BY SUE SMITHSON: Equestrian Correspondent

Andrew Diemer, 13, of Raeford has been named to the American Polocrosse Association short list for the 2005 junior world cup competition in Australia. Sponsored by the Polocrosse Association of Australia and the Australian Sports Commission, the International Junior Quadrangular Test Series will be held April 16-17 and 23-24,2005.

Final U.S. selection trials will be hosted by Lone Star Polocrossse Club over Thanksgiving weekend in Coupland, Texas.

This international match for juniors under the age of 16 will consist of teams from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. Teams of eight riders, four boys and four girls, will draw from a pool of Australian horses for the competition.

With his Thoroughbred mare Cadillac, Diemer is currently the top-ranked junior on the East Coast and one of the top four polocrosse players under the age of 16 in the nation.

Diemer anchored the winning U.S. Pony Club championship team in the intermediate division recently before being promoted to advanced ranking.

Cadillac was formerly a high goal polo pony. According to Diemer’s mother Dana, Cadillac had a bolting problem on the polo field.

“Of course I didn’t know this until after we bought her,” she said. “But she’s been great, with the shorter field and the difference in the type of play, she made the transition beautifully. She and Andrew have really clicked and they make quite a team.”