HARRISBURG, Pa.--The Zone 4 team led the way from beginning to end to win the $15,000 USEF Prix des States Team Championship on Friday evening, Oct. 11 at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
Isabelle Eamon on Magnolia (Photo by Andrew Ryback)The team included of Olivia Sweetnam of Wellington, Fla., on HDB Quality, JJ Torano of Wellington on Vitus K, Amy Krebs of Franklin, Tenn., on Jabantos and Isabelle Ehman of Milton, Ga., on Magnolia.
The team finished the two round, modified Nations Cup format competition on a zero fault score to easily clinch the gold medal.
Winning the silver medal with 8 faults was the Zone 2 team of Clara Propp of N.Y., N.Y., on Cocolina, Kaitlyn Kiely of Rumson, N.J., on Mystic C Van T Heyveld, Alexa Elle Lignelli of N.Y., N.Y., on Helium and Mia Bagnato of Fishkill, N.Y., on Florida N.
The Zone 7 team of Ava Myers of San Antonio, Texas,, Ava Le of Flower Mound, Texas, Avery Griffin of Austin, Texas and Campbell Brown of Fayetteville, Ark., won the bronze medal with 16 faults.
USEF divides the states into zones to reflect each regions special needs.
Olivia Sweetnam on HDB Quality (Photo by Andrew Ryback)Zone 4 includes Ala., Fla.,, Ga., Miss., S.C.,and Tenn., wile Zone 2 includes Pa., N.Y., and N.j, and Zone 7 includes Ark., Kan., La., Ms., Okla., and Texas.
“We knew coming in that we had a very strong team,” said Zone 4 Chef d’Equipe Kim Land. “These kids are quite seasoned, and even though only one of them is aging out of juniors this year, they have a lot of experience; they’re excellent under pressure.”
Following the conclusion of the opening round, the pressure had already been lifted slightly off Zone 4, as each rider on the team had gone clean, putting them into the early lead.
In the second round over the Anderson Lima designed course, their margin of victory only increased, as Sweetnam, Krebs and Ehman each went clean again while Torano had just four faults to be the drop score.
“I expected them to have a really good performance,” said Land. “Now, to jump seven out of eight clear rounds and to have only one round with four faults was very strong. Since 2011, I’ve been the chef d’equipe for Zone 4, and this is the strongest I’ve ever seen a team. They rarely win on zero faults. All of these kids are friends. They support each other. They really bring a lot of quality to the plate. They take good care of their horses. They prepare their horses well, and it’s just a great group. I’m very excited to continue with them into the future.”
Sweetnam, 16, went first for Zone 4 team, and had two clean rounds on the 11-year-old Westphalian mare HDB Quality.
“I’ve had her for almost three years,” said Sweetnam of the horse that was previously ridden by her father, Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam. “She’s a bit quirky, but she’s crazy competitive and careful. She wants to win so badly, and I think it’s just about knowing her in and out of the barn. I have a really good bond with her in both, and I’m really, really, really lucky to have her.”
Torano was second in the rotation for Zone 4, and at just 14 years old, Torano made an impressive Prix des States debut, finishing with just one rail down in the second round on Vitus K.
“It’s definitely a good experience for young, up-and-coming riders to experience this team event and to be under pressure a little bit,” said Torano of the Prix des States. “For sure it helps if you want to grow up to be a grand prix rider or a big rider and trainer. So many of them have been through Prix des States and Medal Finals. There’s all this history here at the Pennsylvania National, so I think it’s a great class to have here.”
This was Krebs’ second year on the Zone 4 team, having competed on last year's silver medal team along with Sweetnam.
Riding Jabantos, she had two clear rounds.
“Jabantos is so special to me,” said Krebs, 16. “I’ve had him for four years. We have an amazing bond, and we know each other so well. I trust him completely. He’s an amazing competitor. He loves his job. He’s very enthusiastic about it. I’m so thankful for him.”
While the gold was already guaranteed for Zone 4 following the third rotation of riders in the second round, Ehman still returned as the anchor rider, as the Prix des States competition also counted as Phase II of the USEF Junior Jumper Individual National Championships.
Having already won Phase I Thursday evening, Ehman held onto her lead in the individual standings with two clear rounds on Friday night.
“I’m feeling good; I trust Magnolia a lot,” said Ehman. “She jumped fantastic tonight. Just being able to do this and gain experience before you step up is something that I think is really special. It’s something that is a stepping stone into the future.”
While Ehman holds the lead on zero faults, Sweetnam is hot on her heels and as close as one can get on a score of just 0.01.
The top six are within a rail, with Mary Rose Canterbury, riding as an individual of Houston, Texas on 3.97, Myers on 2.26, Propp on 1.43, Krebs on .98, Sweetnam on ,01 and Ehman on 0.