Heath Hutcheson, Campus Carrier sports editor
On Saturday, Berry’s Equestrian team placed third among ten teams at their “pack the house” event at home, only three points behind Mississippi State who placed first. The meet saw sophomore Meaghan Kursman place first in Open Fences and sophomore Shelby Williams place fourth in Intermediate Fences as well as second in Intermediate Flat. The match also saw freshman Elissa Homer place second in Novice Flat and sophomore Axa Stevens place third in Introductory. Head coach Margaret Ellington spoke a bit about how she felt the match went.
“I thought the weekend went great,” Ellington said. “Putting on a horse show at home requires a lot of hard work and preparation. The team was working the whole time and that can of course be very draining, but can also be very rewarding.”
The team also had another meet on Sunday, placing second this time, just one point behind MSU. Grad student Rette Solomon placed second in Open and senior Autumn Lance placed third. Junior Brooke Backlund placed first in Level II, sophomore Catie Thompson placed first in Level I, and Amelia Wilt placed first in Rookie B.
“I thought the team did well, the riders rode well and everything flowed really nicely,” Ellington said. “We didn’t have any hiccups when it came to getting horses ready and things like that, so kudos to my team and the girls that were doing that the whole weekend.
Assistant Equestrian Coach Brittany Purcell mentioned how well some of the newest members did this weekend as well.
“Two girls showed for the first time this weekend, Elle Baird and Ayana McQueen,” Purcell said. “They both have practiced really hard this season and did great.”
Coach Purcell also discussed some of the work that went into hosting the meets this past weekend.
“It is also about getting our horses ready too; both before, during that whole week and taking care of them each day after,” Purcell said. “It’s a long weekend and it’s tiring, but the girls all stay positive and help each other out.”
The team places an emphasis on being connected with the equine athletes and are directly involved in caring for the horses each week. This includes grooming, bathing and keeping the horses in good health. The team also does freeriding which takes away much of the stress of competition and practice and allows for the girls to connect with each other and their horses in a casual environment.
Sunday also allowed for the team to celebrate their senior members, which Ellington felt was an emotional moment.
“On Sunday, we got to celebrate our seniors and that was really special,” Ellington said. “Angel Mason came out and we did a presentation between our western shows. I’m going to miss them. They’ve been great members of the team.”
Having an equestrian team at Berry makes for a unique experience compared to other bigger schools, but in spite of what many might consider disadvantages, the team has consistently been performing well throughout the years, which Ellington discussed.
“When people ask me what equestrian is like, and I tell them we compete against UGA, Auburn and Alabama, they tend to be shocked a lot of the time,” Ellington said. “What makes it unique for us is we’re a varsity sport at Berry, and we have a whole facility on campus, but some of the big schools that we compete against in this horse show association are club teams, and they may not have the financial support or the vigor that we have.”
The team has already qualified for regionals and is hoping to be able to compete at zones where the competition is more fierce. This Saturday will mark the final two western shows at Mississippi state, and Sunday will see a rematch with the NCEA Jumping Seat Team travel to Sewanee: The University of the South, who Coach Ellington is particularly hoping for a win against after last time’s loss.
“Sometimes it’s hard to know what the outcome will be, but we hope to take the region title again,” Ellington said. “Team morale is really high at this particular time. It’s usually high, but since we’ve been working on goal setting recently, everything is really falling into place.”