The final day of the North American Junior Young Riders’ Championships started out bright and early for show jumping. The top 19 individual Juniors took to the ring to determine the gold, silver and bronze individual medalists. Zone 10 riders were in medal contention, but they had their work cut out for them. Katherine Newman (Zone 3) was carrying zero penalties, having posted three clear rounds so far. Four riders were tied for second with eight faults each, including Danielle Korsh of Zone 10. Saer Coulter was right behind with 12 faults, and Meredith Hursh was a few places back with 20 faults.
The first round course proved challenging and the time allowed demanded that riders carry a forward pace on an efficient track. There was no time to lolly-gag. Meredith was the first of the Zone 10 riders to tackle the course and she made it look easy with a clear round. Saer had six faults over the course for a total of 18, and Danielle added ten to her score to tie with Saer with 18 faults after four rounds. The Zone 10 riders were sitting 5th, 6th and 7th going into the final round.
Katherine Newman posted yet another clear round and held a two rail lead over Rebecca McIver (Ontario) and David Arcand (Quebec). Chelsea Moss (Zone 2) was one rail behind them in fourth.
Riders jumped a slightly shorter course for the second and final round. Meredith struggled in the final round and added 23 faults to her score, which gave her a final total of 43. However, Saer kept the pressure on by posting a careful, clear round. She just snuck in under time allowed. Saer finished the five rounds with just 18 faults. Inspired, Danielle rode a beautiful, smooth clear round. She too finished with just 18 faults, and now all the Zone 10 riders could do was wait and watch.
Chelsea Moss (Zone 2) struggled in the final round. A stop, a rail, and time faults gave her 11 faults for that round, leaving her with a final total of 23. Suddenly Danielle and Saer were tied for fourth with three remaining.
Rebecca McIver (Ontari) had a tough round with two rails and a time fault, but she clung to her bronze medal position. David Arcand rode confidently, but two rails in the combination, 8A and 8B, gave the Quebec rider eight faults and a final score of 16 - enough to hold on to the silver medal.
Katherine Newman entered the ring with a four rail cushion. She rode a solid, accurate round and looked to be flawless until her horse just tapped the back rail of the final oxer. With just a rail and a time fault in the final round, Katherine finished five rounds of championship competition with a score of five; more than enough for a gold medal.
The Young Rider Individual Championship got underway at 11:00 a.m. with two Zone 10 riders leading: Aurora Griffin (4.00) and Karl Cook (4.06). However, they had two riders less than a rail behind them. Mark Leyton of Ontario had 5.89 penalties, and Laura Teordori of Zone 8 had just 6.84. In fact, Teodori was the only rider to jump double clear rounds in Friday’s team competition. Rounding out the top five was Ali Wolff of Zone 4 with 7.38 faults.
Zone 10 qualified four of its five riders for the Individual Finals, and Callie Layland led off. Carrying 31.84 penalties, Callie had some difficulties, but she completed the challenging course. With 19 penalties in this round, Callie’s total grew to 50.84. Megan Edrick came in sitting in 7th position. Other than an early rail at fence 3, coming into the triple combination line, Megan posted a solid round. With four faults added to her score, Megan carried 18.01 into the final round.
And then it came down to the final five riders. Ali Wolff had two rails and a time fault, which moved her out of serious medal contention. However, Laura Teodori posted yet another clear round which kept her solidly in hunt of a medal. Mark Leyton wasn’t willing to give up anything either, and his clear round added pressure to the two Zone 10 riders, Karl and Aurora.
Despite being one of the youngest riders in the Young Rider Championship, Karl rode with aplomb and navigated a clear round. He kept his score of 4.06. Aurora was the final rider and she had no margin for error if she wanted to stay in the medals. Unfortunately, a rail coming into the triple combination (4A) dropped her to fourth. However, with one more round to go, Aurora was less than a rail from a medal. In the final round, none of the top four riders had much cushion to add faults to their scores.
The final course was slightly shorter, but no less demanding. Once again Callie led off and she posted a credible 16 fault round. Megan returned, still holding 7th, and a rail down after the double would not be able to move her up significantly in the standings. She finished with a score of 22.01.
Down to the final four and determination of medals, Aurora led off. She had a rail coming into a combination (5A) and finished her five rounds with a score of 12. Laura Teodori assured herself of a medal when she jumped her fourth consecutive clear round. She was the only rider to jump clear on Team Day and the final Individual Day. She finished with a score of 6.84. When Mark Leyton had a surprising refusal and then dismount, Laura was suddenly in Silver. This meant that Aurora was now assured of a Bronze. The Gold medal was Karl’s if he could manage another clear round.
Karl accurately piloted Uno deLaubry around the course, and when he landed off the final oxer, the Zone 10 cheering section erupted with yells and applause.
“How good is that?” said Butch Thomas with a grin. “And for my next step? I quit! There is only a downside after a week like this.” Butch had nothing but praise for the riders, the parents, and the trainers. “Everyone got along so good. No one worried about asking question, and everyone checked with me after walking the courses. I have never had such a positive team experience.” However, Butch was quick to add that the person who made the most difference for him was his wife, Lu. “My wife keeps it all straight. I couldn’t do it without her.”
Complete results are available on the NAJYRC website at: youngriders.org. http://www.youngriders.org/
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