Press Releases - 8.30.2004
The 2004 North American Young Rider Championships proved successful for the Region 2 Young Riders. The largely rookie team from Illinois and Michigan rode their hearts out, and placed an extremely close fourth overall, and won a Junior Olympic Bronze medal.
Stacy Gormley, 20, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, rode her 8-year-old Rhinelander gelding Fidelis 9 through a rocky Team Test, still earning an impressive 61.556%, and came back to ride a gorgeous and solid Individual Test, receiving a 61.7%. Their score for the first two rounds earned them a 20th place finish overall with a final score of 123.256. Stacy and Fidelis have left for Florida, where they will spend the winter season perfecting their Intermediare I work with her trainer, Patrick Burssens.
Kaitlyn Hamilton, 18, of Oxford, Michigan, put forth a tremendous effort with her Noviembre, an 8-year-old Dutch gelding, in their Team test, resulting in a 62.889% score. Kaitlyn went on to the Individual Test, earning a 60.55%, and came back to the Consolation finals with a phenomenal ride and a 62.111% and a Third Place in the class. Katie and Noviembre’s performance in the first two rounds garnered them a 19th place overall, with a final score of 123.439. Noviembre will remain at Tempel Farms to train with Jochen Hippenstiel while Katie attends Grand Valley University.
The team’s sole veteran pair, Lauren Sprieser, 19, of Chicago, Illinois, and her 12-year-old Trakehner gelding, Bellinger, improved leaps and bounds over their 2003 performance to earn a 63.6% in their Team Test, and a 62.25% Individual Test. Lauren and Bellinger accomplished their goal of making it to the Freestyle round, and took 9th in the class with a lovely 65.2% finish. Their final score of 191.05 handed the pair an 11th place finish overall. Lauren, Bellinger and 2005 NAYRC hopeful L’Etoile 6, a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding, are making their final preparations to head off to Germany, where they will train with three-time Olympic Gold medalist Monica Theodorescu for a few months before returning to Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, NY and the barn of two-time Olympian Lendon Gray.
Leading the team was Alison Bush, 20, of Elmhurst, Illinois and Kathy Klammer’s gorgeous 16-year-old Swedish stallion Entheos. In their first and, sadly, last year at the NAYRC, Alison put in a stellar 64.489% Team Test, and an equally fluid Individual Test, earning a 62.95%. In their colorful musical freestyle, Alison and Entheos barely missed ribbons with a 64.325% ride, and ended up placing a fantastic 9th overall with a 191.764 score. Alison returns to third year at Vanderbilt University to advance her studies in Child Development and Cognitive Studies. She looks forward to further work with her Entheos daughter, Elaina, and her 2005 foal.
The Region 2 Young Riders are already gearing up for their winter fundraising in preparation for the 2005 NAYRC. Changes to the Region 2 Jr/YR website are also in the works, in hopes of making the site more inclusive and informative to Jr/Yrs of all ages and levels. For more information, please see http://www.themusewithin.org/region2ajrayr/, or contact Lauren at lauren@themusewithin.org.
A gallery of photos from the event can be seen at http://www.themusewithin.org/region2ajrayr/ as well.
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