is only the second two-star competition for both Merloch and me. I was thrilled with his Dressage, and he's just a machine on cross-country, but all I could think about heading to my first jump this morning was (last year's winner) Jessica (Pye) speaking at the Opening Ceremony about doing well for her horse. I just wanted to be up on that podium for Merloch."
In the CCI one-star Junior Individual Championship, Gold Medal winner Katlyn McMorris of Barrington Hills, IL, had some breathing room going into Jumping with a 10-point lead. Only one rail down gave Katlyn a final penalty score of 44.7 on Clifton Peekachu. This was the second year the pair had competed at NAYRC. Clear Jumping rounds moved both silver and Bronze Medalists Jessica Rice and Caitlin Silliman up in the placings. Rice, of Kingsburg, CA, rode I'm So Brite to finish on 51.7 penalties; Silliman of Paoli, PA, moved up five places with her horse Twain, finishing with a score of 53.8.
JUMPING
The Individual Final for Young Riders' in Jumping was won by Evan Coluccio of Middleburg, VA, aboard Champigny with a total of only 0.80 faults over four days and five rounds of competition. While Coluccio, 18, is a five-time national champion, this was his first time to attend the NAYRC. The Gold Medalist said, "I have only had the stallion since December so I've been figuring out things about him. He can be nervous and quirky sometimes, but he is such a good horse. He really likes the hard work. The more rounds he gets, the better he gets. I'd say this week I figured him out just in time!" Coluccio also had words of praise for chef d'equipe Sandra Ruiz, "She did a fantastic job. I'd like to say I did this for her. We need more riders from our zone to participate in this competition." The Silver Medal went to Maggie Mcalary of Amherst, NH, with a total score of 2.69 on Pedro. Natalie Johnson of Greenwich, CT, was close behind with a score of 2.71 on Crocket 16. Mcalary and Johnson were both members of the Gold Medal Young Rider Jumping team.
The Show Jumping Junior Individual Championship culminated in two exciting jump-offs before the medals could be awarded. Catie Boone of Lexington, KY, emerged victorious to win the individual Gold Medal with a cumulative total of 12 faults over the four days of competition on Naleida. Nicole Lakin of Reading, PA, and Alaska also had 12 faults, but were not able to beat Boone's blazing time over Linda Allen's difficult jump-off course, and were awarded the Silver Medal. Both Boone and Lakin were part of the Gold Medal-winning Team from Zone Two & Five. Paris Sellon from Los Angeles, CA, who was a member of the junior Silver Medal team, won the Individual Bronze Medal with Aurora. Her cumulative score was 13 faults.
The NAJYRC is the premier equestrian competition in North America for Junior and Young Riders. Young equestrians come from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Islands to vie for team and individual medals in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing. This year marks the first time that fully-recognized Championships for Junior riders (age 14-18) are being held along with those for Young Riders (age 16-21). For many competitors, the NAYRC is their first experience riding on a team, as well as their first time competing under FEI rules.
“These championships are so significant for many of these Young Riders who benefit from the experience on their way to someday riding for their countries in international competition,” said NAYRC event director Penny Ross. “For those whose careers culminate with this experience, it is meaningful in a very different way. We feel it is important that everyone goes home having gained a valuable experience whether they win medals or not.”
For full results and further information on the 2006 CN North American Young Riders’ Championships, please visit www.youngriders.org.
Campus
