November 15, 2025, Myakka City, FL. It was cross-country day for the CCI4*-L, CCI4*-S, and CCI3*-L competitors, and the final day of competition for the CCI4*-S, which completed both dressage and stadium jumping yesterday.
The cross-country phase is often the most influential in eventing, where refusals or time faults can quickly add up. A clear, efficient round is crucial, and it’s where riders lower on the dressage leaderboard can make a significant difference, especially when followed by a fault-free show jumping round.
But for Will Coleman and his CCI4*-S mount Diabolo, the weekend was smooth sailing from start to finish. The pair led after dressage with an impressive score of 26.1, then delivered a clear stadium round yesterday afternoon, adding just 0.8 time faults after being only a few seconds over the optimum time.
Today, they followed it up with an outstanding cross-country performance, finishing with no jumping penalties and only 20 seconds over the optimum time, securing their lead to win the Leibold Irrigation CCI4*-S.
“The time faults were sort of planned, this was his first run back at this level in about a year after a minor injury in 2024, so we’re just ecstatic to have him back,” Coleman says. “He’s such a quality horse and made it all feel easy today. I had a blast out there, and now we can look ahead to next year, this was the perfect way to finish our season.”
Coleman’s other CCI4*-S mount, Fahrenheit Addict, climbed from fifth to second after yesterday’s stadium jumping round. However, time penalties on today’s cross-country course pushed the pair back to fifth in the final CCI4*-S standings.
“Fahrenheit Addict was awesome, he’s a younger horse, and this is his first year at the four-star level with us,” Coleman says. “We really just wanted to give him a nice, confidence-building run to finish the season, and we got that today. He’s improved so much this year, and I’m really excited about his future. The whole barn had a fantastic outing, and a couple of my students did really well, too. We’re fortunate to have such a great village behind us.”
Lucienne Bellissimo and her mount, Dyri, also demonstrated how pivotal a clear cross-country round can be.
After sitting third following dressage, the pair slipped to sixth when they picked up 8 jumping faults and 1.6 time penalties in stadium. But with a cross-country round that produced no jumping penalties and finished just one second over the optimum time, they climbed all the way back up to finish second in the final CCI4*-S standings.
In the B&D Builders CCI4*-L, which completed its dressage phase yesterday, Phillip Dutton and Possante were in the lead with an impressive score of 26.8. Unfortunately, after a rider fall at Fence 6A on cross-country, the pair will not move forward to tomorrow’s stadium jumping phase.
Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire, previously sitting just behind Dutton in second with a dressage score of 29.3, moved into the lead. They delivered an impressive double-clear cross-country round, even after being briefly held on course while a frangible pin was reset from the rider ahead of them.
Even with their second-placing dressage score, Elliott explained that the phase has taken years of steady refinement for QC Diamantaire.
“Dressage has been a work in progress with him,” says Elliott. “He’s so striking and has great movement, but we’ve never really been consistently scoring in the 20s. I’ve been working with Bettina Hoy for the last few years, just chipping away little by little to improve in the phase.”
Elliott also shared that this season has been a significant comeback for both her and QC Diamantaire after she spent nearly a year out of the saddle.
“I had a big surgery last August, so I was out for a full year. This is only his second run back, and he’s been great,” says Elliott. “The first was a three-star, then we took him to Plantation for the four-star, and now we’re here. Cross-country was tough today, I love this phase, it’s why I do the sport, but it demanded a lot of accuracy. He can be a little quirky going into water, and that bounce in was pretty impressive, so I definitely lost some sleep over that. But he was incredible. The coffin combination was heavy on everyone’s minds, especially after riding the three-star this morning, and I was a bit cautious about it. Still, it rode well. The course was fair and challenging, and it’s exciting that the designer, Alec Lochore, is also working on the LA 2028 course, that was a big part of why we wanted to compete here.”
Their long partnership has also played a role in their success so far this weekend, and Elliott looks forward to the final phase of this event.
“I know Q really well at this point. We got him from good friends of ours when he was five, he’s 15 now, and he’s taken me everywhere, from Aachen to the Kentucky Three-Day Event,” says Elliott. “We call him the unicorn because he truly is one of a kind, we probably won’t ever have another one like him. I’m excited for stadium jumping tomorrow, even though he might be a bit fresh depending on the atmosphere, fresh can be a good thing, though!”
