Monday, June 10, 2002

Top Six USA Riders Named To WEG Short List Guenter Seidel And Nikolaus 7 Win Grand Prix Freestyle

In Sunday's Grand Prix Freestyle at the Selection Trials for the World Equestrian Games, all five of the top placed riders scored above 70%. U.S. Dressage Team Coach Klaus Balkenhol said there were no surprises for him when the final scores revealed who made the Short List for the WEG after two weekends of competition at USET headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey. The top six riders are Debbie McDonald, Guenter Seidel, Sue Blinks, Lisa Wilcox (qualified from Germany), Christine Traurig, and Steffen Peters.

Guenter Seidel and Nikolaus 7 won the Grand Prix Freestyle with a score of 74.275%. The duo came into the trials in fifth place, moved up to second place which they held for two competitions, dropped to third yesterday, but put in a spectacular performance today that bumped them back up to second, completing the trials with an overall score of 70.671%.