TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.--Zone 2 won the team gold in the Junior category on Thursday, July 30 at the FEI North American Youth Championships in Travrese City.
Scarlet Samuels on Confidece (Photo by Natalie Suto Photography)The Youth Championships hosts teams for Children's, Pre-Juniors, Junior and Young Riders competing for team and individual medals in jumping and dressage.
In jumping, the first competition is a speed class, after which finishing places are converted to points, followed by a two round team competition for team medals and then a two round individual competition for indiviidual medals.
Zone 2 consists of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
Capturing the team gold medal in the Junior section was Zone 2, led by Krista Freundlich.
The winning team, made up of Scarlett Samuels, Cecilia Chatterjee, Agatha Lignelli, and Rylynn Conway,completed on a score of just 4 faults over the two rounds, bringing their finishing score after days one and two to 8.47 penalties, carrying an impressive lead over second place.
“I THINK our zone is so special,” Lignelli said in the press conference following the prizegiving. “We have such a special chef d’equipe and we all have such an amazing relationship so to be successful together is really special.”
Conway and Samuels each put in double-clear performances, making them top contenders looking ahead to Saturday’s Individual Final.
But for these riders, the experience at NAYC is more about the team camaraderie and the friends they make along the way.
“It feels amazing, especially to be able to do this as a team,” Conway said. “I’m so thankful to my horse and everyone who made this happen.”
Taking a second silver medal home to the West Coast was Michael Endicott’s Zone 10 team, this time with Junior riders Allyn Marie Creel, Madison Weiner, Lauren Padilla, and Violet Tatum.
In the Chidlren's category, , the team from Zone 4, led by Kim Land, won the team gold medal.
Finishing on a strong score, with the Individual Qualifier winner as part of their team, the Zone 4 riders — Jesus Rigu, McKenzie Badley, Paisley Cramer, and Georgina Jewell — added nothing to their score, producing a clean slate over two rounds of jumping Thursday.
Rigu and Jewell, winner of the Individual Qualifier, both jumped double-clear rounds,with each of the other two having a clear round as well, ultimately contributing to their final score of zero for the day.
“I always like the team competitions best; we don’t get to do them as much,” Rigu said.. “It’s nice when you have a good team that you trust. We all rode great, we didn’t add anything to the score we brought yesterday, and yesterday we did really well. It feels good to win as a team. I really like jumping here, it’s my third year and every year I like it even more.”
In the silver-medal position was Zone 10, with athletes Brianna Shannon, Taylor Morrow, Lillian Loftin, and Isabel Moment, led by team chef d’equipe Michael Endicott.
Team Canada of Blake Che, Nya Ryan, and Laura Nosworthy, led by Peter Gisborn, rallied with a completely clear second round to secure the bronze medal.
In dressage, Region 3 won the FEI Young Rider Team Test gold medal, posting a combined score of 198.941.
Region 9 earned silver with a combined team score of 194.853, and Canada’s Team Ontario won the bronze with 193.705.
Representing the gold medal-winning Region 3 Team were Allison Berger (Wellington, Fla.) and Delacure, Ava Babnick (Starke, Fla.) and Sir Sincere, Reece O’Keefe (Wellington, Fla.) and Kamora and Eila Fisk (Aiken, S.C.) and Quaresma, under the guidance of Chef d’Equipe Katharine McQueen.
Fisk and Quaresma posted the top individual score of the class with a 67.529%.
Fisk said returning to NAYC with Quaresma, a year after anchoring Region 3’s Junior team to gold on the same horse, made the win especially meaningful.
“To be here on team competition day is really cool because last year was my first year representing Region 3. It was also my first year at NAYC. My horse and I were able to anchor our Region 3 team to gold. I would have never thought one year later we could ever do that at the Young Rider level; that was our goal. To be here on top with my beautiful team that I love so much is just a crazy feeling,” Fisk said.
In bronze position was Canada’s Team Ontario, represented by Sapphire Daly and Stiletto, Taylor Wells and Hidalgo AYM, Imogen Hawes and Knights Cavollo Dolce, and Eliza Marshall and Ramazzotti Langholt.
Erin Nichols (Wellington, Fla.) and Kind Pleasure, won individual gold in the FEI U25 Grand Prix 16-25 Test, posting a score of 68.513%.
Alicia Berger (Wellington, Fla.) and Aqua Marin won the silver medal with a 66.846%, and Canada's Brooke Mancusi and DeJohn Ymas took bronze with a personal-best score of 66.205%.
Nichols, competing with Kind Pleasure at their first championship together, said the partnership is still finding their footing in the ring.
“I think we’re really growing as a team,” she said. “We have been learning how he acts in that championship setting; he’s a little bit shy. After getting his confidence up and going around, he did a foot-perfect test except for the last centerline. That just tells me there’s always something to work on, something to learn from, and to look forward to in the future.”
Nichols said she’s especially looking forward to unveiling her freestyle. “My music is a surprise, but it’s one of my favorite freestyles I’ve ever made. I’m really excited for everyone to see it,” she said.
