Juggling her riding and her sophomore year at Yale University, 19-year-old Whitney May, from Des Moines, Iowa, moved into the top four from a seventh placed position, earning the highest scoring show jumping round in Phase III of the 2001 BET/USET Medal Finals.

Demonstrating a natural skill on her own 10-year-old Hannoverian mare, Gralina, May rose to the challenge, to compete in the Final Phase, styled after the World Championships for Show Jumping, where riders switch horses over the same course.

Trained by Frank and Stacia Madden, Whitney joined her good friend and circuit roommate, Krista Freundlich in the top four and was "happy just not to chip each fence and make a fool of myself." After her first flutter of nerves, realizing here she was "a rider from Iowa" among the nation's top, she got down to business, and focused on the job ahead of her.

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