Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Shanna Pomerantz, a member of the Mt. Eden Vaulters, performs at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

Mount Eden Vaulters perform daring acrobatics on horseback

By Natasha Collins

Gymnastics performed to music on the back of a fast-moving horse is how the Mt. Eden Vaulters describe what they do.

"We have to explain over and over again what we do because no one has heard of [vaulting]," says Shanna Pomerantz, 17, a senior at Cupertino High School and a member of the Olympic Exhibition Team, which is competing in Atlanta this summer. "I usually just pull out a picture of a vaulter on horseback to explain it."

Vaulting began in the United States nearly 33 years ago and evolved from Greek and Roman military horsemanship and agility training. The horse is treated like a moving balance beam, and vaulters perform gymnastic tricks such as somersaults, headstands and cartwheels on the horse's back.

"Some people even do flips in their routine," Pomerantz says.

Pomerantz has been vaulting for about nine years and became interested in the sport while attending Garrod's Horse Camp in Saratoga one summer.

"They had vaulting at camp to show us how to ride a horse," Pomerantz says. "I loved it and just stuck with it."

Pomerantz recently won the title of Regional Champion at the Regional Championships at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, July 11-14.

"We are really proud of her," mother Margie Pomerantz says. "It is quite an accomplishment."

Pomerantz has traveled throughout the United States to vaulting events, and she attended the World Championships in Germany last summer.

"Germany was great," she says with a huge smile on her face. "The sport is much more popular in Europe. It was nice to perform in front of a large crowd who knew about the sport. I wish the sport was as popular [in the United States]."

Team member Devon Maitozo, 21, also of Cupertino, is currently competing in both Germany and Hungary in the World Championships. Maitozo is currently ranked fifth in the world in men's vaulting and is the highest ranked male vaulter in the United States.

Kim Dunham, also on the Olympic Exhibition Team and a graduate of Cupertino High School, agrees that competing in Europe is different than competing in the United States.

"Europe is the ultimate goal," she says. "People know about the sport there and competition is really tough."

Dunham, 22, qualified for the World Championships in Europe this year, but was unable to attend because of financial reasons.

"We have to pay our own way over there," Dunham says. "I found out only a couple days before I had to leave that I had qualified for championships and it wasn't enough time to raise the money. I plan on fundraising the rest of this year."

Dunham, who had planned to retire from the sport this year, says she will continue until she reaches her goal of competing in Europe.

"I'm probably the oldest vaulter out there," she jokes. "I will continue, though, until I reach my dream of competing in Europe. I've accomplished this much so far--why not reach my dream?"

Members of the Mt. Eden club, approximately 30 in all, come from a variety of age groups.

"Anyone from age 4 up can compete in vaulting," Pomerantz says. "It really isn't a dangerous sport."

Teams, made up of eight members and one alternate, have experienced very few injuries over the years, Pomerantz says.

"Most of my injuries have come from regular gymnastics, not vaulting," she says. "You learn how to fall so you don't get hurt. I learned to fall by jumping off of a hay truck into a pile of hay."

Each member of Mt. Eden's teams must compete in two areas of competition: compulsories and kur. Compulsories are a series of six positions, or moves, each vaulter must perform. Kur is an artistic routine performed to music in which vaulters decide the maneuvers they will perform.

"The kur is my favorite part," Dunham says. "I like the artistic part of it. It allows you to express yourself."

At the Regional Championships competition, vaulters performed kur routines to just about every type of music, including the theme songs from Phantom of the Opera and City Slickers.

As in gymnastic floor routines, vaulters include arm movements and maneuvers that represent, or express, the theme of the music. One vaulter even pretended to swing a lasso above her head as the theme song of Bonanza played in the background.

"It is great to have little kids come up to you and say they liked your kur," Dunham says. "I use fast, upbeat music, which seems to catch the audience's, and hopefully the judges', attention."

Each move is evaluated by three judges on a scale of 0 to 10. Each person starts out with a perfect score of 10 for each move; points are deducted for every mistake, such as not pointing one's toes or wobbling while holding a pose. The totals from each judge are then averaged together and a winner declared.

"It can get really tough," Pomerantz says. "Everything must be as close to perfect as possible. You have to remember all the details ... and of course not fall off."