Harrisburg, Pa.—Oct. 14
After the second round of the $15,000 Randolph College/USEF Prix Des States Team Championship, a jump-off was held—but the ladies of Zone 2 were already celebrating a victory. Zones 5 and 7 battled it out for the silver medal, but Zone 2’s performances throughout the evening clinched them the win—16 points ahead of the second placed Zone 5.
The Zone 2 team was made up of the following horse and rider combinations:
- Katie Dinan, North Salem, N.Y., and Belle Dame D
- Charlotte Jacobs, East Aurora, N.Y., and Karonda V. Schl’hof CH
- Reed Kessler, Armonk, N.Y., and Ligist
- Meg O’Mara, Rumson, N.J., and Sinatra IV
Dinan, Kessler and O’Mara were members of last year’s gold medal winning team, and they made sure they defended their title with plenty of team spirit.
“All of the girls rode great. They’re good friends, and they have a lot of team spirit—they hung posters all over the [Farm Show Complex. And I really get into it. It’s a fun event, and it’s great that Harrisburg can host it,” said Chef d’Equipe Ralph Caristo, who has held that title for nearly 20 years.
Zone 2 took the lead in the first round and held onto it. Dinan and O’Mara put in double clear rounds (two of only four competitors to do so, as rails dropped often in Steve Stephens’ course); Kessler had one rail in the first round (but the team chose to use hers as the drop score) and Jacobs, the newest member of the team, pulled the final rail during both rounds. Regardless of their minor mistakes, Kessler, who entered the ring as the final rider—and the team’s anchor, knew the team had already won as she jumped her second round faultlessly.
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“The girls made my job as the anchor rider very easy,” said Kessler, who won yesterday’s $7,500 Randolph College/USEF Junior Jumper Championship Welcome class, which served as phase one of the individual competition, set to conclude tomorrow evening. “We’d already won before I even went in there.”
Zone 5 beat out Zone 7 in the jump-off, as Wilton Porter put 8 faults on the board while Zone 5’s rider selected to represent the team in the jump-off, Nora Laue, jumped clean.
Full results can be found here.
