October 10, 2010 -- The equestrian sport of vaulting has a new Team Gold-medalist--the FACE Vaulters of the United States. In a move that will forever change the interest level of the sport in the U.S., a sold-out crowd witnessed as the first ever Team Gold was won on a freestyle score of 8.779 and a final composite of 8.029.

U.S. Vaulting Team on Sunday

Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF

Led by California's Devon Maitozo (35) of Woodside, Calif., the team consisted of Blake Dahlgren (26) of Santa Clarita, Calif.; Mary Garrett (20) of Seal Beach, Calif.; Emily Hogye (14) of Ben Lomond, Callif.; Mari Inouye (27) of Redwood City, Calif.; Rosalind Ross (20) of Aptos, Calif.; and Annalise VanVranken (18) of Mays Landing, N.J. Their horse, Palatine, a 12-year-old Westphalian gelding, was lunged Carolyn Bland.

"This is an opportunity for us to put vaulting on the map in the United States," said Maitozo. "People actually now know that this sport exists. They've seen it in small towns across America and in the paper. This is exciting for us."

The theme of the incredible freestyle was "Romeo and Juliet." Devon choreographed the routine and also composed additional music to add to the base soundtrack that included lyrical ballad instrumentation.

"This is a culmination of a lot of years of very hard work, and I have to say the most amazing thing for me is to be here with this team," said Maitozo. "These girls and Blake and Carolyn and our horse, Palatine, have worked so hard and really earned this for themselves, and I'm really happy for them."

The journey to the Gold medal came with some hurdles to cross--lead among them was recovering from a less-than-perfect first freestyle that saw Palatine spook causing two of the team members to accidently dismount. It took a lot of concentration and focus to come back, and the U.S. Team did that and more.

"We changed a little bit of our focus today," said Maitozo. "We were very much focusing on details, making everything right...and we got a little overwhelmed, especially when our horse was nervous. I think we were a little fragmented. But we did pull it together despite our challenge and fall in the first freestyle. But, today we just came in with a clear energy. We were really calm and relaxed and felt grounded. We were able to access the training we've had for a year together now."

It was obvious that the team was in fighting form and their concentration and commitment came through for them. The routine was a flowing dance and not a series of connected movements.

"We really connected today. We looked each other in the eye," he said. "Our horse was just beautiful and we had the love of the audience with us which helped. We were just in our bodies today. To us, it's about the connection to the music and to each other, bringing in the audience. It's for ourselves and the audience and to connect as artists. That's our club - Free Artists Creative Equestrian. That pretty much sums it up."

The scoring was tight with the medals being decided within hundredths of a point. The main competition for the U.S. came from the vaulting teams from Germany and Austria. The German squad earned the Silver medal on a routine that featured music from the European group The Art of Noise. It was a challenging and technical routine that demonstrated unique choreography. Their work earned them loud applause, and the German contingency s in full force to support their team. Their freestyle score of 8.635 was figured into their final score of 8.010.

The Austrians vaulted to a routine heavily influenced by Cirque du Soleil. Their exotic costumes and makeup were a strong punctuation mark to the flowing and sweeping performance. Their work earned them the Bronze medal on a freestyle score of 8.641 and a composite of 7.990.

Lead up for the women was the Gold-medal champion for the 2006 Aachen Games - Megan Benjamin aboard Urfruend Rosengaard (a 10-year-old Oldenburg owned by Kirsa Kristensen) lunged by Lasse Kristensen. Despite her strong performance, there was too much room to make up to move into a medal position. Benjamin, 22, of Saratoga, Calif., finished her 2010 WEG effort just off the medal podium in fifth place on her freestyle score of 8.465 and her final composite score of 8.165.

"I did my entire routine. That's all I can ask for," said Benjamin. "I did everything that I could."

She said that she might have a slight disadvantage because she went so early in the round.

"That's just the way the sport works," she said. "I'm just glad I could give Kentucky that performance."

