Traverse City, Michigan, USA – August 03, 2024 – The 2024 Gotham North/FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships (NAYC), presented by USHJA, ramped up the action at Flintfields Horse Park during week five of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF), presented by B&D Builders, on Friday as the Junior and Young Rider team medals were decided.  

Young Rider teams took center stage in the International Ring, battling it out over two rounds of competition. At the completion of the medal-deciding second round, Zone 2, consisting of Hunter Champey (Bedminster, N.J.), Emily Dehoff (Far Hills, N.J.), Kaitlyn Kiely (Rumson, N.J.), and Mia Bagnato (Fishkill, N.Y.) stepped atop the podium.  

Carrying forward 9.16 penalties from Thursday’s individual speed round, Zone 2 performed brilliantly to only add an additional four penalties to their total for an overall score of 13.16 across all three phases counting towards the team final.

The day’s top performance came from Bagnato, who along with the Elan Farm’s 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Ballyoskill Big Bucks (Royal Concorde x Lux Z) managed to produce two clear rounds across Alan Wade’s (IRL) course.  

“To have this medal around my neck means everything to me,” gushed Bagnato. “I’ve been here [at NAYC] four times and I’ve never been on a podium, so it feels very rewarding. My horse is very lazy and going to the second round I was a little bit worried, but he knows when it’s time.”  

The second-best performance of the day came from Hunter Champey (USA), who only incurred one time-fault fault over Friday’s two phases.  

“My horse jumped absolutely out of his skin, and performed to the best of his abilities,” detailed Champey of MDHT Equestrian, LLC’s 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, High Hopes SFN (Numero Uno x Lupicor). “I think the course was challenging in different aspects, like rideability, and just overall performance with energy and being able to perform over two rounds.” 

“I think my horse answered today’s questions very well,” added Kiely of Kiely Equestrian’s 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, Mystic C van T Heyveld’s (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve x Brownboy) performance. “I am grateful to have had such a team to help support with clear rounds.” 

Dehoff, who had the drop score in the first round, said that despite a few mistakes with The Sporty Game, LLC’s 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, Manou de Muze (Arko III x Quidam de Revel), she felt the format helped her riding grow throughout the course of the week.  

“I had a few mistakes in the first round, so I tried to be consistent and fix those mistakes for the second round,” she added. “I think it paid off, and I was able to jump a clear second round.” 

It was a successful day for team Mexico as they earned their first young rider team podium finish at NAYC in recent years. An unfortunate eight faults added to their returning score from Thursday left the team on a total of 17.49 points. Veteran NAYC competitors Francisco Pasquel Vega (Mexico City, Mexico) and Patricio Pasquel Poo (Mexico City, Mexico) received their first NAYC medals in four years of competition, while Maya Ines Denis Chambon (Ocala, Fla) had two unfortunate rails in the final round. Ana Sofia Legorreta Hernandez (Mexico City, Mexico) was the pathfinder for the team as she guided her mount to two flawless rounds.  

Zone 5 rounded out the top three on a total of 36.81 points. Ashley Miles (Frankfort, Ill.), Allison Sinclair (Glencoe, Ill.), Maggie Jacobs (Mount Vernon, Ohio), and Natalie Jayne (Elgin, Ill.) didn’t have the exact day they were hoping for, but banded together to hold strong enough for the final podium position. 

Source: Press Release from Traverse City Horse Shows

Photos: © TCHS / Megan Giese Photography / Andrew Ryback Photography

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