ridecamp@endurance.net: [endurance] North American Championship
[endurance] North American Championship
Richard K. Stewart (76147.1145@compuserve.com)
06 Oct 95 18:08:13 EDT
F.E.I. NORTH AMERICAN ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP
TEAM WINNERS:
Team Rider/Horse Ride Time
GOLD: Pacific North Marcia Smith/On a High (Elvis) 9:58
Chris Knoch/NV Fifth Av(Saxx) 9:58
Ona Lawrence/Dandy McCoy 11:18
AccumTime 31:14
Silver: Central Nina Warren/Desert Ballad 10:32
Melissa Crain/Whoa Jack 10:32
Jan Worthington/L.M.Mastermind 11:15
AccumTime 32:19
Bronze: U.S.East Valerie Kanavy/Pieraz(Cash) 10:19
Steve Rojek/WR Peregrene(Hawk) 10:19
Lois McAfee/BA Rhett Butler 12:13
AccumTime 32:51
INDIVIDUAL WINNERS:
GOLD Pacific North Marcia Smith/On a High(Elvis) 9:58
SILVER Pacific North Chris Knoch/NV Fifth Av(Saxx) 9:58
BRONZE U.S.East Valerie Kanavy/Pieraz(Cash) 10:19
The 1995 North American Endurance Championship hosted by the
Flagstaff Riding Club in picturesque Flagstaff, Arizona marked
the 10th year of championship level international endurance
competition for the United States.
Competition for the team medals provided the suspense and drama
at this year's championship as evidenced by these impressive
statistics. Ten of the top eleven finishers were riding on their
zone's team. Only one hour and twenty minutes separated the 1st
and 10th place horse. Eight of the top ten riders paired up with
a teammate for most if not all of the ride. Seven zones fielded
teams, four of which finished 100% of their riders. A record
76.5% of the 51 riders that started received completions. Only 56
minutes separated the Gold and Bronze medal teams.
How does team competition work in endurance riding? Four rider's
from each zone's squad of six riders (the host zone may field 12
horse/rider teams) are selected by their zone chef d'equipe and
team veterinarian to ride on their zone's team. The combined
riding time of a zone's first three team riders to complete
determines their score. The zone with the lowest combined riding
time wins the Gold. A team medal demands that at least three of
the team riders complete. Minimizing overall ride time is
critical. Team riders must juggle the need for speed to help
their team's score with the risk of elimination which could hurt
or even eliminate their team's chances for a medal. Central Zone \j\ chef
d'equipe Grace Ramsey reminded her riders, "You don't need
to think about passing anybody. You need to be thinking about
picking up time."
Fifty one horses and riders representing the five United States
zones, the two Canadian zones, and individuals from five off
continent countries set out in the dark at 5:30 am on September
16th. Ahead waited 100 miles of scenic but sometimes rugged
terrain, 6 veterinary check points (where a pulse, metabolic and
gait evaluation would take place) and to top it off, a post ride
veterinary evaluation as stringent as the first six.
Very early on, team members began pairing up. East zone team
member and World Champion Valerie Kanavy riding "Cash" asked
teammate Steve Rojeck riding "Hawk" if they could ride together.
Pacific North zone teammates Marcia Smith riding On a High and
Chris Knoch riding "Saxx" traveled to the event together. They
had not planned to ride together but their horses were evenly
matched and had already become buddies on the trip over. Grace
Ramsey, Central zone chef d'equipe, encouraged certain of her
team and individual riders to pair up based on her knowledge of
their athletic abilities. "A horse goes better with another horse
and makes better time than a horse traveling alone."
The suspense and excitement really started to build at about the
50 mile point. Here the trail dropped 2350' in elevation in just
4 miles. The footing was rocky and the mid day heat was in the
90's. At this point Pacific North's Chris Knoch and Marcia Smith
had about a 15 minute lead on East team riders Valerie Kanavy and
Steve Rojek and about a 20 minute lead on the Central team riders
Nina Warren and Melessa Crain. Earlier in the week Chris and
Marcia had run this section on foot to study the terrain. It was
in Marcia's game plan to make a move at this point where the
trail descended off the mesa then ascended steeply back up the
mesa after vet check 3. Marcia said later, "Even with the risk,
the place to make a move on this trail was going down and up the
mesa." The gamble paid off. After making the rocky decent off
the mesa sometimes running on foot with their horses, they looked
back. Chris Knoch commented, "We were amazed when we saw no one
was coming after us!" Between vet check 2 and vet check 3, they
increased their lead almost another 15 minutes. The other teams
were amazed by their pace and decided not to risk a press at this
point. The Central and East teams maintained their pace and
figured the front runners would probably fade. Pacific zone
riders Chris and Marcia did not have "fade" included in their \j\ carefully
worked out game plans.
