The Junior and Young Rider dressage teams from Quebec both earned medals in the team portion of the competition at 2012 Adequan FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) held July 18, 2012.
Winning the gold medal in the Junior division, with a score of 200.462, were Quebec team members Naima Moreira Laliberte of Outremont, QC, Laurence Blais Tetreault of Montreal, QC, Frederique Bourgault of St. Bernard de Lacolle, QC and Nicole Babich Morin of Vaudreuil Dorion, QC.
The members of Junior Team Ontario, Mariah Sutton of Drumbo, ON, Madison Lawson of Bonfield, ON, Jonah Freedman of Toronto, ON, and Kristin Wight of Plympton Wyoming, ON, rode away with fifth place, scoring 193.73. Rounding out the Canadian Junior riders was Junior Team East/West of Natalie Marsden of Sundre, AB, Elexis Ortlieb of Leduc County, AB, Julia Burke of Surrey, BC, and Marah Gaudet of St. Johns, NL, who finished in eighth with a score of 186.406.
The Young Rider Team from Quebec, Mathilde Blais Tetreault of Montreal, QC, Camille Frechette of Boucherville, QC, Tanya Strasser Shostak of Ste Adele, QC, and Julie Channell of Boucherville, QC, won the bronze medal with a score of 196.210. Just behind the Quebec team was Young Rider Team Ontario (Alexandra Dvorak of Hillsburgh, ON, Megan Lane of Collingwood, ON, Alexandra Reid of Carlisle, ON, and Anneka Sutton of Drumbo, ON) with a team total of 195.421. In ninth place, with a total score of190.420, was Young Rider Team British Columbia (Monica Houweling of Delta, BC, Ellika Crichton of Whistler, BC, Sydney Holme of North Saanich, BC, and Colby Dodd of Langley, BC).
Houweling and Rifradin, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Linda Houweling, earned the second highest score of the day, with a 69.605%, in her first year at the Young Rider level.
The Young Rider team gold medal was awarded to United States Region 5 scoring 206.105.
“The kids from the Quebec teams have every right to be proud of themselves,” said Ellen Rumball Dvorak, the chef d’équipe of the Ontario and Quebec. “They are so happy, and this a wonderful experience for them. They all had fabulous rides yesterday and really deserve their medals.”
The competition will continue on Friday July 20, with the Individual Test for both divisions.
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. For more information and complete results for NAJYRC, please visit http://www.youngriders.org/.
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