The second vaulter to enter the ring was Alicen Divita, 21, of Redwood City, Calif., and Giovanni (a 13-year-old Mecklenberger owned by Julie Divita). Her lunger was her mother, Julie Divita. Her score didn't quite match her Round 1 freestyle performance. Today she earned a score of 8.250 to finish on a four-round score of 8.082 and seventh place overall.

Mary McCormick earlier this week.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF.

The final vaulter in the women's competition was the U.S. Team's Mary McCormick, 27, of Woodside, Calif., aboard Sir Anthony Van Dyck (a 19-year-old KWPN owned by Sydney Frankel). Once again vaulting to Lenny Kravitz' "American Woman," she thrilled the crowd with exceptional movements and gymnastics. It was a brilliant ending to the week-long competition that put the athletes through their paces. In fact, her freestyle score of 8.680 was the highest of the day for the women. McCormick's lunger was Carolyn Bland.

"It was just one step at a time and feeling the horse and going with it," said McCormick. "This crowd is unbelievable...it's overwhelming."

Just missing a medal on a score of 8.680 for her freestyle and a composite score of 8.270 for the competition, McCormick was upbeat and pleased with her efforts.

"It's a bummer, but I came into this competition saying that all I wanted to do was my best," she said. "And I feel like I did that and I'm not disappointed. It would be great to take a medal home but this is some seriously amazing competition. They would have had to make a mistake for me to get in there."

McCormick disclosed that she had plans to compete at the WEG in Normandy, France, in 2014. "I have to set up a four-year plan and get going with that," she said. "But, for now, it's going home and lots of trail riding with Van Dyck."

At the end of competition, it was a Gold medal for Great Britian's Joanne Eccles aboard WH Bentley on a final score of 8.413. A pair of German vaulters - Antje Hill aboard Airbus and Simone Wiegele aboard Arkansas - took the Silver and Bronze medals respectively on scores of 8.322 and 8.281.

In the men's competition, Montana native Todd Griffiths, 30, returned to perform his freestyle to the ballad "Angels" aboard Lanson 16 (a 12-year-old Hanoverian owned by Jan and Betsy Garrod) lunged by Jessica Ballenger. Leading the U.S. effort, he looked confident in his flowing and expressive freestyle, but took a bit of a tumble on his dismount. Nevertheless, the crowd honored him with a rousing applause. Griffiths finished in 10th place on his freestyle score of 8.070 and composite of 7.425.

"I was really pleased with my performance today," said Griffiths. "The first jump was a Russian split jump...and it's one of my favorite jumps and not many people can do it and stay on the horse. With my gymnastics background, it's been my move I've done for many years so I was really excited to perform it really well today.

The only bobble to the performance was Griffiths' dismount known as an X-out back tuck.

"It's a back flip that you split your legs in the middle of the flip," he said. "I just held the tuck just a split second too long so my feet were just barely further under me than I wanted and my feet slipped out from under me."

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October 8, 2010 -- We got multi-discipline thrills today at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, as Boyd Exell set a new world driving dressage record during the afternoon and show jumper McLain Ward made an incredible comeback in the evening.

That's what this compilation of world championships is supposed to be about, having the best in eight sports in the same place so you don't have to settle for just one dose of excitement each day.

The driving venue was abuzz as Boyd, an Australian who lives in Britain, drove his magnificent team of black horses into the arena. You didn't have to know anything about the first phase of combined driving to realize as he went along that he was driving a perfect test. Not a hoof was out of place on his horses, who flowed--rather than walking and trotting--through all the movements.

"I'm in awe," said a well-dressed woman as she greeted Boyd after his test.

Boyd Exell exits the dressage ring to cheers.

© 2010 by Nancy Jaffer

"I didn't think it would be that good," he responded politely, but he said he knew he was having a heck of a performance even before the mind-boggling 30.08 penalty point score was announced to enormous applause. That was more than two points better than the previous record of 32.13, set by the USA's Chester Weber at the last World Four-in-Hand World Championship in the Netherlands two years ago.

Boyd, who is quite charming, talked about the special feeling he had while driving today.

