UC Equestrian Team the Underdogs and the Champions in Weekend Competition

The University of Cincinnati Equestrian Team (UCET), a UC student organization, is gaining a national presence in competition. The UCET Western Team became regional champions over the weekend.

The UCET is a student organization affiliated with the national Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. Student members compete in regional and national competitions, focusing on Hunt Seat competition – which judges students on riding and jumping – and Western Competition, which involves horsemanship.

Over the weekend, the UCET Western Team took first place in their region at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky., reports team advisor Vicki Carr, a College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) faculty member and director of the UC Arlitt Child and Family Research and Education Center. Carr says the team placed first over eight other competing universities: University of Kentucky, Morehead State University, University of Louisville, Midway College, Northern Kentucky University, Xavier University, Ohio Southern University and Marshall University.

The UC riders who competed in the western competition were Lauren Bevilaqua, an urban planning major from Columbus; Shannon Carr, a third-year double-major in psychology and organizational leadership from Alexandria, Ky.; Kat Crumley, a finance major from Blanchester, Ohio; Elizabeth Doncaster, an early childhood education major from Kettering, Ohio; Kristina Edelmann, a nursing major from Yellow Springs, Ohio; Leslie Gilb, a chemical and materials engineering major from Ft. Thomas, Ky.; Kara Hughes, a medical imaging major from London, Ohio; Amelia Leonard, a psychology major from Blue Ash, Ohio; Shawn Makepeace, a graduate student in communication sciences and disorders from Cincinnati, Ohio; Brittnay Mustard, a Raymond Walters College major in the vet tech program from Lebanon, Ohio; Theresa Nolte, a pharmacy graduate student from Dayton, Ohio; Emily Pauly, an undecided major from Loveland, Ohio; Ceci Purtee, a neurobiology/ASL interpreting major from Portsmouth, Ohio; and Meaghan Shinkle, a Raymond Walters College nursing major from Xenia, Ohio.

Previous point-earners who contributed to the team’s standing are Emily Kolb, a pre-pharmacy major from Harrison, Ohio; Megan Plassman, an engineering major from Cincinnati; Celina Tolson, a design major from Columbus, Ohio; and Rachel Jones, a vet tech major from Goshen, Ohio.

“This team has worked really hard this year, and it’s truly paying off,” says UC Equestrian Team President Shannon Carr (the daughter of Vicki Carr).

As a result, Vicki Carr says the Western Team is now off to compete next month in the National Western Semifinals against such universities as Vassar, the U.S. Military Academy, Drexel University, Villanova University, University of North Carolina, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, Western Kentucky University, University of Tennessee, Iowa State University, Northwestern University, Seattle University, Oregon State University and University of British Columbia. Should UC take the competition, the team will go to the national finals in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in April.

The team, with 36 members and growing, practices with coach Missy Jo Hollingsworth at the Saddle Lake Equestrian Center in Melbourne, Ky., and meets on the first Monday of every month. Riders of all levels are welcome.

“Our team treasurer Kristina Edelman (a fourth-year nursing major) joined the team two years ago, after maybe riding a horse only once,” Shannon Carr says. “She started out in the beginner walk-trot division and first felt very nervous around horses, which is normal when you’re dealing with an unfamiliar, one-thousand-pound animal.

“Now, she has bumped up two divisions and is consistently placing in the top of her class,” says Shannon Carr. “Kristina exudes confidence in the saddle and the show ring, and is very helpful to our new riders.”

In addition to practices and shows, the UCET takes equine-related field trips.

UCET Web site

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