Bermuda Wins Junior Caribbean Challenge
The Bermuda Equestrian Federation recently sent junior members Casey Truran and Kelsey Amos to participate at the Pan American Equestrian Confederation’s Caribbean Junior Jumping Challenge which was hosted at the Ronald C. Waranch Equestrian Center, Savannah College of Art and Design in Hardeeville, SC.
Competing countries at the event were Antigua, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA. The competition consisted of two-member teams representing their respective nations.
Each country had one team member in each of the two divisions. On each competition day, each rider was allowed a 5 minute flat warm-up on the assigned horse which was randomly drawn for them. Each rider was then allowed to jump four jumps before entering the competition arena.
The riders then competed over a designated two-phase course using faults and closest to optimum time to determine the results. Points were awarded for each respective place and the combined scores from both divisions to determine a final team/country total.
There were several challenges for the riders during this competition. None of the riders had previously ridden any of the competition horses before. Each day of competition had the riders competing on a different horse with increasing course complexity over the two days.
Casey Truran and Kelsey Amos
Despite our Bermuda riders placing 3rd and 10th on day one, the first round results had Bermuda in 4th place and trailing the leaders by 7 points.
On the final day of competition the last rider to compete was Bermuda’s Casey Truran who successfully went clear and proceeded to the jump-off phase where he came .08 seconds within the optimum time of 30 seconds, placing 1st with Kelsey Amos coming 7th.
This resulted in Bermuda winning the competition over Cayman Islands, who were equal on points but who had incurred 4 faults over the two-days with Bermuda having clear rounds throughout.
Organizers for the event have stated “The last day of competition was full of surprises and all the riders showed themselves to be very competent. Today’s individual winner Casey Truran rode almost exactly to the optimum time of 30 seconds in his jump off. In second place today was Addison Reed of the USA and Janet Jack of Antigua was in third place. All of these riders were separated by hundredths of a second. “
Casey Truran was also the highest scoring competitor of the event with 27 points, with the next closest competitor achieving 21 points.
PAEC Junior Caribbean Challenge – First Round Results:
Individual Results:
- 1 – # 95 – Ashley Van Den Bol – Cayman Islands – 15 pts.
- 2 – # 91 – Jordann Brown – Trinidad and Tobago – 13
- 3 – # 93 – Casey Truran – Bermuda – 12
- 4 – # 92 – Hadley Rahael – Trinidad and Tobago – 11
- 5 – # 89 – Indy Jones – Barbados – 10
- 6 – # 88 – Zoe Archer – Barbados – 9
- 7 – # 94 – Chloe Fowler – Cayman Islands – 8
- 8 – # 87 – Janet Jack – Antigua/USA Mixed Team – 7
- 9 – # 97 – Addison Reed – USA – 6
- 10 – # 90 – Kelsey Amos – Bermuda – 5
- 11 – # 99 – Caitlin Kerr – Jamaica – 4
- 12 – # 86 – Sophie Mawell – Antigua/USA Mixed Team – 3
- 13 – # 96 – Cecily Hayes – USA – 2
- 14 – # 98 – Marlee McKeehan – Jamaica – No Score
Round 1 Team Results:
- 1 – Trinidad and Tobago – 24 pts.
- 2 – Cayman Islands – 23 pts.
- 3 – Barbados – 19 pts.
- 4 – Bermuda – 17 pts.
- 5 – Antigua/USA Mixed Team – 10 pts.
- 6 – USA – 8 pts.
- 7 – Jamaica – 4 pts.
PAEC Junior Caribbean Challenge – Final Round Results:
Individual Results:
- 1 – # 93 – Casey Truran – Bermuda – 15 pts.
- 2 – # 97 – Addison Reed – USA – 13
- 3 – # 87 – Janet Jack – Antigua/USA Mixed Team – 12
- 4 – # 94 – Chloe Fowler – Cayman Islands – 11
- 5 – # 89 – Indy Jones – Barbados – 10
- 6 – # 92 – Hadley Rahael – Trinidad and Tobago – 9
- 7 – # 90 – Kelsey Amos – Bermuda – 8
- 8 – # 98 – Marlee McKeehan – Jamaica – 7
- 9 – # 95 – Ashley Van Den Bol – Cayman Islands – 6
- 10 – # 96 – Cecily Hayes – USA – 5
- 11 – # 88 – Zoe Archer – Barbados – 4
- 12 – # 86 – Sophie Maxwell – USA/Antigua – 3
- 13 – # 91 – Jordann Brown – Trinidad and Tobago – 2
- 14 – # 99 – Cailtin Kerr – Jamaica – No Score
Final Round 1 Team Results:
- 1 – Bermuda – 23 pts.
- 2 – USA – 18 pts.
- 3 – Cayman Islands – 17 pts.
- 4 – Antigua/USA – 15 pts.
- 5 – Barbados – 14 pts.
- 6 – Trinidad and Tobago – 11 pts.
- 7 – Jamaica – 7 pts.
Overall Final Team Standings – After 2 Rounds:
- Champion – Bermuda – 40 pts. [0 total jumping faults] * won tie breaker
- Reserve Champion – Cayman Islands – 40 pts. [4 total jumping faults]
- 3 – Trinidad and Tobago – 35 pts.
- 4 – Barbados – 33 pts.
- 5 – USA – 26 pts.
- 6 – Antigua/USA – 25 pts.
- 7 – Jamaica – 11 pts.