Listen: Boyd Exell

Boyd is way out in front in the standings, with Chester and many times Dutch champion Ijsbrand Chardon tied on 35.97 penalties. The Dutch and U.S. teams are also tied, for first place, on 76.16 penalties, followed by the two-man Australian squad on 85.38.

The U.S. got a boost from the skill of Tucker Johnson, tied for fourth with another Dutch driver, Theo Timmerman with 40.19 penalties.

Tucker Johnson drove his last championship dressage test and got a huge cheer from the crowd.

© 2010 by Nancy Jaffer

Tucker got a huge cheer as he exited the arena, the last time he will drive in a world championship, because he is retiring to concentrate on work and his family.

As the noise from the spectators subsided, I asked Tucker if he will miss the adulation. He took a while to answer, wiping away some tears as he thought about what "last time" really means. He spoke about it in a voice full of emotion.

Listen: Tucker Johnson

Though he is the favorite to win here, Boyd pointed out that the Saturday marathon phase can change everything. He may have a handicap because he broke a bone in his left hand, jumping a horse on a cross-country course at home before coming here. Smart thing to do with the world championships on the horizon, right? He had to change his grip in dressage at one point, and that's harder to do in the marathon, though he's certainly accomplished enough to pull it off.

After the driving, the focus turned to show jumping. The initial round of the class was limited to the top 30, culled from a field of 120 who started on Monday. Only 25 returned for a second round to determine who would compete for the world championship Saturday night. The format, as I've said before, is an unusual one, with the riders competing on their own mounts, then switching with the others to jump the same course. Some say it should be called the world catch-riding championship, but it provides interesting results and great entertainment getting there.

Eric Lamaze and Hickstead had the best score in the group that made show jumping's Final Four, who will vie for the world championship.

© 2010 by Nancy Jaffer

The Final Four will start even. It includes a newcomer, Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Al Sharbatly with an Italian horse, the very convincing mare Seldana di Campalto; former world champion, Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil on HH Rebozo; Olympic individual gold medalist Eric Lamaze of Canada with Hickstead and Belgium's team bronze medalist Philippe LeJeune on Vigo D'Arsouilles, who is by Nabab de Reve--the horse Philippe rode on the bronze medal team in the 2002 WEG.

The Vaulting Freestyle is perhaps the most appreciated phase of the competition. This is the chance for the vaulters to truly express the combination of their strength, skill, artistic ability and style. In the female competition, there were 28 challengers from across the world.

Mary McCormick

Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF.

Scores carry over from the compulsory round and athletes must perform all seven of the required vaulting movements in the freestyle. Today is the first of two freestyle rounds that will count toward the Individual medal.

Mary McCormick, 27, of Woodside, Calif., was the first U.S. female vaulter to take to the ring aboard Bolero (a 19-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Sydney Frankel), lunged by Carolyn Bland.

Performing to Lenny Kravitz's "American Woman," McCormick showed her rock-and-roll attitude in a polished yet fun and percussive round punctuated with a back flip dismount. Her freestyle earned an 8.285 to leave her on a two-round score of 8.050 and a seat in a tie for fourth place.

Her strongest movement in her vault was her opening hand balance known as a scorpion press. "It was really solid," she said. "And, I'm always pleased when the back flip goes well, and I can land it like a gymnast."

McCormick personified her music and pride in qualifying for the Games. "I have a big bold attitude," she said. "I'm so proud to be here in America representing my country at the World Games," she said. "And I wanted my music to reflect that."

Alicen Divita,21, of Redwood City, Calif., followed aboard Giovanni (a 13-year-old Mecklenberger gelding owned and lunged by her mother, Julie Divita) representing Woodside Vaulters. The pair spends their summers in Germany at a facility outside of Berlin where they train.

Performing to a remix version of the American film classic "Fame," she looked the picture of energy and charisma in her presentation. She garnered the most vocal appreciation of the class from the crowd when she landed one of her signature moves - a split.

"The strongest part was the middle splits toward the end of my routine," she said. "It's a move that no one else really does. It's always kind of my signature, and I hit it and held it for a long time and it felt great."

