Zone 5 Takes Team Gold at USHJA Zones 5 and 6 Platinum Jumper Championships

Crete, Ill.—July 19, 2019—USHJA Platinum Jumper Team medals were awarded this morning to Zone 5 and 6 riders at HITS Balmoral Park in Crete, Illinois. After two rounds of competition over the Florencio Hernandez designed courses, Team 1 from Zone 5, made up of Lisa Goldman-Smolden, Taylor Flury, and Adeline Rohrbach, claimed gold.

The Team Championship is a two round Nation’s Cup format, which also serves as the second and third qualifying classes for the Individual Championship. Leading the teams at the Championships were Zone 5 Chefs d'Equipe Elaine Schott and Ryan Sassmannshausen and Zone 6 Chef d'Equipe Janine Weatherby. 

Platinum Jumper Team Championship Results

GOLD: Team 1
Rider / Horse / Hometown / Status / Zone
Lisa Goldman-Smolen / Hindsight / Hawthorn Woods, Ill. / Professional / Zone 5
Adeline Rohrbach / Valladam / Glencoe, Ill. / Amateur / Zone 5
Taylor Flury / Calano Z / Minooka, Ill. / Professional / Zone 5

SILVER: Team 2
Rider / Horse / Hometown / Status / Zone
Kim Barone / Cacento / Watertown, Minn. / Professional / Zone 6
Stefanie Shaw / Contessa / Lake Villa, Ill. / Junior / Zone 5
Summer Hill / Light Show / Lexington, Ky. / Professional / Zone 5

BRONZE: Team 3
Rider / Horse / Hometown / Status / Zone
Janine Weatherby / Derringer / Bellevue, Neb. / Professional / Zone 6
Sarah Korenthal / Legacy B / Chicago, Ill. / Amateur / Zone 5
Katie Leverick / Catch Me 52 / Fox Lake, Ill. / Professional / Zone 5

Before competition began, Summer Hill, Ryan Sassmannshausen and Lisa Goldman-Smolen weighed in on the unique team aspects of the week in the jumper rings.  

“I’m excited,” said Hill, a 20-year-old professional at Fairbanks Riding in Lexington, Kentucky, competing this week in the Platinum Jumper competition on Diane Masters’ horse Light Show. “At that level, we don’t really get that many opportunities, other than Young Riders, to ride as a team. It’s something that we miss in this sport, and it’s not on a huge Nations Cup level, so I think it will be fun to ride on a team and ride with other people and compete with each other instead of against each other.”  

Sassmannshausen, a first-time Zone 5 chef d'equipe leading teams at the championships, agreed that the camaraderie is a major component for competitors. “A big thing that we’re trying to push this year is bringing the spirit of the fans into it,” said the 27-year-old professional of Kinvarra Farm in St. Charles, Illinois. “I try to get all the people to come together on team day, make sure there’s lots of signage, and make it fun. That’s what makes it more fun at the end of the day for the people in the ring, when you have full stands with people screaming and hollering and having a good time. You just feed off the energy.” 

Regarding the draw for teammates, Sassmannshausen equates the experience to finding roommate assignments at college. 

“When you get the list, it’s almost like when you go to college and you get who your roommate is and you Facebook each other right away, looking through each other’s stuff and learning about each other. It’s pretty cool. Some of the people on the list I don’t know, so I have to look them up, so again, it’s exposure. We’re creating connections and friendships. It brings everything back into what the sport is about, instead of ‘it’s just me against you.’” 

“It’s a totally different level of experience when you’re going out there and your ride is going to depend on your teammates, and your ride is going to affect them as well as you.” Lisa Goldman-Smolen said of team competition, “You’ve got to stay calm under pressure.” 

Riders will now have a mandatory rest day Saturday before competing in the Individual Final on Sunday, held as an overlay on the $35,000 HITS Grand Prix.

Also taking place this week at HITS Balmoral Park from Zones 5 and 6 are the USHJA Zones Jumper Team Championships for 1.10/1.15m Children's and Adult Amateur jumper riders and the USHJA Children's and Adult Amateur Hunter Championships, presented by SmartPak.

USHJA extends special thanks to Showplace Productions and the entire HITS Chicago team for hosting the Championships.

New for the 2019 competition year, the USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships marks the highest level of the USHJA Emerging Jumper Rider Program and is open to qualified juniors, amateurs and professionals competing at 1.40/1.45m fence heights. Platinum Championship competitors will be recognized as 2019 USHJA Platinum Jumper Riders, and received comprehensive information during the riders meeting about the Show Jumping Athlete Pathway, a joint USHJA-US Equestrian effort that identifies and nurtures Jumping athletes as they advance through the sport to enhance future success for Olympic and international teams representing the United States.

Thank you to USHJA official sponsors, Charles Owen, CWD, Parlanti and Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, and Platinum Jumper Championship award sponsors Essex Classics and FITS Riding, for their support of these Championships.

For more information about the USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships, including qualifying information, deadlines and Championship specifications, visit ushja.org/PlatinumJumper.