KRONEBERG, Netherlands--The Young Rider team tied for second but on time was placed fourth on Sunday, Sept.13 in the 2026 FEI Youth Jumping Nations Cup Final hosted at Peelbergen Equestrian Centre in Kronenberg, the Netherlands.
JJ Torano on Lyons 50 (Photo by KindMedia)Sweden won, with France second and Ireland third.
The Junior team did not qualify for its Final but finished second in the Challenge Cup, the competition for those not in the Final.
The Junior Team competed over courses set at 1.40m, while the Young Rider Team had courses set at 1.45, all designed by Belgium’s Bart Vonck.
The Young Rider team consisted of Campbell Brown of Fayetteville, Ark., Isabelle Ehman of Milton, Ga., Kait Meggenhofen of Noblesville, Ind., Eleanor Rudnicki of Conroe, Texas and JJ Torano of Mohrsville, Pa., with Torano, Meggenhofen, Brown and Rudnicki competing in the Nations Cup final event.
There were two qualifying classes on Thursday and Friday in which Torano, Meggenhofenm Ehman and Rudnicki competed, finishing third and sixth.
The top six teams from the 11competing qualified for the Final on Sunday, a one round competition in which all six teams started on zero faults.
"WITH THOSE 11 teams, the qualification twas extremely competitive," said Chef d'equipe Anne Kursinski. And the the Final was so close."
Kursinski replaced Eamon with Brown in the Final.
Torano on Lyon 50, who had gone clean in the first two qualifiers, was first to go for the U.S. in the Final.
"JJ was second in the ring, so he hadn't had a chance to see how the course rode," said Kursinski. "He had just a really light touch at one fence, and it came down for four faults."
Meggenhofen on Diva de Talma was next to go for the U.S. and also had four faults, followed by Brown on Booster 3, who went clean, and then Rudnicki on Little Dance W had eight faults to be the drop score, leaving the U.S. with a total of eight faults.
The team finished on a total of eight faults, and a combined time of 230.59 seconds.
Sweden won with a total of zero faults, while France and Ireland also finished with eight faults, but with combined times breaking the tie, France, finishing in 227.49. placed second, Ireland with 228.85 seconds placed third and the U.S. was fourth with 230.59.
“I’m so proud of our Young Rider and Junior Teams,” said Kursinski. “All our combinations jumped solid rounds, and each gained invaluable experience that you cannot get showing at home. I have no doubt they will grow from what they learned here. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for them!”
The U.S. Junior Jumping Squad, consisting of Rylynn Conway of Fair Haven, N.J., Alice Goodwin of Richmond, Va., Lauren Padilla of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., Scarlett Samuels of New York, N.Y., and Violet Tatum of Los Angeles, Calif., was one rail off from competing in the Final but concluded their week by contesting the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth Final Juniors Challenge Cup, and they finished on the podium in second place.
In the Challege Cup, Samuels and Confidence had four faults, Conway on Bonhomme Richard was clean, Goodwin on Rockefeller G had four faults, and Tatum on BP Swiftydidn'thave to go as the team finished witheight faults behind Finland.
