The Morrisville State College western equestrian team added another honor to the program’s success on Sunday, finishing the season as the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Zone 2, Region 3 High Point Team for the Region, and advancing six additional riders to the national semi-final competition.
On the year, Morrisville State tallied 207 team points in regional competition, and was followed by SUNY Cobleskill with 177, Colgate with 84 and Albany with 35. Morrisville State will represent the region at the National Semi-finals hosted at the Syracuse Fairgrounds on March 23-24. The top three teams from the weekend’s competition will advance to the National Championships held in Harrisburg, Pa. in May.
The Mustang team will be composed of Megan Freemantle (Middlefield, Conn.) in reining, Kelsey Stewart (Cuttingsville, N.Y.) in open horsemanship, Kirby Dygert (Elma, N.Y.) in advanced horsemanship, Nicole Pulcher-Guzek (Troy, N.Y.) in novice horsemanship, Mary Beth Allen (Fort Plain, N.Y.) in intermediate horsemanship and Kaitlyn Saunders (Bennington, Vt.) in beginner western horsemanship.
The following riders will also be competing in individual classes, as they finished in either first or second at the regional championships to qualify for the semi-finals.
Rianna Nalepa (Endicott, N.Y.) will be showing in reining; Stewart in open western horsemanship; Erika Wolf (East Hampton, N.Y.) in novice horsemanship; Pulcher-Guzek and Kristen Jankowski (New Woodstock, N.Y.) in intermediate horsemanship; and Jessica Gilchrist (Evans Mills, N.Y.) in beginner horsemanship.
The top four individuals will advance to the national championships.
Stewart completed the season as the high point rider for the region and will represent Zone 2, Region 3 at the National Championships in Harrisburg in the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) High Point Rider competition.