Hayley Frielick and Sportsfield Lumiere also leaped ahead on the leaderboard, climbing from 5th after dressage to 2nd overall thanks to their double-clear cross-country round. Their performance was even more remarkable given that Frielick only returned to riding a couple of months ago after breaking her leg.
“Sportsfield Lumiere is phenomenal. He’s a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse that my business partner, Martha Thomas, put on a plane and insisted I needed. I wasn’t planning on another horse, but incredible supporters made it possible, and he’s the most scopey, honest, genuine guy. Our lead-up wasn’t ideal, I broke my leg the day after Bromont, where he was second in the four-star long, so my whole summer was derailed. Thankfully, the team at Windurra, especially Silva Martin, stepped in when I couldn’t ride. It really does take a village, and her help made all the difference in the dressage phase this week.”
Frielick noted that today’s cross-country course was actually ideal for the pair, given her recent injury recovery. This was also the first time she had competed back at the four-star level since before her injury.
“The course was amazing, this is our first time at TerraNova, and it’s just beautiful,” Frielick says. “The flatter terrain really suited us, especially with my recent recovery. But he was brilliant and so fast out there, he’s very scopey and he can save my bacon from any distance. I had a blast, and I knew I had to keep pushing to make the time, but he had plenty of gas in the tank and kept responding, answering every question out there.”
In The Estates at TerraNova & Laughlin Tanner Group CCI3*-L, which held dressage on Thursday and ran cross-country today, a new leader emerged from deep in the standings, having previously been tied for 28th after dressage.
Riley Zgrebnak and Cooley Criminal Mind head into tomorrow’s stadium jumping phase in first place after delivering a double-clear cross-country round on a course that proved challenging for many pairs in the division.
One of the most influential questions of the day was the Fence 6 combination, a downhill jump followed by a ditch just a few strides away. Although several alternative routes were available, including jump options before and after the ditch, the ditch sitting at the bottom of the slope proved challenging.
“I’ve had Cooley Criminal Mind a little over three years now, and we only moved up to intermediate in February,” Zgrebnak says. “We’ve had just five runs at the three-star level. My trainer, Kim, owned him before I bought him, she took him intermediate and tried a three-star, and it didn’t go super well, so I wasn’t sure we’d compete at this level. But with our partnership, it just seems to work. Our dressage test was one of the best we’ve had all season, that phase isn’t normally his strongest. Today on cross-country, I decided to take the long route before we jumped the ditch, since so many people were having trouble, and it paid off.”
When asked what makes Cooley Criminal Mind so special, Zgrebnak describes the horse’s personality as one of his greatest strengths.
“He’s the kindest horse ever, very much a people horse,” she says. “He loves pets and scratches, he knows his name, and he’s honestly the sweetest horse I’ve ever met. His barn name is Gideon, but I call him Giddy.”
