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McKayla Langmeier and Durosa W Claim Second Leg of $100,000 USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship at Holiday & Horses Show

Abigail McArdle and Victorio 5 Lead Overall Standings

by Kathleen Landwehr, US Equestrian Communications Department | Nov 30, 2018, 7:05 PM

Wellington, Fla. – The $100,000 USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship at the Holiday & Horses Show continued on Friday with the $15,000 jump-off competition. The U25 athletes tackled Anthony D'Ambrosio’s big track in the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center’s International Arena for the second competition of the national championship. Four combinations made it to the jump-off, and McKayla Langmeier and Durosa W rode away with the win.

McKayla Langmeier and Durosa W (©Anne Gittins)

Eighteen-year-old Langmeier (East Granby, Conn.) and Linda Langmeier’s 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare were first combination to enter the ring for the class and the jump-off, displaying their winning form from the start. They knocked three rails in the Thursday’s $10,000 faults-converted competition, but they composed themselves and easily jumped clear in Friday’s competition. Langmeier and Durosa W were the only combination to jump clear in the jump-off in a time of 38.59 seconds.

“I think my mentality [changed from the first day],” Langmeier said of her successful day. “Yesterday I was coming from school and I was pretty tired, so today I took it as just go in there and ride. I have all the trust in my horse so I knew she could do it.”

Langmeier has gained experience under pressure thanks to competing at championships such as the Adequan®/FEI North American Youth Championships presented by Gotham North. Those opportunities, and the help of trainers John Brennan and Missy Clark, have given Langmeier better perspective as her riding career develops.

Kelli Cruciotti and Grandy de Laubry (©Anne Gittins)

“Definitely I know to never give up,” Langmeier said. “It can change so much the second and third day, especially at Young Riders and previous U25s, so I know to never give up.”

Watch their winning round

Twenty-one-year-old Kelli Cruciotti and Grandy de Laubry finished second after tallying four faults in a time of 39.82 seconds in the jump-off. Cruciotti (Elizabeth, Colo.) and 3 Seas, LLC’s 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare were seventh in Thursday’s competition and climbed the placings with a solid performance.

Third place went to Abigail McArdle and Victorio 5, who finished the jump-off with four faults in a time of 41.09 seconds. After the second leg of the national championship, McArdle (Barrington, Ill.) and Victorio Equine Group, LLC’s 12-year-old Hanoverian stallion lead the overall standings with zero penalties.  

“From now, [the game plan] is just jumping clean; we have got to slow it all down now to jump two more clean rounds,” McArdle said following Friday’s jump-off.

Abigail McArdle and Victorio 5 (©Anne Gittins)

Seventeen-year-old Samantha Cohen and Carmen, her 11-year-old KWPN mare, and 24-year-old Mattias Tromp and Eyecatcher, Beyaert Farm Inc’s nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, are tied in second place in the overall standings with one penalty.

The $100,000 USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship concludes on Sunday with the $25,000 two-round competition, which will be streamed live at approximately 1:00 p.m. ET on USEF Network.

Overall Standings

Friday’s Results

Sunday’s Order of Go

Find out more about the $100,000 USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship and the Holiday & Horses Show.

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