A mere 0.112 points separate second through fourth place in the current women’s World Equestrian Games (WEG) Vaulting rankings. Last weekend’s USEF Vaulting selection trial, held during the Garrod’s Spring Classic in Saratoga, CA, on May 20, was the fifth of six chances that U.S. vaulters have to improve their average score toward qualifying for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. From those six chances, the highest three scores are averaged, and a WEG ranking is established.

Megan Benjamin, the current leader of the women’s WEG ranking, won the May 20 competition by 0.053 pts and maintains her lead in the WEG rankings by 0.35 points with a score of 8.590. Benjamin, a 17-year-old high school senior from Saratoga, CA, is also a member of the composite team, F.A.M.E., based in California that is vying for a spot in the team competition at the WEG. After Benjamin, the spread separating vaulters on the leader board narrows. Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Osborn of Menlo Park, CA, won Round I with a score of 8.214, but it was not enough to knock her fellow Californian from the top ranking. Osborn currently ranks third in the WEG rankings with a score of 8.228. Mary McCormick of Woodside, CA, currently sits second in the WEG rankings with a score of 8.240 and placed third at the Garrod’s Spring Classic. Ali Divita of Redwood City, CA, placed fifth in the competition and is currently standing fourth overall with a WEG ranking score of 8.128.

For more information, please visit www.usef.org.
~~~For more information, please contact Jeannie Putney, National Marketing Manager, at (859) 225-6974, or via e-mail at [email protected].