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Articles: Press Release
Individual and Team Vaulters Chosen for 2006 World Equestrian Games in
Aachen, Germany
Contact:
Jennifer Kappler of Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com
Lexington, KY - July 10, 2006 - The United States Equestrian Federation
recently announced the vaulting team for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian
Games in Aachen, Germany. Three individual women, three individual men
and one team were selected to represent the United States. The 2006 FEI
World Games run August 20 - September 3, 2006. The vaulting will take
place from August 23-27, 2006.
In 1982, vaulting became an equestrian discipline recognized by the
International Equestrian Federation (FEI). The United States has won a
medal in every vaulting World Championship since its inception, earning
twelve medals in total. The first World Vaulting Championships took
place in Bulle, Switzerland in 1986 and Jeanette Boxell started the
string of United States vaulting medals with her Women's Individual
Silver.
Unlike all other FEI disciplines, Individual men and women compete in
separate classes and not against one another. The two types of
competitions at World Championship level are Individual and Team. The
highest level of competition for vaulting is a CVI2*. Similar to figure
skating, vaulters are subjectively judged in three distinct categories:
Compulsories, Technical, and Freestyle. Compulsories are required
movements that each athlete must demonstrate. The Freestyle is
choreographed to music and shows off an athlete's personality and
performance skills. The Technical test is half Compulsory and half
Freestyle, with technical moves that must be incorporated into the
routine.
In the Individual competition, the Vaulter is only accompanied by a
longeur and the vaulting horse. The horse canters on a left hand circle
with a minimum diameter of 15 meters. The vaulting horses for the
Individual and Team events will be borrowed for the WEG from European
owners and the vaulters will get to "test" them out at CVI, Munich next
weekend.
The individual members, named in order of their rankings are as follows:
Unites States Women's Individual Vaulting WEG, 2006
Megan Benjamin, 18, from Saratoga, CA, with a final average score of
8.590
Elizabeth Osborn, 16, from Menlo Park, CA, with a final average score of
8.267
Mary McCormick, 23, from Woodside, CA, with a final average score of
8.240
Alternate
Alicen Divita, 17, from Redwood City, CA with a final average score of
8.128
United States Men's Individual Vaulting WEG, 2006
Kenny Geisler, 25, from Diamond Bar, CA, with a final average score of
7.627
Todd Griffiths, 27, from Pullman, WA, with a final average score of
7.402
Chris Littman, 22, from Agoura, CA, with a final average score of 6.965
Blake Dahlgren qualified in the top spot on the individual roster, but
relinquished his individual spot to compete in the team competition.
Blake Dahlgren is a twenty year old F.A.M.E. team Member for WEG 2006.
The rules state that if you are over the age of eighteen, you cannot
compete in both the team and individual competitions.
Megan Benjamin is also a F.A.M.E. team member, but she is eighteen which
enables her to compete in both divisions.
The Team competition is composed of six vaulters, the longeur and the
vaulting horse and may include one alternate vaulter. Unlike the
individual events, the team of vaulters can be a mix of men and women.
The WEG Vaulting Team is named F.A.M.E and is coached by Emma Seely and
Devon Maitozo, and the Chef d'Equipe is Suzanne Detol.
The Team is a composite of athletes from Southern California from the
Free Artists Creative Equestrians Club, Northern California from the Mt.
Eden Vaulting Club, and New Jersey. The team is bolstered by 30
year-old Devon Maitozo. Maitozo was the 1998 World Champion in Rome and
is renowned for his music interpretation and choreography skills. His
talent has raised the level of elite vaulting around the world. The team
posted an average score of 7.944
F.A.M.E. Team Members WEG, 2006
Megan Bengamin, 18, from Saratoga, CA
Blake Dahlgren, 22, from Sun Valley, CA
Devon Maitozo, 30, from Simi Valley, CA
Katie Richie, 19, from Santa Cruz, CA
Annalise Van Vranken, 14, from Mays Landing, NJ
Elizabeth Ioannou, 10, from Saratoga, CA
Alternate
Katie Richie, 19 from Santa Cruz, CA
The athletes were selected based on the average of their top three
scores obtained at the USEF licensed competitions held from March 1 to
June 5, as well as the 2005 USEF National Vaulting Championships for
individuals.
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