Three North American Youth Championship Golds & Record Score for Young Rider Christian Simonson & Zeaball Diawind, 3 Golds for Junior Lexie Kment & Montagny von der Heide

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Christian Simonson and Zeaball Diawind. Photo: USADressage

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan, Aug. 15, 2021–Christian Simonson on Zeaball Diawind set a North American Youth Championship Young Rider record score with victory Sunday in the Freestyle to give the partnership its third gold medal.

Christian, 18, of Ventura, California and the nine-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding scored 78.935%, by far a personal best as the pair did in the individual competition for gold on 75.353%. Christian led the all-California squad of four combinations to team gold.

Allison Nemeth, 19, of Flemington, New Jersey and Tiko also posted a personal best 73.330% to take silver. This NAYC was the fifth for the rider and second on Tiko, 10-year-old Danish Warmblood mare, having competed as a Junior in 2018.

Tillie Jones, 20, a Nebraska Wesleyan University sophomore, on Qi Gong TF took bronze on 73.170%. The 12-year-old Hanoverian mare ridden by Tillie is American-bred.

The results for Christian and Zeaball Diawind shattered the previous best championship freestyle score of 74.710% posted by Callie Jones on Don Philippo in 2019, according to a review of archived results by dressage-news.com. The championships were not held in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The duo, 17th ranked in the world, placed second individually to lead the U.S. team to bronze at the Hagen, Germany Future Champions two months ago.

Christian competed at NAYC as a junior in 2016 and on the gold medal team in 2017. He moved up to Young Riders in 2018 to capture team silver.

Lexie Kment and Montagny von der Heide. Photo: USADressage

Lexie Kment on Montagny von der Heide capped her first North American Youth Championship with gold in the Junior Rider Freestyle to go with individual gold and the team title.

Lexie, 15, of Palmyra, Nebraska and the 17-year-old Trakehner gelding scored 74.775% for the musical performance that was only the second for the partnership. The pair captured the individual gold on 69.235%. The three-member team that included her older sister Kylee on Honor won gold in the opening competition of the championships. Kylee and Honor took individual silver.

Julia McDonald on Lehndorff Van De Vogelzang earned silver in the freestyle with 71.850% with Kat Fuqua of Atlanta on Dreamgirl scoring 71.150% for bronze, as they did in both individual and team competitions.

Only U.S. teams competed in the championships, the normally competitive Canadians did not compete because of coronavirus restrictions. An individual Canadian and a rider from Bermuda were the only non-U.S. competitors in the championships.

Results:

Young Rider Freestyle

Judges: Sandra Hotz William Warren Brenda Minor Evi Eisenhardt Christof Umbach
Place Score Region Athlete Horse E H C M B
1. 78.935 US7 Christian Simonson Zeaball Diawind 79.875 78.550 78.125 76.750 81.375
2. 73.330 US1 Allison Nemeth Tiko 71.375 72.000 74.250 72.150 76.875
3. 73.170 US4 Tillie Jones Qi Gong TF 72.375 72.000 73.375 74.850 73.250
4. 71.770 US7 Miki Yang Donavan 68.750 68.375 73.500 74.600 73.625
5. 71.475 US4 Nicolas Beck Campari 72.875 71.250 69.250 72.500 71.500
6. 71.050 US1 Hannah Irons Scola Bella 70.750 70.375 71.875 70.250 72.000
7. 70.975 US3 Melanie Doughty Fascinata 68.750 71.500 70.500 71.625 72.500
8. 69.750 US7 Erin Nichols Handsome Rob AR 70.250 69.125 70.250 66.500 72.625
9. 69.575 US1 Megan Peterson Amoretto 70.625 67.000 68.875 73.000 68.375
10. 69.175 US3 Suzannah Rogers Paladine Of Elysium 69.000 71.250 69.375 68.750 67.500
11. 68.375 5_9 Sarah Evans Carzanola 69.000 67.750 67.375 70.125 67.625
12. 68.150 6_8 Caroline Cadorette Dustin 70.000 67.250 67.750 64.250 71.500
13. 67.695 CAN Anna Swackhammer Wrazzmatazz 68.125 67.625 67.500 67.225 68.000
14. 67.175 US3 Savannah Mixon Florence-Ra 70.125 68.250 66.875 65.875 64.750
15. 65.235 US4 Averi Allen Superman 64.875 64.875 66.000 65.050 65.375
16. 64.950 US2 Maggie Tifft E-Ros 66.000 66.125 64.875 64.625 63.125
17. 64.875 6_8 Jessica Beck Elewaard 66.250 65.125 61.125 64.250 67.625
18. 64.425 US2 Madeleine Perry Smile 63.875 63.250 65.125 66.000 63.875

Junior Rider Freestyle

Judges: Sandra Hotz William Warren Evi Eisenhardt Monique Peutz-Vegter Christof Umbach
Place Score Region Athlete Horse E H C M B
1. 74.775 US4 Lexie Kment Montagny Von Der Heide 74.875 74.000 75.750 74.750 74.500
2. 71.850 US2 Julia McDonald Lehndorff van de Vogelzang 72.500 72.125 69.750 70.000 74.875
3. 71.150 US3 Kat Fuqua Dreamgirl 71.375 72.250 71.125 69.750 71.250
4. 70.600 US7 Nicole Ellsworth Röwer BE 70.875 69.000 68.375 73.500 71.250
5. 70.425 USA Daphne Glenn Romanesque 70.875 70.000 69.000 69.750 72.500
6. 70.150 US4 Ella Fruchterman Holts Le’Mans 72.375 69.875 71.625 69.000 67.875
7. 69.950 US4 Kylee Kment Honor 69.875 71.750 67.500 69.250 71.375
8. 69.250 US7 Josephine Hinnemann Breanna 70.000 70.000 67.625 67.250 71.375
9. 69.225 US3 Misha Cohen Fürstenglanz 3 69.250 71.125 68.375 69.625 67.750
10. 68.830 US7 Lily-Rose Bacon Warm Night 69.775 67.875 68.625 69.750 68.125
11. 66.625 US8 Emily Jackowski Pluto Bona II-64 68.250 65.000 66.750 66.500 66.625
12. 66.425 US9 Isabella Fielder Conan Star 67.375 66.875 64.375 65.250 68.250
13. 65.675 USA Reese Wyman Samurai 65.875 64.750 66.000 66.250 65.500
14. 65.475 US5 Katherine Nayak Gaspacho 66.000 66.750 64.125 64.750 65.750
15. 65.400 US2 Allison Berger Mejicano CXV 67.750 65.000 64.125 65.250 64.875
16. 65.200 US8 Tiggy Gates Shadow’s Dream 66.500 64.375 66.250 63.875 65.000
17. 58.550 US2 Alicia Berger Trust Me 57.750 58.750 55.875 60.625 59.750