Vaulters Bound for Germany Aren't Looking For the Silver Lining

The selection trials are complete, the American Horse Shows Association (AHSA) completed a final review of scores and the Vaulting Committee has voted. Fourteen excited and enthusiastic vaulters continue to train while parents and coaches are overwhelmed with final details. Travel arrangements must be made, USA warm-ups and attire for opening and closing ceremonies must be acquired. Four of these young people have traveled this road before and ten will wear the red, white and blue for the very first time. They all hope for a gold medal when the journey is complete.

Around the globe, others make similar preparations as the World Vaulting Championships 2000 approach. This FEI (International Equestrian Federation) event will be held in Mannheim, Germany from August 3 - August 6 at the "Muhlfeld" Maimarkt-showgrounds. It is estimated that 350 participants will arrive with about 100 horses. Twenty nations are expected to compete including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Spain, and the United States. This will be the second time the Germans have hosted the World Championships. The first World Vaulting Championships were held in 1986.

The contingent for the United States will include three men. Devon Maitozo is no stranger to success at the World Championships. He is the current Men's World Champion and hopes for a repeat of his outstanding performance, World Equestrian Games 1998 in Rome. He also earned the bronze medal at the 1996 World Championships and looks forward to the new challenge of competing as an individual and coaching TEAM USA. His current task: defend his title. For the future, he aspires to be the artistic director of his own theater. Erik Martonovich, 21, from Golden, CO lives on a horse ranch and has begun vaulting programs in Israel and Colorado, including a program for "at risk" teenagers. He is committed to his own training and wants to involve many more young people in this exciting sport. He feels his dedication to training has enabled him to avoid the bad decisions of many teenagers. Erik was a participant in the World Equestrian Games 1998. Brent Dahlgren will compete at his first World Championships. Dahlgren, 17, who has been vaulting since the age of 2 is from La Tuna Canyon, California. He plans to pursue a career as an Information Systems Engineer. He is also a member of Team USA and must learn to balance the challenges of vaulting in the individual event and for our team.

The three women in the contingent include Mari Inouye, 17, of Palo Alto, California who vaults with the Sundance Vaulting Club of Woodside, California. and is coached by Katariina Alongi and Jan Valstyn. Her high school bestowed the title "Sophomore Athlete of the Year" and was named "Most Valuable" by her high school gymnastics coach. Kerith Lemon, 24 has earned the Reserve World Champion title at the last three World Championships. She is most excited that for the first time she will compete with her competition horse, Van Dyck and longeur Emma Drinker. Kerith loves vaulting because it combines all of the things that she loves: horses, gymnastics, dance and travel. At age 7, Lemon began vaulting because it was an economical way for her to pursue her love of horses. Kerith has announced her retirement at the end of this competition year. Lemon is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Mass Communications. Pam Geisler, 24, of Diamond Bar, California began vaulting at the age of seven. She was a member of the American contingent in 1996 and in 1998. She is a recent graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Samantha Smith,14, of Saratoga, California and Kenny Geisler, 19, of Diamond Bar, California have been named as alternates for the individual competition.

TEAM USA will be represented by the Barronsgate Vaulting Club of Agoura, California. The club was established in 1994. Until this year, the highest level of competition for the Barronsgate team was at the C team level. Inspired by their victory as National C Team Champions in 1999, new coach Devon Maitozo decided to debut his team at A level events for the AHSA selection trials earlier this year. The steady gaits of their 17 year old Warmblood, Mozart, and with talented longeur Carolyn Bland at the end of the longeline, the team convinced skeptics that this team could perform a kur (freestyle) of international caliber. Not a single member of the team had competed outside the U.S. prior to this year, but they have earned the right to the title Team USA and made a dream into a reality. The team hopes to raise enough funds to take their horse to the Championships. Team members are from Southern California, Washington and Virginia and range in age from 12-17.

Most American vaulters in the past have borrowed horses for competitions overseas. In a gesture of goodwill and sportsmanship, Sydney Frankel of Woodside, California and owner of Van Dyck, has extended the opportunity to all individual competitors from the United States to vault on Van Dyck. Vaulters never have to settle for silver, because there will always be those associated with vaulting who have hearts of GOLD.

OVERALL SCORES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Media contact: Jan Weber, Vice President of Development, American Vaulting Association (805) 494-4192 Fax (805) 379-0522 Email: janaj40@aol.com

Please visit our website at www.americanvaulting.org for more information about vaulting. The American Vaulting Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization dedicated to the promotion of Vaulting, an equestrian youth sport in which vaulters perform gymnastic movements on and in harmony with their equine partner.