MARION, Ind. – The Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M finished third at the Hunt Seat Zone 7 Championships this past weekend, April 8-9, in Marion, Ind. WT finished behind Kansas State and Purdue with 34 total points while senior Ally Thomas individually qualified for the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championships in the intermediate fences.
"WT Equestrian held their own this past weekend at the Hunt Seat Zone 7 Championships," said WT head coach Amanda Love. "I couldn't be more proud of the rides laid down by each and every team member and the support these athletes showed their teammates. This year we set out to qualify both hunt seat and western teams for the national championships, while we were four points away from achieving this goal I certainly see this as a huge success for our program. The hunt seat finished third out of the 50 teams from Zone 7. We had standout rides from seniors as well as freshmen, which we can build on for next season. Thank you to all of Buff Nation for their support of WT Equestrian this year and always!"
Freshman Kendall Woellmer picked up a victory for the Lady Buffs in the walk trot canter in the team competition. Callie Berg also had a strong showing as she finished runner-up in the intermediate fences and fourth in the intermediate flat. Kristin Hodges (novice fences), Brittany Milam (open fences) and Elora Ellison (walk trot) all finished third in their respective events. Maggie Lanham and Rayleigh Rowell also finished fourth in the open flat and novice flat.
Individually, Thomas qualified for the IHSA National Championships for the first time in her career in the intermediate fences after finishing second. Berg finished fourth in the novice fences with Daniella Salaverria finishing third in the novice flat and 10th in the novice fences. Arienne Martinez also recorded a top 10 finish in the walk trot finishing seventh.
The Lady Buffs will finish their 2016-17 campaign with a trip to Lexington, Ky. on May 4-6 for the IHSA National Championships. Be sure to follow 'West Texas A&M Equestrian Team' on Facebook for updated results throughout the shows this weekend.
