The Big Green Equestrian Team faced a doubleheader this past weekend, competing at the University of Vermont Saturday, and then turning around to compete at Middlebury College on Sunday. It was a busy weekend for the equestrians, but they turned in two solid performances.
On Saturday at UVM, Dartmouth finished fifth out of 13 schools, with UVM playing the home-field advantage to capture first, and Colby-Sawyer College coming in second.
Dartmouth riders had some outstanding rides, most notably that of Catherine Strickler '99, who won her Intermediate Fences class and captured second in her Intermediate Flat class. Brook Cosby '00 took home the blue in Novice Flat class.
Jen Preston '00 added another blue ribbon to the team's collection by winning her Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter class, while second place finishes were turned in by Alethea Smith '99 in Novice Flat, Adrian Loehwing '01 in Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter, and Carolyn Yoo '02 in Walk-Trot.
Despite their exhausting day on Saturday, the team arrived at Middlebury College bright and early the next day, ready to ride home with the ribbons. At Middlebury, the team's performance was even more impressive, as they finished third out of the 13 other schools, behind Tufts University and Colby-Sawyer College.
Opening the day with winning rounds were Megan Phillips '99 in Open Fences, Maxine Goldstein '02 in her Open Fences class, and Strickler in Intermediate Fences.
"The exceptional ride of the day was Megan Phillips' win in Open Fences. She drew a difficult, high-strung horse, had to go first in the class of 10 riders, and just put in an amazing round beating top riders," Coach Sally Boillotat said.
Rory de Wilde '00 won his Walk-Trot class, and Caroline Pott '02 took home a first in Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter class.
Both Alethea Smith '99 and Zoe Landers '02 took second place in their respective classes.
"I was so proud of our team today. We came in third behind two of the strongest teams in the country and did it on fairly difficult horses," Boillotat said.