Canada’s rising stars got off to an impressive start on opening day of the 2015 Adequan FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) on July 15, 2015, where over 40 Canadian athletes are participating in five FEI disciplines.
Dressage Goes for Gold
In the team dressage competition, the Ontario Junior Team captured the gold medal, while the British Columbia/Alberta Young Riders Team earned bronze.
Ontario Junior Team members, Alexandra Meghji of Toronto, ON, Vanessa Creech-Terauds of Caistor Centre, ON, Yanina Woywitka of Merrickville, ON, and Georgia Wade of Fonthill, ON landed at the top of the podium after riding to a team score of 200.920.
“I knew going in that these guys had a really good chance at getting a medal,” said Ellen Rumball-Dvorak, the chef d’équipe of Team Ontario and Team Quebec. “I can say without a doubt that they all made wise riding moves and the best team job that they could do. I am so proud.”
The Team Junior silver medal was awarded to US Region 7 with a score of 198.163, while US Region 9 won bronze with 197.379.
Taking fourth place, scoring 196.865 was the combined team of Quebec/British Columbia, comprised of Camille Carier Bergeron of Mascouche, QC, Beatrice Boucher of St. Dominique, QC, Emma Heusser of Victoria, BC, and Sophie O’Bray of Richmond, BC.
Riding Delfiano, a 12-year-old German-bred gelding sired by Del Piero and owned by Gilles Bergeron, Carier Bergeron earned the highest score overall for the Junior Team test with 69.892%.
In the Young Rider division, the team from British Columbia/Alberta – Rakeya Moussa of Edmonton, AB, Elexis Dana Ortlieb of Leduc County, AB, Hannah Beaulieu of Maple Ridge, BC – won the team bronze medal with a score of 198.105.
Naima Moreira Laliberte of Outremont, QC, Frederique Bourgault of St. Bernard de Lacolle, QC; and Mathilde Dumas of St. Lambert, QC, who formed the Young Rider team from Quebec, finished in fourth with 196.027.
US Region 7 won the Young Rider Team gold medal with 199.658, while silver went to US Region 3 with 199.369.
With Belafonte, Fiducie Naga Trust’s 11-year-old Hanoverian stallion (Belissimo x Wendekreis), Laliberte earned the top Canadian score of 69.000%, which was good for second place overall.
“All the Canadians rode well and were quite impressive,” said Rumball-Dvorak, reflecting on day one of dressage competition.
Dressage will continue on Friday, July 17, with the Individual Test for both the Junior and Young Rider divisions.
Solid Start for Jumping Riders in Individual Phase I
The Individual Phase I of jumping competition saw Canadians finish in the top 10 individually in both the Junior and Young Rider divisions.
Veronica Bot of Burlington, ON rode Calato’s Charles (Calato x Lord), her nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding, to a fifth place finish in the opening Young Riders speed round.
In the Junior Division, Karly Lowe from Edmonton, AB took seventh with Zidane B (Mr. Blue x Silvester), her 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding.
On the Docket for Day Two
On July 16, Canadians will be riding for medals in Junior and Young Rider Team jumping, as well as in the endurance race. The para-dressage competition also gets started with the Team Test.
For more information and complete results for NAJYRC, please visit www.youngriders.org.
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