CCI4*-S Final Results
| Place | Rider | Horse | Dressage | Stadium | Cross-Country | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Coleman (USA) | Diabolo | 26.1 | 0.0 jump, 0.8 time | 0.0 jump, 8.4 time | 35.3 |
| 2 | Lucienne Bellissimo (GBR) | Dyri | 28.2 | 8.0 jump, 1.6 time | 0.0 jump, 0.4 time | 38.2 |
| 3 | Waylon Roberts (CAN) | Fernhill Salt Lake | 31.7 | 8.0 jump, 0.0 time | 0.0 jump, 0.0 time | 39.7 |
| 4 | Waylon Roberts (CAN) | Chevalier | 33.7 | 4.0 jump, 0.8 time | 0.0 jump, 4.8 time | 43.3 |
| 5 | William Coleman (USA) | Fahrenheit Addict | 30.6 | 0.0 jump, 0.8 time | 0.0 jump, 13.2 time | 44.6 |
| 6 | Jennie Jarnstrom-Dennis (USA) | Flower Girl | 33.8 | 0.0 jump, 1.6 time | 0.0 jump, 10.0 time | 45.4 |
| 7 | Meg Pellegrini (USA) | Dondante | 34.0 | 0.0 jump, 2.0 time | 0.0 jump, 10.0 time | 46.0 |
| 8 | Lucienne Bellissimo (GBR) | Kitsch Couture HPK | 35.8 | 8.0 jump, 0.4 time | 0.0 jump, 5.6 time | 49.8 |
| 9 | Meg Pellegrini (USA) | Falcon Crown Z | 26.9 | 8.0 jump, 2.4 time | 0.0 jump, 13.2 time | 50.5 |
| 10 | Katie Lichten (USA) | Hickstead Musterd | 31.3 | 8.0 jump, 2.8 time | 0.0 jump, 8.8 time | 50.9 |
| 11 | Allison Springer (USA) | HTS Jensen R | 29.4 | 8.0 jump, 2.8 time | 0.0 jump, 14.0 time | 54.2 |
| 12 | Meg Pellegrini (USA) | Cooley Wish Upon A Star | 38.1 | 8.0 jump, 1.6 time | 0.0 jump, 10.8 time | 58.5 |
| 13 | Jonathan Holling (USA) | Fernhill Esmerelda | 36.6 | 8.0 jump, 1.2 time | 0.0 jump, 16.8 time | 62.6 |
| 14 | Sara Beth Anton (USA) | Legionnaire | 37.8 | 16.0 jump, 2.8 time | 0.0 jump, 12.8 time | 69.4 |
| 15 | Bruce Davidson Jr. (USA) | Cerafino D | 38.4 | 8.0 jump, 6.0 time | 0.0 jump, 20.8 time | 73.2 |
| 16 | Moriah Orms (USA) | Shanaclough Quality Clover | 44.7 | 4.0 jump, 6.8 time | 0.0 jump, 21.6 time | 77.1 |
| 17 | Natalia Neneman (USA) | Chesterland’s Brown Sugar | 36.5 | 16.0 jump, 0.0 time | 20.0 jump, 16.4 time | 88.9 |
| 18 | Jennie Jarnstrom-Dennis (USA) | Splash Dance | 40.6 | 0.0 jump, 2.0 time | Retired | R |
| 19 | Nicolette Adams (USA) | Total Access | 44.1 | CR (Circle of Refusal) | Did Not Continue | CR |
CCI4*-L Standings After Cross-Country and Dressage
| Place | Rider | Horse | Dressage | Cross-Country | Score to Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney Elliott (USA) | QC Diamantaire | 29.3 | 0.0 jump, 0.0 time | 29.3 |
| 2 | Hayley Frielick (NZL) | Sportsfield Lumiere | 31.8 | 0.0 jump, 0.0 time | 31.8 |
| 3 | Ema Klugman (AUS) | Bronte Beach Z | 31.5 | 0.0 jump, 2.0 time | 33.5 |
| 4 | Kimmy Cecere (USA) | OS Hermintage | 32.9 | 0.0 jump, 10.0 time | 42.9 |
| 5 | Ema Klugman (AUS) | Chiraz | 36.0 | 0.0 jump, 11.2 time | 47.2 |
| 6 | Monica Spencer (NZL) | Marvel | 32.3 | 0.0 jump, 15.2 time | 47.5 |
| 7 | Lynn Symansky (USA) | Bounce 6 | 31.0 | 0.0 jump, 19.2 time | 50.2 |
| 8 | Braden Speck (USA) | BSF Liam | 39.2 | 0.0 jump, 15.2 time | 54.4 |
| 9 | Caroline Pamukcu (USA) | King’s Especiale | 34.8 | 11.0 jump, 12.4 time | 58.2 |
| 10 | Alexander Conrad (USA) | Malibu Preacher | 41.6 | 0.0 jump, 17.2 time | 58.8 |
| 11 | Ema Klugman (AUS) | RF Redfern | 32.8 | 20.0 jump, 21.2 time | 74.0 |
| 12 | Jessica Phoenix (CAN) | Wabbit | 34.4 | 51.0 jump, 36.4 time | 121.8 |
| 13 | Phillip Dutton (USA) | Possante | 26.8 | RF (Rider Fall) | RF |
| 14 | Caroline Pamukcu (USA) | HSH Connor | 31.9 | R (Retired) | R |