The base of Divita's freestyle routine remained to same as she has performed this last year, however there were some changes made and new choreography add to raise its level of difficulty. She scored an 8.545 to combine with her compulsory score for a two-round total of 7.988 and a ninth place finish.

The standing Gold medalist from the 2006 Aachen WEG, Megan Benjamin performed aboard Urfreund Rosengaard (a 15-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding owned and lunged by Lasse Kristensen). The pressure was on Benjamin to defend her title, and an overly springy partner presented some challenges for the vaulter.

Performing to classic Aretha Franklin soul music, Benjamin, 22, of Saratoga, Calif., did the best with what she was given.

"My horse had a little too much energy, and I did the best with what I had," she said. "So, I'm actually pleased with what I did. Part of horse sport is dealing with the horses. He was a little nervous out there."

She summed it all up succinctly when she said, "You can't do your risky moves when your horse is about to spring off."

Her partner has been doing competitions for three years, and the pair competed at three CVIs this year alone.

"He had 12 solid rounds and has been 12 for 12 this year," she said. "This is the first time he's had any issues. It's something you can't predict."

The vaulter made changes to her routine to compensate for her horse's spring canter, such as removing a leap movement and modifying a one-hand cartwheel into a simple two-hand one.

With two rounds yet to contest, and with tight scores, Benjamin's strong technical routine leaves her still in the fight for a medal. Her freestyle earned a score of 7.985 for a two-round total of 7.921 and 11th place.
Currently in first place is Germany's Simone Wiegele followed by Great Britain's Joanne Eccles and Germany's Antje Hill in third.

USA's Megan Benjamin

Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF

The Gold Medalist from the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany was back to defend her title today. Megan Benjamin, 22, of Saratoga, CA, performed her individual compulsory test aboard Urfreund Rosengaard, a 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Kirsa Kristensen and lunged by Lasse Kristensen, and received a score of 7.856 from the judges, putting them into the individual bronze medal position after the first day.

"He had a lot of energy going on in there," she said. "Definitely more than we had in the warm-up. I'm hoping that tomorrow we'll be able to get a calmer horse and I'll be able to perform a little better. He definitely picked it up in the horse score, though, because of all that energy. He was very forward. For me, that's a little challenging to be so soft and smooth on."

Also competing for the United States as an individual today was Mary McCormick of Woodside, CA. Aboard Sydney Frankel's 10-year-old KWPN gelding Sir Anthony Van Dyck, McCormick, 27, earned a score of 7.814 from the judges, earning her sixth overall after the Compulsory test.

"I actually did better out there than I expected to," McCormick said. "My horse was perfect. He was totally consistent in going forward the whole time. There were a few times that I just took a deep breath and took it in. Overall I'm just really pleased."

Alicen Divita, 21, of Redwood City, CA was the United States' final female vaulter to compete today. She performed on Giovanni, a 13-year-old Mecklenburger gelding owned and lunged by Julie Divita. The pair received a score of 7.431 from the judges to land them in 15th place before the freestyle.

"My horse was awesome," she said. "He was totally relaxed. It felt great, just like we've been working on in practice. Looking back you can always say that I could have done that better, but right now I'm pretty pleased."

Currently holding the lead is Joanne Eccles of Great Britain, who rode her family's horse WH Bentley to a score of 8.157. Sitting in the silver medal position, from Germany, is Simone Wiegele with a score of 8.037.

The individual males also took to the arena today. Vaulting first was Kenny Geisler, 29, aboard Jacadi de Rox, a 13-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned and lunged by Julie Ann Young. Geisler received a score of 7.011 from the judges to put him in 10th overall at the moment.

"It felt great," Geisler said. "It was a really great performance. It's great to be back in this beautiful arena after the test event last year. There's lots of good energy in here."

Jacadi de Rox is a new mount to Geisler; he just started vaulting on him yesterday.

"My horse didn't pass the vet check, so I switched to this horse yesterday. But he's an amazing horse. I couldn't ask for a better horse or lunger to take care of me out there. I think that was pretty much as good as could have been expected today."

