UMC Hunt Seat Equestrian Earns Pair of Reserve High Point Team Title
RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Crookston hunt seat equestrian team had a great showing during a pair of shows Sat., Oct. 29 and Sun., Oct. 30 at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The Golden Eagles earned Reserve High Point Team titles during both shows. In addition, Mazie Pini earned High Point Rider after a great showing in Open Equitation on the Flat and Intermediate Equitation over Fences. Sunday, Monika Frame captured a Reserve High Point Rider title.
“With only one Senior on the Hunt Seat roster, this young team has set the bar high not only for themselves but their competition,” said Head Coach Kayla Krueger. “They hold themselves to a standard each and every competition. When that standard is not met, they come back even stronger to fix their mistakes and grow as a rider. Each practice/competition this team gels closer together, lending endless amounts of support and encouragement. We have almost reached the half way point of our season and I cannot wait to see what this young team has yet to bring to the show pen. They are most definitely going to be the ones to watch this season.”
Saturday’s show opened up with Frame earning a third-place finish in Open Equitation over Fences. Pini then tallied a third-place finish in a large section of Intermediate Equitation over Fences, followed by Selena Young who placed fourth.
UMC’s Novice Fences riders experienced a few bumps in the road with Emma Orndorf finishing fifth, Rhiannon Nicoll earning third and Julianna Langlois tallying fifth and Megan Motter fourth in each of their section.
After undergoing a few challenges within the fence rounds, UMC came back to dominate within the flat classes. Pini blew away the competition in order to the win the round of Open Equitation on the Flat. Young would finish second in Intermediate Flat. Megan Motter rode to a solid second-place finish within her class of Novice Flat. Julianna Langlois would follow with a second-place finish in Novice Flat.
In Walk Trot Canter, Lauren Green would place second. And to finish off the day, Marissa Mancillas tallied a fourth-place finish in her section of Walk Trot, while Megan Doughty finished third.
UMC was able to bounce back in the fence portion of the competition Sunday as every rider was determined to fix their mistakes and apply their best, and they did just that. Frame would take second in Open Fences. Both Pini and Young would win their rounds of Intermediate Fences. Orndorf, a freshman, experienced her first win with a beautiful round in Novice Fences. Following Orndorf was Langlois, who also experience her first win in only her second fences round in her collegiate career.
The Golden Eagles would have successful flat rounds on Sunday, like they did on Saturday. UMC was represented strongly by Frame, who would win Open Equitation on the Flat. Pini would come in right behind her in second. Nicoll also finished with a solid second-place finish in her Intermediate Flat class. Motter would take fourth in her section of Novice Flat.
In Advanced Walk Trot Canter, Green would take fourth in one of the largest classes of the year. Lastly, Mancillas and Doughty had their best rides of the season with Mancillas winning her section of Walk Trot and Doughty finishing a strong second.
The Golden Eagles will have riders compete at South Dakota State University Fri., Nov. 4. They will get back to IHSA competition Nov. 12 and 13 at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
