Press Releases - 10.15.2005
Region 2’s FEI Juniors and Young Riders proved unbeatable this year, dominating all levels of competition, including the North American Young Rider Championships and the Junior Team Dressage Championships. They have also placed extremely well in the Year-End standings.
Region 2 triumphantly earned a Team Gold Medal at the 2005 North American Young Rider Championships. Taking the lead from day one, the team of Katie Hamilton and Noviembre (Oxford, MI), Allie Nichols and Lexington (Cincinnati, OH), Kassie Barteau and Gabriella (Gilberts, IL) and Lauren Sprieser and L’Etoile 6 (Oak Brook, IL) stood tall to finish above the formidable Region 7 and Region 5 teams. Individually, all four riders qualified for the Freestyle – a feat unheard of in NAYRC history. Katie Hamilton finished placing a close fourth, Lauren Sprieser fifth (both with more than 200 points), Kassie Barteau seventh, and Allie Nichols sixteenth.
Not to be outdone, Region 2’s FEI Junior riders performed admirably at the 2005 Junior Team Dressage Championship. With a superb 73.128% ride in the Junior Individual Test, Noel Williams and Pik-L (Delaware, OH) took top individual honors, and led Team Liberty to victory. Both R2 members of the Bronze Medal winning Team Freedom rode well: Kelly Gormley and Irioso (Grand Rapids, MI) took an individual ninth place, and Jordan Meadows and Lerro (Auburn, IL) came in twelfth.
In her final year as a Young Rider, 2003 NAYRC Silver Medalist Lindsay Koffler (Lexington, KY) chose to move onward and upward. With her Alfredo, Lindsay qualified for the Intermediare I National Championships at Gladstone, NJ, ranking in the top twelve riders in the country, and went on to finish eleventh against a field of the nation’s top professionals.
Region 2’s Juniors and Young Riders dominated the Regional Championships in Regions 2, 4 and 8. Katie Hamilton swept the Young Rider Team, Jr/YR Prix St. Georges and Fourth Level Freestyle Championships classes, with two of three scores above 70%. Her NAYRC teammate Allie Nichols was hot on her heels to take Reserve honors at the Jr/YR Prix St. Georges Championship, and win the Jr/YR Intermediare I Championship. Former FEI Junior respresentative Emily Mitchell aboard Bavarian Dream (Sterling, IL) took the Jr/YR Intermediare I Reserve title. Kelly Gormley won the FEI Junior Team Championship, with Robyn Weston and Polensio earning Reserve.
In neighboring Region 4, Kassie Barteau and Gabriella reigned in the Jr/YR Intermediare I Championship, and earned the Reserve ribbon in the Jr/YR Prix St. Georges and the Open Intermediare I Freestyle classes. Jordan Meadows precluded her Devon trip with a win in the FEI Junior Team Championship. Kassie Barteau also swept the Jr/YR Prix St. Georges and Open Intermediare I Freestyle Midwest Championship classes.
Heading East, Lauren Sprieser and L’Etoile 6 ruled the Region 8 Championships, with wins in the FEI Young Rider Team and Jr/YR Prix St. Georges Championship. In a big step up for her former Young Rider horse, Lauren and Bellinger bested a field of professionals to take Reserve honors in the Open Intermediare II Championship.
As the 2005 season draws to a close, Region 2 riders placed well in the USDF Year-End standings. Lauren Sprieser’s Bellinger ranked fourth in the Jr/YR Prix St. George standings, followed closely by Kassie Barteau’s Gabriella in sixth, Lauren’s L’Etoile 6 in seventh, Katie Hamilton’s Noviembre ninth and Lindsay Koffler’s Alfredo tenth. Region 2 riders dominate the Jr/YR Intermediare I standings, with Kassie and Gabriella in first, Lindsay and Alfredo second, Heather McCarthy and Wella (Prairie Grove, IL) third, Emily Mitchell and Bavarian Dream fifth, and Ellen Dennis and Victor (Lafayette, IN) seventh. In the Fourth Level Freestyle standings, Lauren Sprieser and L’Etoile 6 rank sixth Kassie Barteau and Gabriella stand eleventh, and Katie Hamilton and Noviembre stand fourteenth, all in Open competition. Kassie and Gabriella also hold a ninth place ranking in the Intermediare I Freestyle standings.
As the season ends, Region 2 also bids farewell to several of its Young Riders. 2002 NAYRC Team Alternate Heather McCarthy also says goodbye to the Young Rider program this year. She is developing her own business in Western IL. 2003 NAYRC Silver Medalist and four-time team member Lindsay Koffler leaves her Young Rider status beyond. She will continue her studies at the University of Kentucky. Finally, three-time NAYRC Team Member and self-proclaimed “mom” to the Region Lauren Sprieser bids the Young Rider ranks farewell this year. She graduates from Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, NY next May, and has her eyes on the 2006 National Grand Prix Championships. These three riders will be missed, but the young talent moving up the ranks is primed and ready to lead the Region to the top in 2006 and beyond.
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