Ottawa, ON—The Ontario Junior Dressage Team won the gold medal in the FEI Junior Team Competition today at the 2009 Adequan FEI North American Junior & Young Riders’ Championships, held July 21-26 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.
The Ontario Gold Medal Team, comprised of Zachary Ball of Mountain, ON, Alexandra Dvorak of Hillsburgh, ON, Megan Lane of Collingwood, ON, and Maura O’Sullivan of Toronto, ON, scored a decisive win with a Team total score of 196.433, almost six points ahead of the silver medal team.
“They are great riders. There was definitely the potential for this to happen,” said Ellen Rumball-Dvorak, chef d’équipe. “Good training, good horses and good attitudes really paid off today.”
With a score of 67.189%, Lane, 18, handily won the class with Caravella, her eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare. In third place, with a score of 65.568%, was O’Sullivan, 17, riding Terrence O’Sullivan’s 13-year-old Hanoverian Pik Czar. Alexandra Dvorak, 18, and Fling, Thomas Dvorak’s nine-year-old Westphalian gelding, scored 63.676% for sixth place. Ball, 16, and Karajan, Sarah McIlwham’s 12-year-old Trakehner gelding, rounded out the Ontario Team effort scoring 59.459%.
“My test went really well and my horse was very good at a venue like this,” said Lane. “We were both really focused and it came together for us today.”
“The footing is fantastic. We rode a very clean test, and my horse was a very good boy,” remarked O’Sullivan.
“This venue is unlike anyplace I have ever ridden in before,” added Dvorak.
The USA Region 3 Team took silver with a score of 190.594 and USA Region 1 earned bronze, scoring 189.026.
Team Canada West made up of Ariana Chia of Winnipeg, MB, Sylvie Fraser of Armstrong, BC, Monica Houweling of Delta, BC, and Devon Luca of Pitt Meadows, BC, finished in fifth place overall with a team score of 182.325.
The Team Championship test also acted as the first leg of the Individual competition for the Junior Rider division, which continues on Saturday, July 25.
Exclusively for Junior riders, aged 14–18, and Young Riders, 16–21, the NAJYRC gives up and coming riders the opportunity to experience representing their country as a team, and prepares them for future international competition. Featuring the disciplines of Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping and Reining, the 2009 edition of NAJYRC is also featuring the FEI discipline of Vaulting for the first time. Another first for the Championship is the presence of the FEI President, Princess Haya. This is the only time that a current FEI President has attended the prestigious event.
The Championships, presented by Gotham North, are being hosted at the site of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, giving these young athletes a taste of what’s to come next year for their senior counterparts.
For more information and complete results for NAJYRC, please visit www.youngriders.org.
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