Dartmouth Equestrian fell short of qualifying for Nationals in Saturday's Zone I competition placing fourth out of the four teams representing the four regions in Zone I. Mt. Holyoke and the University of Connecticut placed first and second earning spots at Nationals while Stonehill placed third.
Coach Sally Batton said, "The Zone I Championships include the top riders from all over New England and who frankly are some of the top riders in the country. Zone I includes more than 40 teams with over 800 riders. Dartmouth finished fourth out of those 40 and although we didn't get a spot at Nationals, we rode hard and showed Zone I what we're all about."
Each of the four qualified teams brought one rider for each of the eight fences and flat classes. In each class, the first place rider earned seven points for the team and the second, third and fourth place riders earned five, four and three points, respectively.
"A huge difference from our normal shows was that all the teams had only their best riders there," said B.R. King '08, "and that being the best teams in the various regions, those riders were really amazing. As for our team I think that everyone rode really well. Especially given that this is the first time that Dartmouth has made it to Zones in recent memory, I am really proud of everyone."
Among the eight riders competing for the team were Daisy Freund '08, Janelle Moerlein '06 and Elizabeth Bissell '08. Each of the girls had strong rides placing second out of the four riders, one from each team. King brought home the only first place in team competition winning intermediate fences.
"I feel amazing about my winning ride, " said King. "I wasn't expecting to do so well at all, having just been made point rider for the last couple of shows and facing such impressive competition."
Five riders, Malone, Freund, Tami Martin '08, Abby Donahue '06 and Ashley Hannebrink '07 also qualified individually to compete at Zones for a spot at Nationals. All five had strong rides, but none placed in the top two of their classes, which would have qualified them for Nationals.
Freund qualified for Nationals at the end of the regular season by being Zone I, Region 2's open high point rider. She competed against the other high point riders from the other three regions at Zones, winning the Cacchione Cup for Zone I.
Freund said, "I won the Cacchione Cup class, which is like a taste of Nationals, because it was against the three other riders in our Zone who will be going there to compete in the Cacchione cup. So that certainly gives me some confidence, but not that much because it was a fight to the last and I'll have to step it up even more in Ohio."
Freund competed in fence and flatwork and performed several additional tests designed by the judge before she was announced as the winner.
Freund added, "Some of the tests Tim and I were asked at the open level were just plain tough. Also, intercollegiate riding is so different from non-college horse shows and the whole process of qualifying for Nationals is so complicated that I think my biggest weakness is my 'rookiness.'"
While Freund prepares for Nationals on May 5th through 7th which will take place just outside of Columbus, Ohio, the team is preparing for the post-season All-Ivy competition to be held next Saturday at Dartmouth's own Morton Farm.
Batton said, "Going into the All-Ivy next Saturday, Dartmouth is seeded in first place, ahead of rival Cornell. All eight Ivies will be in attendance and I feel that Dartmouth will come out on top!"
