Minnesota Crookston Western Equestrian Earns High Point Team Honors Sunday at U of M
STILLWATER, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston western equestrian team competed in a pair of shows at the University of Minnesota Sat., Oct. 15 and Sun., Oct. 16 in Stillwater, Minn. The Golden Eagles earned High Point Team honors Sunday with Katie Warner (Sr., Warba, Minn.) earning Individual Reserve High Point Rider honors for Minnesota Crookston.
The Golden Eagles ran into many challenges during Saturday’s show, but were able to get through the battles.
“I could not have been happier with the performances from our riders,” said Head Coach Kayla Krueger. “However, the odds did not fall in our favor when it came to judge preference.”
Warner and Katelynn Robertson (Sr., Roseau, Minn.) started out the day with Robertson placing fourth and Warner earning fifth in the Reining. Warner followed it up with a solid ride in Open Horsemanship, but she fell shy of placings. Robertson also had a strong performance in Open Horsemanship, placing sixth
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Newcomer Whitney Fenna (Jr., Foley, Minn.) was faced with a challenging draw in a deep class of Advanced Horsemanship and rode well but fell shy of placings. Emma Rae Nelson (So., Thief River Falls, Minn.), Madeline Drayna (So., Milaca, Minn.), and Sadie Bingham (Fr., Gary, S.D.) all represented well in Novice Horsemanship. Nelson had a great ride earning sixth-place in her section, while Drayna finished second and Bingham fell short of placings.
Skyla Knudtson (Jr., Blooming Prairie, Minn.), Whitney Weidenborner (So., Bemidji, Minn.), Alyssa Evavold (Fr., Battle Lake, Minn.), Jordyn Newberg (Fr., Deer River, Minn.), Shayla Marthaler (So. Osakis, Minn.), and Anna Beneke (Fr., Aitkin, Minn.) all competed in Intermediate Horsemanship. Knudtson and Weidenborner competed together in the same section. Knudtson placed sixth, while Weidenborner earned fourth-place. Evavold and Newberg had stronger rides on the day with Evavold earning third-place and Newberg following close behind in fourth. Beneke earned fourth in her section of Intermediate, while Marthaler rounded out the class with a solid third-place after a strong ride.
Jayde Proffitt (So., Winsted, Minn.) was the last Golden Eagle rider to compete as she earned fifth in her section of Walk Trot.
Minnesota Crookston had a more successful day on Sunday. The show started out very differently than Saturday with Robertson pulling a fourth and Warner following right behind with a fifth-place finish in Reining. Both open riders represented strongly with Warner coming off a flawless ride to win the class and Robertson finishing in a respectable fourth-place. Warner’s ride led her to Reserve High Point rider honors.
Fenna had a much better ride Sunday after her debut Saturday. Fenna placed fourth in a large class of Advanced Horsemanship.
The Novice riders rocked their classes with Drayna winning her section, Nelson finishing second, Weidenborner (whom pointed out the day prior out of Intermediate) finished fifth and Bingham sixth.
The intermediate riders also had impressive showings with newcomer Evavold riding confidently to her first win of the season. Knudtson placed fifth in her section of Intermediate after a few hiccups along the way, but she was able to recover well. Newberg faced a challenging draw but was able to pull out a beautiful ride with a second-place finish. Beneke also experienced hiccups with a tired horse as she finished fifth. Marthaler rounded out the Intermediate class, finishing fifth. She was just shy of pointing out in Intermediate.
Proffitt rounded out the day by placing fourth in her section of Walk Trot.
The Golden Eagles concluded the day as High Point Team.
“After coming off a frustrating first competition, I could not have been more proud to watch these athletes rise above,” Krueger said. “Newcomers all rose to the challenge, overcoming their first outing hitters. Our young team has a lot of promise.”
Minnesota Crookston returns to action with a pair of home shows Nov. 4 and 5 at University Teaching and Outreach Center in Crookston, Minn.
