Oct. 27 was a good day for the Sweet Briar Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team. The riders traveled to the Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and Lynchburg College show, where they collected enough points to maintain their second-place standing in Region II of the IHSA’s Zone IV, and narrowing the gap between Sweet Briar and Hollins University.
In one of the day’s highlights, Katie Davilli ’09 earned the high-point rider award, contributing to the team’s third-place finish in the show. Davilli also claimed Sweet Briar’s first ribbon of the day, placing first in Intermediate Over Fences.
In Novice Over Fences, Katie Bird ’09 placed sixth and Jessica McCarthy ’08 placed third in their respective classes. Mollie Linden ’10 took fifth and Davilli second in their respective Open Flat classes.
In Intermediate Flat, Alison Carr ’08 placed fifth and Paige Kaylor ’10 placed second in her Novice Flat class. In Advanced Walk/Trot/Canter, Leslie Lewis ’09 took second and Jennifer Summerfield ’07 finished in sixth place. Laeun Sung ’08 turned in the last team ride of the day, placing second in Walk/Trot.
At the Bridgewater College and James Madison University show on Nov. 4, however, the story was not the same for the Sweet Briar team. “The luck just wasn’t with us today, but that’s IHSA [competition],” SBC coach Jon Conyers said.
Despite Kristin Dillon’s stellar performance, which earned the first-year student the reserve high-point rider award, the team slipped to fifth place in the regional point standings by the end of the day.
In other highlights, Sims placed fourth in Open Over Fences, and Leiner took sixth place and Dillon first place in their respective Intermediate Over Fences classes. Dillon also went on to win her Intermediate Flat class, while Lewis placed sixth in Advanced Walk/Trot/Canter.
The race for points among the region’s top contenders remains tight with five shows remaining in the IHSA season. The team anticipates the start of the spring semester so it can start closing the points gap once more.
— By Krista Steinmetz, assistant IHSA coach