In the early afternoon mother nature entered the competition. As
is the norm during the monsoon season in this beautiful high
desert country, a violent rain and hail storm hit. The front
runners made the climb back up the mesa in 90+ degree heat only
to be greeted at the top by a hail storm and a 20 degree drop in
temperature. The footing quickly became slippery and
treacherous. Chris Knoch noted, "We took 10 extra minutes
getting through vet check 4 because of the weather change." Both
riders wanted to minimize the potential negative metabolic effect
that such a rapid change in temperature can have on a horse.
Even so between vet checks 3 and 4, they had increased their lead
another 13 minutes to almost 45 minutes. With such a comfortable
lead, from vet check 4 at 72 miles to the finish, Chris and
Marcia decided to back off the pace and make sure their horses
passed the post ride vet check in flying colors.
Team competition and camaraderie aside, there was still the
individual Gold medal to be won. At vet check 5, Pacific North's
chef d'equipe Tony Beneditti implored his riders, "Please don't
blow it. There are potentially six medals at stake here,
individual gold and silver and 4 team medals." Between the
last vet check and the finish, Marcia and Chris discussed the
options of a tie, flip of the coin, or a run off. The last mile
of the trail wound through the forest for 1/2 mile then broke out
onto a wide dirt road for the home stretch. They walked their
horses through the forest, trotted side by side to an agreed upon
landmark then took off. Marcia Smith and On A High edged out
Chris Knoch and "Saxx" by a second. The finish line crowd was
thrilled and the horses looked great at the post ride check.
Marcia Smith's horse went on to win the coveted best condition
award.
As Marcia and Chris galloped in for individual gold and silver,
the race for the individual bronze was heating up between East
teammates Valerie Kanavy and Steve Rojek. Plus the Central team
riders, Melissa Crain and Nina Warren were continuing to step up
their pace to minimize the time gap with the other teams. At vet
check 6, ten miles from the finish, Valerie's horse "Cash" passed
through the check one minute ahead of Steve Rojek's horse "Hawk".
Cash left the check at a gallop. After spending the day
together, Hawk would not be left alone and soon caught up to his
teammate. The pace slowed a bit until 5 miles from the finish, \j\ then Valerie
put Cash into a gallop again. Steve and Hawk stayed
right with them until they encountered a vehicle parked partially
in the trail. Cash got the jump at this narrow point. Hawk lost
a little momentum. Cash held the lead to finish third for the
Bronze with Hawk only seconds behind. Only 13 minutes later
Central team mates Nina Warren and Melissa Crain trotted across
the finish line together for 5th and 6th place.
It takes three to make a team. Where are the third riders for
the Pacific North, Central, and East zone teams? Good question.
The violent thunderstorm that had passed through earlier in the
afternoon knocked out the radio and cellular phone communications
the chef d'equipes were using to monitor their rider's positions.
Central team rider Russell Broussard left the last vet check just
6 minutes behind his team mates. Pacific team rider Ona Lawrence
left 22 minutes behind Russell Broussard. With ten miles to go,
team Gold was still undecided! Then misfortune struck the
Central team. A critical turn from the road the trail was
following was marked with a lime arrow on the shoulder of the
road. Just as Russell Broussard approached that point, a car
passed between him and the arrow causing him to miss the turn.
By the time he corrected his error a significant amount of time
had been lost. Fourth Central team rider Jan Worthington had
left the last check 18 minutes behind Russell Broussard. She was
told of Broussard's terrible misfortune and really picked up her
pace. Leaving the last check, Pacific North's third team rider
Ona Lawrence was only 4 minutes behind Central's now third team
rider Jan Worthington. Because of the loss of radio
communication, she was unaware of how close the teams were.
However, she was in a close race for 10th place with Mountain
team rider Pat Murray. Pacific North chef d'equipe Tony
Beneditti had given his riders permission to race only for a
medal or 10th place (to qualify to show for best condition). She
raced and finished 10th place, only 3 minutes behind the Central
team rider Jan Worthington who finished 8th. Team Gold would go
to Pacific North and Team Silver to Central with only 22 minutes
separating the teams. The East's third team rider Lois McAfee
finished 15th and cinched the team Bronze for the East. The
Mountain Zone team finished 4th place. All four of its team
members completed.
After 10 years of championship level international competition,
the United States riders, known until now as rugged
individualists, have demonstrated in fine fashion that talented \j\ individuals
can work together to form an awesome team. The rest