ST. TROPEZ, France--A team of three League of Nations debutantes and one veteran finished tied for fifth and placed sixth on time in the League of Nations qualifier in St. Tropez on Sunday, Sept. 20, thus qualifying the U.S. for the Final in Barcelona on Oct. 2-4.
Laura Kraut on Tres Bien Z (File photo by Shawn McMillen)With points carried forward from the previous three qualifiers, the U.S. had to finish in the top six in St. Tropez to make the Finals, and the team of McKayla Langmeier, Paris Sellon, Kristen Vanderveen and Laura Kraut did just that.
"It was a nail biter, for sure," said chef d'eguipe Robert Ridland.
The U.S. started brilliantly, tying for second with France on four faults in round one,, while Brazil led with zero faults and Great Britain was fourth on five faults, followed by Belgium and Ireland on eight faults and Italy and Germany on 12 faults.
Netherlands and Switzerland, with 16 and 20 faults, didn't make round two.
Sellon on Chad Blue PS and Kraut on Tres Bien Z had both gone clean, while Langmeier on Riesling van de Gaathoeve and Vanderveen on Starbucks 27 had four faults each.
"WE WERE really good in the first round, considering that three of our four riders were not only new to League of Nations but also on green horses," said Ridland.
In the second round in the League of Nations, there are only three riders, so no drop score. making each ride critical.
Ridland chose Langmeier, Sellon and Kraut ot go in round two.
"It was the toughest decision I've ever had to make in this format," said Ridland. "All four had ridden brilliantly in round one. It came down to two things; Starbucks had only jumped one 1.60m course before, and, as we were tied for second we might be in a jump-off for the win, I wanted Kristen fresh to be the rider in the jump-off."
Round two didn't go as well for the U.S., with Langmeier and Kraut having four faults each and Sellon having eight faults, the team finished with a total of 20 faults, to actually tie for fifth with Ireland but place sixth on time.
France won on four faults, Brazil was second on eight faults, Belgium third, also on eight faults, and Italy fourth on 16 faults, while Germany finished eighth on 28 faults.
To show what this inexperienced team was up against, Germany, that finished behind them, had World no. 1 Richie Vagel and top veterans Marcus Ehning, Janne Zimmerman and Maximilian Weishaupt on its team and still had 28 faults.
"We were the only tem with three new riders on relatively inexperience horses," said Ridland. "I'm really happy with what I saw."
"We have the same four riders on the same four horses going to Barcelona," said Ridland. "We learned a lot at St. Tropez. It was a pretty positive result. I'm upbeat about Barcelona."
