Young West equestrians occupy almost half of the 24 spots on US Equestrian’s newly-announced list of athletes invited to the 2021 Emerging Athlete Eventing 25 Assessment Sessions.The USEF Emerging Athlete Eventing 25 Program offers athletes 25 years of age and under access to coaching and instruction, high intensity training sessions, and continued mentorship to further support the development of the Eventing Pathway.

            The Eventing Performance Advisory Team reviewed applications and invited 24 athletes to participate in a two-day assessment session with USEF Developing and Emerging Athlete Coach Leslie Law prior to the final program selection.

            Along with being 25 or younger, invited participants have completed a Minimum Eligibility Requirement at a CCI3*-L or have been talent spotted into the assessment sessions.

            The following athletes have been invited to participate in the 2021 Emerging Athlete Eventing 25 Assessment Sessions:

• Charlotte Babbitt (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.)
• Sophie Click (Snoqualmie, Wash.)
• Mia Farley (San Juan Capo, Calif.)
• Savannah Gwin* (San Clemente, Calif.)
• Mallory Hogan (Belvedere, Calif.)
• Sophie Hulme (Portola Valley, Calif.)
• Meg Pellegrini (Wayne, Penn.-recently relocated from California)
• Alyssa Phillips (Fort Worth, Tex.)
• Kaylawna Smith-Cook (Temecula, Calif.)
• Megan Sykes (Midland, Tex.)
• Madison Temkin (Sebastopol, Calif.)

      Assessment sessions will be held in Temecula, California, Florida and South Carolina in January. USEF Development and Emerging Athlete Coach Leslie Law and members of the Eventing Performance Advisory Team will determine the final athletes named to the 2021 Emerging Athlete Eventing 25 program following the conclusion of the assessment sessions.

Invited riders from elsewhere.

• Arielle Aharoni (Bedminster, N.J.)
• Alexandra Baugh (Lexington, Ky.)
• Amanda Beale Clement (Phoenixville, Penn.)
• Mia Braundel (Clayton, N.C.)
• Katherine Delaney* (Rockville, Va.)
• Cornelia Dorr (Manchester By The Sea, Mass.)
• Colin Gaffney (Akron, Ohio)
• Alexa Gartenberg (Gladwyne, Penn.)
• Gabrielle Hutchison (Cleveland, N.C.)
• Katie Lichten (South Hamilton, Mass.)
• Benjamin Noonan (Ballwin, Missouri)
• Danielle Poulsen (Newark, Del.)
• Sydney Solomon (Dayton, Md.)
• * indicates riders talent spotted into the assessment program for not having met the CCI3*-L eligibility requirement.

            To learn more about the Eventing Pathway Program, please contact Christina Vaughn, Director of Eventing Programs and Program Support, at cvaughn@usef.org or Jenni Autry, Managing Director of Eventing, at jautry@usef.org.