Traverse City, Mich. - The 2024 Gotham North/FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships (NAYC), presented by USHJA, ramped up the action at Flintfields Horse Park during week five of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival presented by B&D Builders, on Friday as the Junior and Young Rider team medals were decided.
Zone 2 Young Riders On Top
Young Rider teams took center stage in the International Ring, battling it out over two rounds of competition. At the completion of the medal-deciding second round, Zone 2, consisting of Hunter Champey (Bedminster, N.J.), Emily Dehoff (Far Hills, N.J.), Kaitlyn Kiely (Rumson, N.J.), and Mia Bagnato (Fishkill, N.Y.) stepped atop the podium.
Carrying forward 9.16 penalties from Thursday’s individual speed round, Zone 2 performed brilliantly to only add an additional four penalties to their total for an overall score of 13.16 across all three phases counting towards the team final. The day’s top performance came from Bagnato, who along with the Elan Farm’s 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Ballyoskill Big Bucks (Royal Concorde x Lux Z) managed to produce two clear rounds across Alan Wade’s (IRL) course.
“To have this medal around my neck means everything to me,” gushed Bagnato. “I’ve been here [at NAYC] four times and I’ve never been on a podium, so it feels very rewarding. My horse is very lazy and going to the second round I was a little bit worried, but he knows when it’s time.”
The second-best performance of the day came from Champey, who only incurred one time-fault fault over Friday’s two phases.
“My horse jumped absolutely out of his skin, and performed to the best of his abilities,” detailed Champey of MDHT Equestrian, LLC’s 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, High Hopes SFN (Numero Uno x Lupicor). “I think the course was challenging in different aspects, like rideability, and just overall performance with energy and being able to perform over two rounds.”
“I think my horse answered today’s questions very well,” added Kiely of Kiely Equestrian’s 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, Mystic C van T Heyveld’s (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve x Brownboy) performance. “I am grateful to have had such a team to help support with clear rounds.”
Dehoff, who had the drop score in the first round, said that despite a few mistakes with The Sporty Game, LLC’s 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, Manou de Muze (Arko III x Quidam de Revel), she felt the format helped her riding grow throughout the course of the week.
“I had a few mistakes in the first round, so I tried to be consistent and fix those mistakes for the second round,” she added. “I think it paid off, and I was able to jump a clear second round.”
It was a successful day for team Mexico as they earned their first young rider team podium finish at NAYC in recent years. An unfortunate eight faults added to their returning score from Thursday left the team on a total of 17.49 points. Veteran NAYC competitors Francisco Pasquel Vega (Mexico City, Mexico) and Patricio Pasquel Poo (Mexico City, Mexico) received their first NAYC medals in four years of competition, while Maya Ines Denis Chambon (Ocala, Fla) had two unfortunate rails in the final round. Ana Sofia Legorreta Hernandez (Mexico City, Mexico) was the pathfinder for the team as she guided her mount to two flawless rounds.
Zone 5 rounded out the top three on a total of 36.81 points. Ashley Miles (Frankfort, Ill.), Allison Sinclair (Glencoe, Ill.), Maggie Jacobs (Mount Vernon, Ohio), and Natalie Jayne (Elgin, Ill.) didn’t have the exact day they were hoping for, but banded together to hold strong enough for the final podium position.
Zone 4 Takes Top Call in Junior Team Final
Producing a nearly perfect final round of jumping, the four athletes that made up the Zone 4 junior team procured the gold medal.. The up-and-coming competitors who made up the team consisted of Franklin, Tennessee’s Amy Krebbs, Lily Geitner (Aiken, S.C.), Christian Hacker (Wellington, Fla), and Isabelle Ehman of Milton, Georgia. While the first round of team competition came with an eight-fault penalty, their low score of 7.12 coming from the previous day proved crucial for the victory. The team rallied during Friday’s second round and created clear rounds from all but one rider, the second round’s drop score. On a total of 15.12 points across all phases, they still earned the competition’s best overall score.
“I had a clear first round, and then I needed to help my horse out a little more in the second round,” explained Hacker, who navigated the track fault-free during round one but suffered an unfortunate rail during the second round with CSH Equine LLC’s 12-year-old Selle Français mare Cocaine de Riverland (Epsom Gesmeray x Allegreto). “But that's why this is a team event. My team rose to the occasion and helped me out and I'm so happy for all of us.”
“I’m so thankful for everyone on our team that helped make this happen,” added Krebbs, who only collected four faults throughout the day with Amy Krebs’ 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Jabantos (Corsari van de Helle x San Patrignano Cassini). “This is my third year competing at NAYC so I really wanted to come home with the gold this year.”
Alongside Krebbs, Ehman was the only athlete on the team who had been a part of NAYC before, but as an alternate during the 2022 year. Now, as a crucial member of the team, she and the Double E LLC’s 12-year-old mare, Magnolia (Mylord Carthago HN x Van Gogh) not only earned team gold, but also currently sit in second place in the junior individual rankings heading into Sunday’s final.
“I wanted to be solid today because we had a great first day yesterday,” Ehman said. “I had a minor mistake in the first round, which cost me a rail, but she rose to the occasion for the second round. I knew that I could leave whatever problem I had in her hands and she would help me. We won’t change anything going into the final; I just need to stay out of her way and help her out, and I think we can have a good result.”
While Geitner’s inexperience at the championships may have led to a less consistent score across the first day and Friday’s first round, she and the Oak Ledge Farms’ 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Fazous (Up to Date x Purioso) found their footing to produce a clear round in their final effort.
“I’ve only been riding this horse since the beginning of this year, and he was my dad’s old grand prix horse,” stated Geitner. “I rode a little bit nervous yesterday and in the first round today, but he really pulled through for the last round and made it truly special.”
Bringing home a total of 16 faults across the day’s competition and an overall score of 25.68, the Zone 2 team took home the event’s silver medal. The New York, N.Y. duo of Clara Propp and Maison McIntyre delivered a flawless finish across the final round, while James Leone’s (Great Lakes, N.J.) four faults became the drop score and Alexa Elle Lignelli (New York, N.Y.) added only four faults to the board.
The bronze medal was awarded to the combined zone 3/8/9 team as they carried a total of 33.35 points across all phases of competition. Riding for the team was Riley McKesson of Lake Lure, N.C., Eve Westfall (Boulder, Colo.), Abigail Gordon (Statesville, N.C.), and the only zone 9 contender, Declan Talla from Bozeman, Montana.
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