Golden Eagle Hunt Seat Equestrian Earns Reserve High Point Team in Region

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Golden Eagle Hunt Seat Equestrian Earns Reserve High Point Team in Region; Sends Two Riders to Zone Championships

  1. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston hunt seat equestrian team participated in a show at the University of Minnesota Sat., Feb. 25 and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Regional Championships Sun., Feb. 26 also hosted by the U of M.

Minnesota Crookston was led by Rhiannon Nicoll (Jr., Rice, Minn.) who earned High Point Rider after her performance on Saturday. The Golden Eagles had a strong performance on Sunday at the IHSA Regional Championship. Minnesota Crookston had eight riders compete with Selena Young (So., Plymouth, Minn.) and Emma Howey (So., Rutland, N.D.) both advancing to the IHSA Zone Championships April 9 in Marion, Ind. As a team, UMC finished as the Reserve High Point Team in the region.

On Saturday, Mazie Pini (So., Grayslake, Ill.) won Open Equitation over Fences on a challenging horse. Monika Frame wasn’t far behind as she finished fourth in Open Equitation. Rhiannon Nicoll (Jr., Rice, Minn.) put up a strong performance in a large class of Intermediate over Fences, as she brought home another win for U of M Crookston early in the day. Katie Perivolotis (Fr., Littleton, Mass.) was fourth in her section of Novice Fences.

Flat competition had some highs and lows on Saturday. Nicoll made a strong debut competing in the Open Flat for the first time. She would finish second. Frame would finish third, while Pini tallied fifth. Nicoll was High Point Rider on Saturday. Perivolotis had a strong Novice Flat class to finish second. Megan Motter (So., Cooperstown, N.D.) also had a beautiful ride as she finished second in her section of Novice Flat.

Lauren Green (Fr., Saint Joseph, Ill.) found her groove in Advanced Walk Trot Canter to bring home another win for the Golden Eagles. In Beginner Walk Trot Canter, Marissa Mancillas (Sr., Brooksville, Fla.)  rode to a strong second-place finish with Melissa Eastman (So., Superior, Wis.) finishing fourth. Megan Doughty (Fr., Haceknsack, Minn.) rounded out the day finishing third in Walk Trot.

Minnesota Crookston had eight riders qualified for Regionals after Saturday. Frame, Pini, Nicoll, Mancillas , Howey, Motter and Doughty were the qualifier for U of M Crookston.

Frame competed in Open Fences and finished third. She was just shy of qualifying for Zone Championships. Pini and Young rode against each other in Intermediate Fences. Pini finished third and Young first. Young will advance to the IHSA Zone Finals. Nicoll had a beautiful ride in a very competitive Novice Fences class, finishing third and just shy of qualification.

Pini finished fourth in Open Flat. Nicoll was third in Intermediate Flat, while Motter was also third in her section of Novice Flat. Lastly, Doughty placed sixth in Walk Trot, Mancillas fifth and Howey took second. Howey will join Young at the IHSA Zone Championships.