Local equestrian vaulter Jeanine van der Sluijs was the overall champion in the senior class at the VaultCanada National Championship earlier this month in Ponoka. The event took place from August 6 to 8.
Van der Sluijs was among seven competitors from the Meadow Creek Vaulting Club that participated in the national championships as well as the Alberta Equestrian Vaulting Association Championships, which took place at the same time in Ponoka as well.
Van der Sluijs's sister, Angelique, claimed the bronze medal in the senior vaulting category. The pair combined to win the Pas De Deux (pairs) championship at the national event.
Other members of the club also fared well at the provincial event.
Brooke Boyd won the bronze medal in Provincial Championship Class, while Heather Latimer claimed the gold medal in the C Division Canter Class and Dallyn Shields won the bronze medal in the provincial C Division Canter Class. Avery Malone took top spot in the B Division Walk Class while Tiffani Matheson took second place in that class. Malone and Matheson had the same placings respectively in the Beginner Canter Class.
Van der Sluijs said for her personally, winning gold at the championship was the culmination of an excellent year.
“For me, it just felt like the entire year came together at that competition. With those results, of course I'm very pleased because it's a great way to finish the year off on such a high note, knowing that every bit of hard work that we've put into getting there paid off in the end,” she said.
This was the second year in a row the van der Sluijs sisters were national Pas De Deux champions at the national event. Van der Sluijs said the feat was extra special as they only started competing in that event last year.
“It was good for us to be able to repeat that. It's still a very new division in Canada, but we're definitely getting closer to where we want to be, and knowing that we can put such a good performance together at our competitions here at home is a very good confidence booster for us as we're preparing to compete more internationally,” she said.
Van der Sluijs said all the results for the Meadow Creek Vaulting Club showed good progress for its members, especially Malone and Matheson, who are moving from the walk disciplines to the canter.
“So far, it's been a very smooth transition for them because they have a very good base already and they were ready to take on this new challenge and having a really good time with it, but also being able to perform well at the competitions,” she said.
Although there are still other competitions available for club members to go to, van der Sluijs said club members will be taking some time off from competition to continue training, especially she and her sister, for the world championships next year. Regular lessons and club activities were also scheduled to start this week.
