Lauren Balcomb Earns the Gold at Inaugural USHJA Zones 3 & 4 Platinum Jumper Championships

1.40/1.45m Championships Ends with a Jump-Off for Bronze

Mill Spring, N.C.—July 14, 2019— On Sunday, the Individual Champions for the inaugural USHJA Zone 3 & 4 Platinum Jumper Championships earned medals and USHJA Platinum Show Jumping Athlete titles at the Tryon International Equestrian Center. Thirteen competitors were tested over the 1.40/1.45m $25,000 Jumper Classic (American Standard) track designed by FEI Level 4 Course Designer Bernardo Costa Cabral. Coming into the final round with a score of four faults, Professional rider Lauren Balcomb (Citra, Fla.) and her Zangersheide stallion, Verdini D'Houtveld Z, were clean to clinch the Individual Gold Medal. Amateur rider Jesse Smith (Wellington, Fla.) also put in a clean round aboard her home-bred Zangersheide gelding, Charles Pinckney Windsor Z, to earn the Silver with a total of eight faults over the three days.

Gold Medalist Lauren Balcomb aboard Verdini D'Houtveld Z. Photo: SportFot

Three riders, Professional Sandra Zimmerli (Fairfax Station, Va.), Professional Brittni Raflowitz (Wellington, Fla.) and Amateur Katlynn Butler (Mechanicsville, Va.), were tied for the Bronze Medal position resulting in a jump-off. With the only clean jump-off ride amongst the three, Butler secured the Bronze on her young horse, MTM Catoki's Clever.

 

Silver Medalist Jesse Smith on Charles Pinckney Windsor Z & Bronze Medalist Katlynn Butler on MTM Catoki's Clever. Photo: Tori Bilas/USHJA

A Great Opportunity at the National Level

The USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships are not only a marker on the joint USEF-USHJA Show Jumping Athlete Pathway, but provide a goal for riders to aspire to on a National Level. In its early stages, this week exemplified the great opportunity this program can provide. Gold Medalist Balcomb recently learned about the Championships and decided it would be a good option for her up-and-coming young jumper.

"I was actually in Australia a couple of weeks ago and got a call that this championship was on. We were planning to compete here, so this was the perfect opportunity to compete in it with my young jumper [Verdini D’Houtveld Z]," she explained. "I was so happy. My horse is only 8, and this is his first time at this level, and I thought he just jumped super." 

Silver Medalist Smith heard about the program from a friend after the winter circuit, and decided to sign up. "It’s nice to have something to be able to work towards, especially with this horse. There aren't many National classes around us in the summer that I can go to, and almost no championship classes, so it’s nice to have something where consistency is rewarded. We didn’t have any idea of what it was going to be like, but it ended up being really fun. I would absolutely do it again!"

Butler, who earned the bronze, has been an avid competitor in the Zone Jumper Team Championships over the last three years, moving up a division each year. After learning about the Platinum level at 1.40/1.45m last fall, she made it a goal to be here.

"I found out about the [Platinum Jumper Championships] from DiAnn Langer last year at the Gold Star Clinic. At that time I hadn’t gotten Clever, the horse I rode today, yet. So I wasn’t really sure how I was going to get here, but I really wanted to compete at this event," she explained.

"It’s been really great. It gives you something to work towards that’s not indoors or state finals. And I get to see a lot of people that I don’t normally see," noted Butler. "Also, it’s really nice to get team experience and then also still have your own individual round you’re fighting for."

And fight she did, delivering a clean effort earning her not just great mileage but a Bronze Medal.

"The Platinum Jumper Championships were built to give a 1.40/1.45m Championship to professionals, amateurs and juniors across the country," said DiAnn Langer, USHJA show jumping technical advisor. "So much of our attention is focused on the Olympics and High Performance that the many professionals that make show jumping successful have often been over looked. Along with the professionals, the amateurs and juniors in the Platinum Championships are all top riders in the country. The USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships will give them the recognition they so deservedly have earned."

Medalists pictured above with DiAnn Langer, Zone 3 Chefs d'Equipe Sandra Ruiz and Gail Thompson (left), Zone 4 Chefs d'Equipe Kim Land, Megan Thiel and Shawn Russell (right), along with Eric Straus, General Manager of Equine Operations for Tryon International Equestrian Center. Photo: SportFot

As Individual medalists, Balcomb, Smith and Butler will be designated as USHJA Show Jumping Platinum Athletes and will be invited to the Platinum Masters Training Session, which will provide the athletes an opportunity to participate in advanced workshops and training sessions with top national and international clinicians and industry specialists.

In addition to earning Platinum Show Jumping Athlete titles and a spot at the Platinum Masters Training Session, Individual Gold Medalists received a variety of awards from Essex Classics and FITS Riding in addition to a medal, a ribbon and a cooler. 

New for the 2019 competition year, the USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships are the highest level of the USHJA Emerging Jumper Rider Program. The Championships are open to qualified Junior, Amateur and Professionals, and offer team and individual competition at the 1.40/1.45m fence height.

Other USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships held in 2019 include:

  • USHJA Zones 5 & 6, July 18-21 at HITS Balmoral in Crete, Ill.
  • USHJA Zones 7 & 8, July 25-28 at HIPICO Santa Fe, in Santa Fe, N.M.
  • USHJA Zones 9 & 10, Nov. 6-10 at HITS Thermal in Thermal, Calif.

The deadline to qualify and apply for remaining Platinum Jumper Championships has been extended to the day prior to the start of each Zone's respective Championship.

Concurrently happening this week at Tryon Summer 5 were the USHJA Zones 3 & 4 Jumper Team Championships for 1.10/1.15m Children's and Adult Amateur, 1.20/1.25m Junior and Amateur, and 1.30/1.35m Junior and Amateur riders.

The USHJA extends special thanks to Eric Straus, JP Godard and the entire Tryon International Equestrian Center team for hosting the USHJA Zones 3 & 4 Platinum and Jumper Team Championships.

USHJA also extends its gratitude to official sponsors, Charles Owen, CWD, Parlanti and Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, and Platinum Jumper Championships award sponsors Essex Classics and FITS Riding.

For more information about the USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships, click here. For more information about the USHJA Emerging Jumper Rider Program click here. 

Photo credit: Photo credit: Tori Bilas/USHJA

COMPLETE RESULTS

1.40/1.45m Platinum Jumper Individual Final

Place - Rider - Horse - Hometown

GOLD - Lauren Balcomb - Verdini D’Houtveld Z - Citra, Fla.

SILVER - Jesse Smith - Charles Pinckney Windsor Z - Wellington, Fla.

BRONZE - Katlynn Butler - MTM Catoki’s Clever - Mechanicsville, Va.

4. Sandra Zimmerli - Geronimo 132 - Fairfax Station, Va.

5. Brittni Raflowitz - Baloumina Du Ry - Wellington, Fla.

6. Laura Gaither Ulrich - Garda - Raleigh, N.C.

7. Marquee Cincotta - Granaat - Odessa, Fla.

8. Faith Davis - Da Vinci - Gurley, Ala.

 

Press release by EqSol for USHJA

Thank you to SportFot. These and many more quality photos are available for purchase at SportFot.com.