Also performing today was 17-year-old Kristian Roberts of Moss Beach, CA. Although he has only been vaulting for four years, Roberts received a good score of 6.961 to put him just behind Geisler in 11th place. He rode Highwater Bay, an 8-year-old Shire gelding owned and lunged by Jill Palmer.

"It felt like the best I've ever done, definitely," Roberts said. "It all came together today, and my horse couldn't have been better."

Finally, the last male vaulter for the United States was Todd Griffiths of Babb, ND. Griffiths performed today about Lanson 16, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Jan and Betsy Garrod. Lunged by Jessica Ballenger, Lanson and Griffiths received a score of 6.523 to land him in 15th place.

"It felt really smooth and really comfortable," he said after his ride. "The horse went great. My lunger did great. Everything was great. I'm really happy."

The atmosphere in the Alltech Arena was electric when the American horses and vaulters entered the arena, and the competitors certainly took notice.

"It felt really good," Griffiths said. "As soon as you walk into the arena you can feel the energy of Team USA and that's something I've never experienced before. It was just incredible. My neck had goosebumps all over it."

Of the 55 horses presented, five were held and three passed upon re-inspection. Unfortunately, Just a Kiss*HN, presented by the French team was spun, as was Sunny Boy who was to be the horse for Petr Eim of the Czech Republic and Kenny Geisler of the U.S. These vaulters will have the opportunity to find another horse for use in the competition.

The U.S. will be represented in the Individual Women's Competition by:
Mary McCormick
Megan Benjamin
Alicen Divita

In the Individual Men's Competition the U.S. will be represented by:
Todd Griffiths
Kenny Geisler
Kristian Roberts

For the Team Competition, the U.S. will be represented by Free Artists Creative Equestrians (F.A.C.E. Team):
Blake Dahlgren
Mary Garrett
Emily Hogye
Mari Inouye
Devon Maitozo
Rosalind Ross
Annalise VanVranken

Included in the U.S. contingent are past World Equestrian Games medalists Benjamin (Individual Gold and Team Silver in 2006), Maitozo (Individual Gold in 1998, Individual Bronze in 2002 and Team Silver in 2006), and Dahlgren, Ross, and Van Vranken who were also part of the Team Silver medal-winning effort in 2006. The team is lead by Chef d'Equipe Craig Coburn.

"I was really thrilled about how the horses went this morning and am excited for the competition to begin. Whenever you go to a different location you have to work slowly with the horses and acclimate them to the new environment. We've made a conscious effort to limit how much vaulting verse riding we do" said Coburn.

Competition begins on Wednesday with Compulsory round one for both teams and individuals and will wrap up on Sunday with the fan favorite Team Freestyle Final.

The following vaulting athletes have been named to the U.S. Vaulting Team (in ranked order):

Team
Free Artists Creative Equestrians (F.A.C.E Team):
Blake Dahlgren
Mary Garrett
Emily Hogye
Mari Inouye
Devon Maitozo
Rosalind Ross
Annalise VanVranken
Horse - Palatine
Reserve Horse - Urfreund Rosengaard

Individuals:

Women
Megan Benjamin - Leonardo
Alicen Divita - Giovanni
Mary McCormick - Sir Anthony Van Dyck
Katharine Wick - (Alternate)

Men
Kenny Geisler - Sunny Boy
Todd Griffiths - Lanson 16
Kristian Roberts - Jacadi de Rox
Patrick Stevens - (Alternate)

Name/Age/Hometown

Individual Women
1. Mary McCormick/27/Woodside, CA
2. Megan Benjamin/22/Saratoga, CA
3. Alicen Divita/21/Redwood City, CA
4. Katharine Wick/17/Hillsborough, CA
5. Elizabeth Ioannou/14/Saratoga, CA
6. Sarah D'Auriol/18/Suffolk, VA
7. Alexandra Thrasher/15/Redwood City, CA
8. Shannyn Poer/24/Venice, CA

Individual Men
1. Todd Griffiths/30/Babb, ND
2. Kenny Geisler/29/Sunnyvale, CA
3. Kristian Roberts/17/Moss Beach, CA
4. Patrick Stevens/19/Martinez, CA
5. Clay Thomas/15/Newtown, VA
6. Erik Martonovich/31/Las Vegas, NV

