A weekend win at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Zone I New England Equitation Championships brought the Big Green equestrian team one step closer to the 2014 IHSA National Championships, the first time the team has qualified in its history as a varsity sport. Last weekend’s competition, held at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass., matched Dartmouth against teams from Tufts University, Mount Holyoke and the University of Rhode Island. The team earned a spot in the 2014 IHSA National Championships, which will be held May 1-4 in Harrisburg, Pa.
“I think I’m still a little bit in shock,” coach Sally Batton said. “We had a fantastic season and we were hoping to go on to Nationals, but there’s a lot of luck in the draw.”
Riders Janna Wandzilak ’14, Alexa Dixon ’15, Lindsay Seewald ’16, Meg Rauner ’17, Meaghan Haugh ’17 and Justin Maffett ’16 attained first-place positions for five out of the eight events they entered. Dartmouth beat out Mount Holyoke, which has won three national championships, 45-41.
“It was interesting because since we were only competing against three other teams, all the points were really close,” Wandzilak said. “It was very exciting, but also stressful, because nobody could pull ahead that much.”
In addition to actual performance, the team’s success depended on factors including the horses they drew to ride and judges’ personal preferences, Wandzilak said.
The team benefited from the new talent, Batton said. Three of the six who competed are new to the team this year.
The team has worked hard in workouts and practices, including a training trip over spring break to Florida. Riders have participated in clinics at other schools to get used to riding different horses in unfamiliar arenas.
“You get used to showing in your little pond at school that you are familiar with,” Batton said. “It’s different to go to Zones because it’s a bigger venue and there are different horses from what you’re used to.”
In addition to bringing a six-person team to Zones, the Dartmouth equestrian team had four riders qualify for individual events. Although none of these individual riders will move on to Nationals, highlights included a fourth-place finish by Emma Waugh ’16 in the Novice Flat event.
Wandzilak came in seventh in the Open Fences and Open Flat events.
“I went into my individual round first and didn’t have a great round, but the team is who I really wanted to do well,” Wandzilak said. “It’s so much more fun than winning as an individual to have a whole team that is so excited.”
Anna Knowles ’16 qualified for the IHSA Scholarship Challenge at Nationals based on her score on a timed online test. She will participate in a challenge that assesses riders’ practical knowledge against 15 other riders at the national competitions.
In Harrisburg, Dartmouth will compete against 15 other colleges for the national title. These 16 colleges are the top performers out of the hundreds of colleges and universities in the IHSA.
“When you get to Zones, the caliber of riders is really high,” Wandzilak said. “The competition at Nationals will be even harder.”
Dartmouth is a member of Zone I, which contains four regions that each include about 10 teams.
Although only six riders will represent Dartmouth at Nationals, individual riders’ scores are factored into the team’s qualification for Zones.
“Even though only a smaller team is participating, throughout the season everyone on the team has competed,” Haugh said. “We wouldn’t have made it to Zones or Nationals if we hadn’t had everyone on the team to point block.”
Before competing at Nationals, the Big Green riders will hold regular practices to prepare for the event. The team will also travel to Cornell for the Ivy League Championships on April 19.
“I think we’re basically going to keep doing what we’re doing,” Batton said. “I think this team will be very strong.”
