Reese Richey, 17, of Sardinia, OH has been named as the USA Junior Equestrian of the Year for 2001. The presentation of the Ruth O'Keefe Meredith Memorial Trophy will be made Friday, January 11, 2002 at the USA Equestrian Pegasus Dinner during the USA Equestrian Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC.

The Ruth O'Keefe Meredith Memorial Trophy was established in 1985 to honor a junior individual who exemplifies "exceptional talent, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport" and has made "outstanding contributions to equestrian competition." A selection panel of six members, composed of representatives of the different breeds and disciplines recognized by USA Equestrian, is presented with a list of nominees. Previous winners include: Hillary Schlusemeyer (1996); Lindsey Phibbs (1997); Jill Prieto (1998); Emily Williams (1999) and Sarah Willeman (2000).

For more information, please contact Sarah Holt, Public Relations on (859) 225 6974 or via email at sholt@equestrian.org. USA Equestrian press releases are available on our web site - http://www.equestrian.org/ .

USA Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines of equestrian competition. As the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates who officiate at these shows.