August 15, 2004 – Wadsworth, Illinois – Kelley Small of Kanata, ON, placed sixth individually on the final day of competition at the ‘Maui Jim’ North American Young Riders’ Championship, Presented by CN, held at Tempel Farms in Wadsworth, IL, from August 10-15, 2004.

Small, 20, entered Sunday’s Individual Final sitting fifth in the standings. Riding Calibur, a 10-year-old grey Holsteiner gelding, Small incurred eight faults in the first round but returned to post a clear round in the second to finish in sixth place overall. Following five rounds of competition held over three days, Small had a total score of 22.52 faults compared to the Individual Gold Medallist, Caitlyn Sheils of USA Zone 2, whose final score was 12.14 faults. The athletes faced difficult, technical courses all week from international course designer Michel Vaillancourt of Schomberg, ON.

Kim Farlinger of Annan, ON, also enjoyed a top ten finish after jumping clear but incurring one time fault in the first round, then having one rail and another time fault for a total of five faults in the second round riding Del Destino, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding. Farlinger, 20, had been in 16th position entering the Final, making her move up the leader board significant.

Also among the top 25 athletes to advance to Sunday’s Individual Final from the original starting field of 40 was Alex Rohling of Cumberland, ON, and Secret Identity, a nine-year-old Hannoverian mare. Rohling, 20, left all the rails up but incurred one time fault in the first round, then had four rails in the second round to add 16 faults to his overall score, placing him 21st in the final standings.

“Kelley put in a fantastic clear in the second round but unfortunately it did not improve her position,” noted 1992 Canadian Olympian Beth Underhill, who was acting as chef d’equipe of the Ontario Team with assistance from the Team Manager Sally Sainsbury. “The time allowed to complete the course was much tighter today, and Kelley came back with a super finish. It was a similar situation with Kim whose horse was peaking towards the end of the competition. Both young women rode well, and Alex was particularly stellar in the first round, especially considering that he is new to this level. As a team, they were very solid and great supporters of one another. They showed a lot of class and tremendous team spirit throughout the week.”

On Friday, the Ontario Show Jumping Team, which also included Chris Cullen of Toronto, ON, placed fifth overall in the Team standings.

In earlier competition, Ontario took the Team Silver Medal in the CSI J/Y* Junior/Young Rider division while all four team members - Nicole Denouden of Richmond Hill, ON, Mark Leyton of Stittsville, ON, Alex Moynan of Russell, ON, and Asta Torokvei of Toronto, ON, finished in the top 12 individually. The Junior/Young Rider division was created to give developing riders an opportunity to experience competition at an international event but over fences set a lower height. Held concurrently with the Championship division, the Junior/Young Rider competition is considered a ‘stepping stone’ for riders with the ability to compete at future North American Young Riders’ Championship events.

First established in 1974 as an eventing challenge between Canada and the U.S., the current North American Young Riders’ Championship format is considered a ‘mini-Olympics’ for riders aged 16-21 competing in the three Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing and show jumping. Teams and individuals representing several nations’ including Canada, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. competed at this year’s event.

For full results from the North American Young Riders’ Championship, please visit www.youngriders.org.

Additional photographs from the 2004 North American Young Riders’ Championship are available at http://www.ewbnewswire.com/photos/nayrc/.