2001 BET/USET Medal Finals East
Winner - Derek Braun

Last year, Derek Braun came as a spectator to watch the 2000 BET/USET Medal Finals, after he did not make the strict qualifying standards. This year he won, over a field of 59 top Junior and Young Rider competitors, after executing the four Phases of this unique and testing competition.

The 17-year-old senior at St. John Lutheran High School in Ocala, Florida rode Lauren Schweppe's Le Grande, maintained the highest marks in Phase I (flatwork), and Phase II (gymnastics) under judges Norman Dello Joio and Cynthia Haskins.

Haskins, the former assistant to the famed USET jumping coach Bert DeNemethy admitted this is the toughest of all competitions to judge, as it is more subjective than just counting chips and knockdowns.

Trained by Bob Braswell, of Quiet Oaks Farm, Ocala Florida, Braun like all competitors had to do most of the work on his own, without the advantage of walking the course with his trainer. That is because the program is design to teach young talent to think more on their own, often making on the spot decisions as to how they will jump the gymnastic lines, left to their discretion.

"I used the flat phase to familiarize my horse to the fences, and to supple him in the areas around the fences he would have to bend and turn," explained Braun. Braun plans to attend Rollins College in Orlando, Florida next year, and to continue to ride and train based out of his family's farm in Ocala.

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