Wadsworth, IL - August 15, 1999 - Maren Foster of Fox Island, WA won the individual Gold Medal in the three-day event CCI** championship and Kristin Wasemiller of Oklahoma City, OK won the individual Gold in dressage at the North American Young Riders' Championships (NAYRC) Presented by State Line Tack. Also winning individual Gold on the final day of competition at Tempel Farms was Erynn Ballard of Hornby, Ontario who captured the show jumping final.

The final team medal of the championship was also awarded Sunday, going to the combined team from Areas 4/6 (midwest and west) in the three day event CCI**. They finished with a score of 337 to best Area 2 who finished with 346 penalty points. Area 8 was third with a combined score of 380.

Foster, a 1998 NAYRC Team Gold Medalist, rode her horse Latour without penalty to finish the three phases with her dressage score of 77 penalties. Finishing second was Kati Bodin of Wayzata, MN who won the Silver Medal with a score of 102. Alison Schutt of Colorado Springs, CO, took home the Bronze Medal with a score of 105.

In the dressage final, Wasemiller rode her horse Gulliver to a score of 67.95% to capture the Gold. Gwen Poulin of DeLeon Springs, FL won the Silver with a score 67.53% on Fuerst Paldi and Nicole Perry of El Cajon, CA earned the Bronze with a score of 67.53% on Batido. The tie between Poulin and Perry, who won team Gold and individual Silver Medals in 1998, was broken according to who had the higher score in the team competition.

Ballard was assured of the show jumping individual Gold Medal when she posted a low score of 13.30 faults with her horse Leacock. Placing second behind Ballard and winning the individual Silver Medal was Jamie Krauss of Greenwich, CT and her mount, Julius, who had a score of 19.47 faults. Riding Give Me A Turn Babe, Nicholas Bayzelon of St. Bruno, Quebec earned the Bronze Medal with 22.72 faults.

Winning the three-day event CCI* competition was Christopher Funk of North Canton, OH on Max Exito. Molly Warmington of Balboa, CA and Toffee Crisp were second. USA Area 4 won the team competition in the CCI*, second place went to Area 2, and Area 3 was third.

The team of the B and B's rode to victory in the Finish Line Team Challenge. The combined team of Barb Grassmyer, Kristin Wasemiller, Clark Montgomery, and Lauren Hayes topped the team standings with 37 points. Sherome Purcell of Seaford, NY was the individual Gold Medalist in the Finish Line Team Challenge.

The premier equestrian competition in North America for young riders age 16-21, the NAYRC features equestrians from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America who come to vie for Championships in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of Show Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing. The competition is run under rules of the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale), the international governing body for equestrian sports.

Tempel Farms, site of the 1999 NAYRC, is home to the world's largest private herd of Lipizzan Horses. It is widely considered to be one of the finest equestrian centers in North America with extraordinary facilities, excellent footing, and a challenging CCI** cross-country course.

The NAYRC began in 1974 as an eventing challenge between the United States and Canada. A Dressage Championship was added in 1981, and Show Jumping was added in 1982. The first complete NAYRC was held in British Columbia, Canada in 1982.

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