Teams
1. Free Artists Creative Equestrians (F.A.C.E.)
Blake Dahlgren/26/Santa Clarita, CA
Sarah D'Auriol/18/Suffolk, VA
Karly Frankel Newman/15/Woodside, CA
Mary Garrett/20/Seal Beach, CA
Emily Addison Hogye/14/Ben Lomond, CA
Mari Inouye/27/Redwood City, CA
Devon Maitozo/35 /Woodside, CA
Rosalind Ross/20/Aptos, CA
Annalise VanVranken/18/Mays Landing, NJ

2. Sundae Rush
Marisa Hamar/21/Visalia, CA
Leslie Hamar Taylor/28/Visalia, CA
Cassidy Palmer/17/Half Moon Bay, CA
Colton Palmer/12/Half Moon Bay, CA
Kimberly Palmer/15/Half Moon Bay, CA
Katie Richie/23/San Luis Obispo, CA
Grace Robinson/13/Palo Alto, CA
Ruby Robinson/11/Palo Alto, CA
Clay Thomas/15/Newtown, VA

Santa Barbara, Calif., August 4, 2010 -- The 2010 U.S. Equestrian Federation/American Vaulting Association (USEF/AVA) National Vaulting Championship was a showcase for the USEF Selection Trial for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Winning four specific team competitions for a spot on the U.S. squad, the F.A.C.E. (Free Artists Creative Equestrians) Team continued its dominance of the division. As the 2010 National Champions, Devon Maitozo, Rosalind Ross, Annalise VanVranken, Mary Garrett, Mari Inouye, Emily Addison Hogye and Karly Frankel-Newman reached deep and gained the top spot on the podium. The F.A.C.E. team took top honors in both the Compulsory phase and the Freestyle on Palatine.

With the 2010 USEF/AVA Men's Individual Gold Championship as well as the A Team medal in hand, Maitozo's dramatic performances and deliberate conscious choreography, combined with high compulsory scores secured another star in his crown. That crown includes a medal that no one else can claim--the first ever United States gold medal (in any discipline) won at a World Equestrian Games in Rome, Italy (1998 on Whiskey).

Since 2006, Mary McCormick has been occupying the podium for gold individual women in one position or another. She has continued this trend throughout all of the 2010 USEF Recognized Selection Competitions to maintain her top position on this year's Gold Ranking List for consideration for the U.S. World Equestrian Games.

Certainly McCormick's win at this year's National Championship is no exemption to her exemplary career. She credits her lunger, Poppy Coulter, citing this committed equestrian with the excellent conditioning and training of Van Dyke.

All five declared teams were present and the top two repeated the last trial's placings. F.A.C.E. topped the leader board with an impressive overall score of 8.272, an improvement of more than 0.5 points over their score from Garrod's Spring Classic. Adding and tweaking some incredible moves to their Romeo and Juliet theme made for exciting entertainment.

Isabelle Parker, coach of the Woodside team which held on to the second spot, said that her vaulters wanted to tell a story, a production of the Lion King tale with appropriate music and costumes on team horse Giovanni. They had a final score of 7.605.

In the individual men's gold competition, Devon Maitozo topped the final overall scores with an 8.426 on Palatine. Just in case his F.A.C.E. team is not selected he is also competing as an individual. Recovering from a double knee surgery, he's back in business.

On the individual women's gold slate, all top five names again came up in the same podium order as the trials at Garrod's Spring Classic with Mary McCormick in first place with 8.699, then Alicen Divita, Megan Benjamin, Katherine Wick and Elizabeth Ioannou.

Top individual vaulters and teams have applied for several CVI2* events outside of the U.S. in the upcoming month. They will be selected depending on scores and the number of available invitations. Included are FEI Recognized events at Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, and Krumke and Aachen in Germany. Those scores influence the outcome of the selection process. The next U.S. Selection Trial is FACE Off July 17-18 in Somis, Calif.