Lexington, Ky. – The jumping Team medal competitions were the event of the day in the Rolex Stadium at the 2014 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC), with the Endurance race covering the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park and beyond. In the USHJA North American Junior and Young Riders’ Show Jumping Championship, Zone 3 won the Gold medal in the Young Rider division, while a combined team of Zones 1 and 9 claimed the Junior Team Gold medal.

Zone 3 Scores Young Rider Team Gold

A challenging course by Steve Stephens set the tone for today's Young Rider jumping Team competition. With only six clear rides in the two rounds of jumping, the faults added up for teams. However, it was still a strong performance from Zone 3 that took home Gold medals for the four Young Riders. They finished on a total of 14 faults.

Christina Firestone (18, Upperville, Va.) and Arwen and Chloe Reid (17, Washington D.C.) and Athena both had four faults in the first round but had improved performances in the second round to both go clear. KC Van Aarem (19, Wheaton, Md.) and Mastermind tallied five faults in the first round andonly collected one time fault in the second round. Unfortunately, Alison Cooney (19, Wilmington, N.C.) and Touluca LS ran into some trouble and were eliminated at the triple at fence eight in both rounds. However, Cooney felt she rode better in the second round and was very proud of her teammates, looking on the bright side of things.

“Our Chef d’Equipe [Sandra Ruiz] told us today that it was the first time in ten years, I believe, that we have gotten a Gold medal so it is very exciting for us,” Reid said. “Sandra has a lot of energy and she puts a lot into this so giving this back to her is a huge honor for me and I think for all of us.”

“The course was pretty difficult today but I think I had a lot of faith in my horse and her rideability was spot on,” Firestone explained when asked about her rides on Friday. “She was really listening to me so we worked really well together and were able to work out the difficult parts and get a nice clean round. I was able to fix my mistakes from the first round so I was happy with how it went.”

Zone 4 claimed the Team Silver medal with a total of 35 faults. Victoria Colvin (16, Loxahatchee, Fla.) had five faults in round one with Chanel B 2 but finished the second round  with a clear trip. Brittni Raflowitz (19, Palm City, Fla.) and Punchy Dorcel started the day with eight faults but came back better to only have a single time fault in round two. Virginia Ingram (17, Nashville, Tenn.) and Urban had a solid nine fault round but then ran into some trouble in round two adding 14 faults.. Haley Gassel (21, Lenoir City, Tenn.) and Quite Dark 2 were eliminated at the water at fence 7 in round one but finished the course with the encouragement of the crowd in round two on a score of 12 faults.

The Bronze medal went to a three-person team from Zone 2. Michael Hughes (18, Allendale, N.J.) and Luxina had the best day in the Young Rider team competition, being the only pair to go double clear. Victoria Press (16, New York City, N.Y.) and Cayenne 140 had 17 faults in the first round but improved to four in the second round.. Riley Newsome (18, Chester, N.J.) and Sunny Face G had 17 and eight faults in the two respective rounds.

Hughes of Zone 2 leads the top 25 riders returning for Sunday’s Young Rider Individual Final with only 0.23 faults. Firestone of Zone 3 sits in second on 4.26 faults and Wilton Porter of Zone 7 riding Diamonte Darco is third with 5.52 faults.

Zones 1 and 9 Join Forces to Claim Junior Gold Medal

The combined team of Zones 1 and 9 tackled Steve Stephen’s tough course, rising to the occasion and finishing in Gold medal position with a final score of 12 faults. Sara Nordstrom (17, Medina, Wash.) rode Coningtion to a double clear round and lead her team to victory. Jennifer Gates (18, Medina, Wash.) and Lord Levisto only had four faults in the second, at 6A, the first element of the triple. With a pair of four fault rounds, McKayla Langmeier (14, East Granby, Conn.) finished her first NAJYRC experience with HS Classic Care with eight faults. Victoria Arute (18, Avon, Conn.) ran into some trouble in the first round when Aletta’s hackamore bridle broke and they tallied 17 faults. They improved in the second round, collecting  12 faults.

“It was really exciting,” Nordstrom said of Zone 9 being paired with Zone 10. “I know [Arute and Langmeier] have really capable horses and we came into this competition with just Jennifer [Gates] and I but to be able to compete in the team competition as a team is really exciting and really fun.”

Of going double clear, Nordstrom explained, “It didn’t quite sink in until after I had jumped the last jump each time and it was so, so exciting.”

Only one fault behind the winners, Zone 5 earned the Team Silver medal on their home turf and in their first year competing at NAJYRC with a final score of 13 faults. Alec Bozorgi (18, Chicago, Ill.) and Navy Blue Tarroy only faulted at fence 7, the water jump, in the second round. Kady Abrahamson (16, Loveland, Ohio) and Quick Blue Z had six faults in the first round but were clear in the second, while Meredith Darst (17, Lebanon, Ohio) and Zenith Dance were clear in the first round, they had eight faults in the second. Vivian Yowan (17, Lexington, Ky.) and Vornano Van Den Hoendrik had four faults and one time fault in round one as well as another four faults in round..

The Bronze Team medal went to the all-male team from Mexico who finished with 16 faults. Juan Pablo Gaspar Albanez (16, Guadalajara, Mexico) led the way with solid double clear rounds aboard Puertas So What. Twin brothers Andres and Adrian Berganza (18, Tulancingo, Mexico) both had four faults in each round on Catello 3 and Conovalenco, respectively. Santiago Attias Bulhosen (17, Mexico City, Mexico) and Deluxe Dancer had nine and 16 faults in the two respective rounds.

Lucy Deslauriers of Zone 2 and Hester heads in to Sunday’s Junior Individual Final with no faults after three rounds of competition. Lucas Porter of Zone 7 and Phineas are in second with 0.65 faults and Brett Burlington of Zone 4 lie in third with 1.19 faults.

For full results or to learn more about the Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North, please visit www.youngriders.org.

USEF Network presented by SmartPak will live stream the entirety of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's events from the Rolex Stadium during NAJYRC. Visit
www.usefnetwork.com to find out more and watch!