| 15 | Lisa Marie Fergusson (CAN) | Trinity ThankQ | 36.4 | R (Retired) | R |
| 16 | Olivia Miller (USA) | Cooley Starstruck | 41.3 | R (Retired) | R |
CCI3*-L Results After Dressage and Cross-Country
| Place | Rider | Horse | Dressage | Cross-Country | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riley Zgrebnak (USA) | Cooley Criminal Mind | 34.9 | 0.0 jump, 0.0 time | 34.9 |
| 2 | Marley Stone Bourke (USA) | First Obama | 32.2 | 0.0 jump, 3.2 time | 35.4 |
| 3 | Zach Ketelboeter (USA) | Liondrive | 36.4 | 0.0 jump, 0.0 time | 36.4 |
| 4 | Sydney Elliott (USA) | Greenhall Good Decision | 29.9 | 11.0 jump, 0.0 time | 40.9 |
| 5 | Jonathan Holling (USA) | Fernhill Copain | 33.4 | 0.0 jump, 10.0 time | 43.4 |
| 6 | Jean van Gysel (BEL) | Hissoa des Bois | 34.2 | 0.0 jump, 10.0 time | 44.2 |
| 7 | Monica Spencer (NZL) | Flyboy | 30.6 | 11.0 jump, 4.4 time | 46.0 |
| 8 | Caroline Pamukcu (USA) | HSH Sebastian | 28.4 | 20.0 jump, 0.8 time | 49.2 |
| 9 | Savannah Kilpatrick (USA) | Fernhill Melody | 35.8 | 11.0 jump, 4.0 time | 50.8 |
| 10 | Colin Gaffney (USA) | Baymax | 29.2 | 0.0 jump, 22.4 time | 51.6 |
| 11 | Sara Kozumplik (USA) | As Good As Cash | 39.2 | 0.0 jump, 12.8 time | 52.0 |
| 12 | Megan Hopkins (USA) | Altaskin Jack | 32.7 | 0.0 jump, 20.8 time | 53.5 |
| 13 | Ema Klugman (AUS) | FVF Wildflower | 35.9 | 20.0 jump, 7.2 time | 63.1 |
| 14 | Charlotte Bacon (GBR) | Devil In Prada | 42.7 | 0.0 jump, 20.8 time | 63.5 |
| 15 | Margaret Ragan (USA) | Tanimo Proosthof Z | 34.5 | 20.0 jump, 18.0 time | 72.5 |
| 16 | Ivie Cullen-Dean (USA) | Cardevega | 35.6 | 0.0 jump, 52.8 time | 88.4 |
| 17 | Sydney Elliott (USA) | Agoodbye St Nicholas Z | 34.9 | 40.0 jump, 21.6 time | 96.5 |
| 18 | Elinor O’Neal (USA) | Carsonstown Basil | 38.0 | 60.0 jump, 27.6 time | 125.6 |
| 19 | Lucia Strini (USA) | Keynote Dassett | 29.8 | Eliminated | E |
| 20 | Lucia Strini (USA) | Excel Cool Quality | 29.9 | Eliminated | E |
| 21 | Monica Spencer (NZL) | Valkyrie | 30.2 | Eliminated | E |
| 22 | Barbara Crabo (USA) | I.M. Over It | 33.6 | Eliminated | E |
| 23 | Ashley Kehoe (USA) | My Ernie | 33.8 | Eliminated | E |
| 24 | Katie Malensek (CAN) | STX Mex | 28.6 | Rider Fall | RF |
| 25 | Mya Poulos (USA) | Cock A Doodle Doo | 30.6 | Rider Fall | RF |
| 26 | Megan Loughnane (USA) | Lynton | 33.9 | Rider Fall | RF |
| 27 | Mia Petersen (USA) | Fernhill Royale | 35.1 | Rider Fall | RF |
| 28 | Jean van Gysel (BEL) | Eiffel de L’Abbaye | 33.6 | Missed a Flag | MR |
| 29 | Alexandra Baugh (USA) | Hubert Des 3 Arbres | 28.4 | Retired | R |
| 30 | Katie Lichten (USA) | Fast Company | 29.0 | Retired | R |
| 31 | Kelsey Seidel (USA) | Chico’s Man VDF Z | 32.6 | Retired | R |
| 32 | Joe Meyer (NZL) | Chilli Dawn | 33.0 | Retired | R |
| 33 | Sara Kozumplik (USA) | King Kong | 33.5 | Retired | R |
| 34 | Chelsea Lowe (CAN) | Fernhill Malito Park | 34.2 | Retired | R |
| 35 | Jamie Kellock (CAN) | Arklow Puissance | 35.9 | Retired | R |
| 36 | Andre Parro (BRA) | Tullabeg Chinzano | 42.2 | Retired | R |
| 37 | Katie Malensek (CAN) | Valeska | 30.2 | Withdrawn | W |
| 38 | Rebecca Brown (USA) | Fernhill Quite Frankly | 32.8 | Withdrawn | W |
| 39 | Andre Parro (BRA) | Monbeg Downtown | 34.7 | Withdrawn | W |
| 40 | Laura Sparks (USA) | Killossery Kitten | 34.9 | Withdrawn | W |