HARRISBURG, Pa.--Zone 4, with JJ Torano, won the $15,000 USEF Prix des States Team Championship for the third year in a row on Friday,Oct. 9 at thePennsylvania National Horse Show.
JJ Torano on Vitus K (Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography)The team of Sophia Ayers, Alexa Curry, Sophia Segesman and Torano finished on a fault-free score for hewin.
Notably, Torano, 16, is the only rider who has appeared on all three gold-medal-winning teams.
The fight for the silver medal was closely contested by Zones 3 and 10, with both teams ultimately finishing on four faults.
But, with the fastest combined times in round two, it was the Zone 3 team of Airlie Corder, Alice Goodwin, Parker Peacock and Madison Stewart that clinched the second-place spot.
Taking home the bronze for Zone 10 were Lauren Padilla, Kalea Juliano and Violet Tatum, who currently leads the individual standings heading into Saturday night’s final round.
"THIS IS such an important championship because it’s indoors,” said Zone 4 chef d’equipe Kim Land. “It’s the only indoor championship. It’s a chance for them to jump as a team, and it’s great. They all really came together this week. They worked together; they watched each other; they supported each other, and that’s what I like to see.”
At the end of the first half of the two-round, modified-Nations Cup format competition, four teams from the six team start list were on a score of zero.
However, as riders returned for round two, more rails began to fall around the Kevin Holowack-designed track.
By the final riders in the order-of-go rotation, three teams sat neck-and-neck.
For Zone 4, it came down to anchor rider Ayers and her horse Conthinder.
“I was obviously really nervous, but it’s my final junior year, so I was sort of like, ‘You might as well go in with all you’ve got because it’s the final time I get to do it!’” said Ayers. “That was really my whole thought process the whole time.”
“My horse, I call him Kenny in the barn, he has my back 24/7," said Ayers. "I could probably miss super badly into a combination and he would somehow, by the grace of God, find his way out. So, I just felt confident and obviously Kim put me in that position, so I felt like I was prepared.”
“With Vitus, we know each other quite well now,” said Torano . “He actually was my mount two years ago also where we took the gold, and again, I brought him back. So obviously we’re going into tomorrow at a good spot, and I’m really happy with my horse. He deserves every bit, and now this is just really extra for him. He’s 16 now. He’s given me everything. He’s won many classes for me. So yeah, really without him, not sure where I’d be. I’m really happy to have him.”
“Coming in this year, I felt really confident that I had a horse that knows what he’s doing,” said Segesman. “He’s been there, done that, and I don’t think I could have given him a better ride.”
With Eliwood du Fresne, Curry also produced two strong rounds, dropping just one rail each time.
“My teammates had my back for sure, 100 percent, and I was just happy that my horse gave me her all,” said Curry.
Zone 4 includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina, Zone 3 includes Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia and Zone 10 is California.
