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Articles: Press Release
Heather Bergantz Wins Gold at Pan American
Endurance Champiohship
Contact:
Marty Bauman, (508) 698-6810, uset.pr@verizon.net
Joanna Smith, (908) 234-1251, jsmith@uset.org
Gladstone, NJ -August 26, 2001- Three riders representing the United States
won the individual medals at the 100-mile Pan American Endurance
Championship on August 25, 2001 in South Woodstock, Vermont. Heather
Bergantz, of San Jose, California won the individual Gold aboard Skip
Lightfoot's Crystals Charm by a twenty-one minute margin in a ride time of
10 hours 39 minutes and 42 seconds. The Silver medal went to United States
Equestrian Team (USET) veteran Melissa Crain of Franklin, TN riding her
15-year-old Arab Charbiel in a ride time of 11:00:50. Rita Swift of
Worthington, WV riding Just Cass took the Bronze in a ride time of 11:48:13.
The story of Bergantz and Crystals Charm reads like a fairy tale. The
9-year-old Arab gelding also known as "Big Red" was rescued from the
slaughterhouse and purchased by Lightfoot for $600 over three years ago.
After realizing Red's potential, Lightfoot called on Bergantz to take over
training. Since then the pair has been making a name for themselves on the
Endurance circuit winning the Haggin Cup in 1999 and now the Pan Ams.
Bergantz feels they have much more to do.
"Red has really come into his own this year", said Bergantz. "As long as he
is sound next year he is going to the World Championships. Next year he
will be really tough, he's not at the top of his game yet."
With United States riders dominating the Championship, the team competition
was fierce among the five squads represented. The Gold medal went to the
USA East squad of Brenda Baird, Stagg Newman, Dina Rojek and Meg Sleeper.
The USA Central team with Shelley Bridges, Roberta Harms, Tracy Webb-Hoskins
and Janice Worthington took the Silver and Pacific North came in third for
the Bronze with Marie Mallon, Dennis Summers, Karen Vilander and Jazon
Wonders.
The Green Mountain Horse Center played host to nine nations with 88
competitors. The international competition had representatives from
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, Romania and
Venezuela in addition to the United States.
The USET paid the entry fees and provided funding for uniforms for all U.S.
riders in the Championship.
The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects,
trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to
represent our country in major international competition, including the
Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this the USET seeks
out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and
horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain
their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call
(908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org.
Contact:
USA Equestrian, Inc.
(Formerly American Horse Shows Association)
4047 Iron Works Parkway,
Lexington, KY 40511-8483
Tel: (859) 258 2472
Fax (859) 231 6662 Web site: www.ahsa.org
USA Equestrian (formerly AHSA) announced today the results of the 2001 FEI
Pan American Endurance Championship, which took place at Green Mountain
Horse Association Equestrian Center, South Woodstock, VT on August 25, 2001.
There were 87 starters and 58 finishers over the 160 km course which
traversed the countryside of central Vermont.
Individual:
Gold: Heather Bergantz (Crystals Charm); time 10:39
Silver: Melissa Crain (Charbiel); time 11:00
Bronze: Rita Swift (Just Cass); time 11:48
Team:
Gold: USA East
Brenda Baird (Bells Snitzel); Time -14:24.03
Stagg Newman (Jayel Super); 11:48.16
Dinah Rojek (Phoenix) (pull)
Meg Sleeper (Shyrocco Troilus); 12:12.04
Team Total: 38:24.23
Silver: Central
Shelley Bridges (Windswift Pharrah); 12:41.45
Roberta Harms (Sha-Win); 13:06.21
Tracy Webb-Hoskins (Flight Leader); 14:14.53
Janice Worthington (LM Mastermind); 16:04.33
Team Total: 40:02.59
Bronze: Pacific North
Marie Mallon (Zahin Al-Din); 16:00.33
Dennis Summers (Raymond Blur); 14:14.12
Karen Vilander (NYR Crown Royal); 13:45.24
Jazon Wonders (Ravi Das); 13:45.23
Team Total: 41:44.59
Best Condition - Crystals Charm.
For more information, please contact Christine E. Stafford, Director of
Communications on (859) 225 6923 or via email at cstafford@ahsa.org
cstafford@ahsa.org. AHSA press
releases are available on our web
site - http://www.ahsa.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
77,000 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.
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