The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Sports February 25, 2005

Equestrian team rides to victory at Lake Erie show

Last weekend the Oberlin College Equestrian Team (OCET) competed in a two- day hunt seat show at Lake Erie College. The Equestrian Team is made up of 15 riders who compete at all levels from open jumping to walk/trot. Oberlin College is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association which is the governing body of the collegiate horse show circuit and consists of over 300 teams across the nation who compete in different zones. The zones are then broken down into different regions. Oberlin competes in Region 1, which includes teams from Denison, Kent State, Kenyon, Lake Erie College, Ohio University, Salem International University, Ohio State University, Columbus State Community College, Hiram College and the University of Akron.

The Lake Erie competition was the final show of the season and the team was excited to improve upon the third place standing received in the last show. Ten teams competed at the show. The first day featured tough competition mixed with incompetent judging and the Oberlin team did not even place in the top three.

On the second day, Oberlin was motivated to come back from a disappointing first day, and they did. After a solid day of riding, Oberlin, OSU and Lake Erie were within three points of each other. (Each ribbon is rewarded points. 1st place=7 points, 2nd place=5 points, 3rd place=4 points, etc.) The final standings came down to the last walk/trot class. After outstanding rides by both Oberlin riders in the class, it all came down to the judge. As the ribbons were being awarded, the team held its breath. Finally it was announced...Rachel Welsh of Oberlin had won first place. This win wasn’t enough to put Oberlin on top, but it was enough for the team to win Reserve High Point Team (2nd place). It wasn’t a first-place finish, but the team was thrilled.

“I’m really proud of us,” said Becky Rudolph, the team president. “We have established ourselves as a competitive team in this region. It’s really satisfying to know that we can go out and compete with the bigger teams like OSU who have more than 80 members and Lake Erie which has such a strong equestrian program.” Caitlin Jackson and Becky Rudolph will both compete in the jumping division at Regionals.

Lynn Gerbec is a member of the equestrian team.
 
 

   


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