The Alfred University hunt seat and Western equestrian teams competed over the weekend in their respective Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) regional championships. The Saxons, who hosted the Western regional show on Saturday, March 7, and the hunt seat team, competing Sunday, March at Cornell University, both placed first to come away with High Point team titles.
In winning a regional crown, the Saxon Western team advances to the IHSA Western Semi-Finals March 21 and 22 in Findlay, OH. The hunt seat team, which claimed High Point honors in the Zone II, Region I championships, earned a spot in the IHSA Zone II championships April 4 at Lehman Farms in Pittsford, NY.
Three Alfred University riders placed first in their respective events at the Western regionals: senior Samantha Smit (Columbiana, OH) in both open reining and open horsemanship; senior Brooke Boyko (Holley, NY) in Level II horsemanship; and senior Keira Hanschman (Chicago, IL) in Level I horsemanship. Smit, who has helped lead Alfred’s Western team to a top 21 national ranking, will compete in high point reining and high point horsemanship at the IHSA Western Semi-Finals, with a chance to advance to the IHSA National Championships in May in Mill Spring, NC.
At Sunday’s hunt seat regional championships, Alfred junior Maggie Childs (Webster, NY) was named Reserve Champion in open equitation over fences and open equitation on the flat. She was honored as the Cacchione High Point Rider for Zone II, Region I, which is awarded to the highest overall ranking Open rider for in the region. Childs, who will compete in the open over fences and on the flat events at the Zone II championships, has helped lead Alfred University’s hunt seat team to a top 40 national ranking. She will by vying for a berth in the IHSA national show as well.
