Regional reserve high point honors for equestrian team

The Colby Community College equestrian team was in Laramie, Wyo., Feb. 15-17 to wrap up the western show season. They ended as reserve high point team, falling only a few points behind the University of Nebraska Lincoln. All four riding in the regional competition qualified for the Western Semi-Finals next month.

Colby head coach Shanda Mattix said the regional contest was originally set for Sunday but due to unforeseen circumstances the championship show was moved to Saturday night. Her team learned about the change late Friday after riding all day.

"This is where the significance of mental preparedness comes in to play," she said. "We had a brief break between Saturday's show and the show for the regional championships Saturday evening."

Even with the scheduling change, Mattix saw her riders were ready.

"The focus and intention that our qualifiers brought to the championships show was evident. We faced a few challenges with horse draws that didn't place us as high as we wanted to be.  Despite this, our team rode their best and we continue to be proud of the performance of our team."   

The Trojans finished as reserve high point team for both shows, and ended the season as the reserve high point western team in the region behind UNL. 

"This title speaks to the quality of riders and students we have at CCC," Mattix said. "We're extremely competitive in our region, even against universities.  Each and every rider contributed points to our success or held points from other teams.  I couldn't be more proud for the way they rode this season!"

Individual results:

Feb. 15

Reining – Lauren Hubele, second.
Open Horsemanship – Lauren Hubele, sixth.
Advanced Horsemanship – Adrianne Schaunaman, sixth; Amber Graber, seventh.
Novice Horsemanship – Bailey Bixenman, first.
Intermediate 2 Horsemanship – Emma Jolley, first; Kayla Engwicht, third. Madisyn Haggard – third, Jo Hummermeier, fifth.
Intermediate 1 Horsemanship – Dakota Hopson-Johnson, first.
Beginner Horsemanship – Rachel Hurla, second; Cassandra Wolff, fifth. 

Feb. 16

Reining – Lauren Hubele, fifth.
Open Horsemanship – Lauren Hubele, fifth.
Advanced Horsemanship – Adrianne Schaunaman, second; Amber Graber, third.
Novice Horsemanship – Bailey Bixenman- first; Merriah Bockmann, third.
Intermediate 2 Horsemanship – Emma Jolley, first; Madisyn Haggard, second; Nichole Patry, third, Jo Hummermeier, fifth.
Beginner Horsemanship – Cassandra Wolff, first; Rachel Keltz, third; Rachel Hurla, third. 

Points earned at this show qualified Madisyn Haggard and Rachel Keltz for the Regional Championships.

Regional Competition Results for Hubele, Haggard, Bixenman, and Keltz: 

Open Reining – Lauren Hubele, region champion.
Open Horsemanship – Lauren Hubele, region reserve champion.
Intermediate Horsemanship – Madisyn Haggard, region champion; Bailey Bixenman, reserve region champion.
Beginner Horsemanship – Rachel Keltz, region champion.

"The intermediate class wins were especially fun as Bailey and Maddy were competing in a really deep class of riders," Mattix said. "We swept the class and advanced both of our riders."

Hubele and Keltz will join Bixenman and Haggard in the semi-finals March 16-17 hosted by the University of Findlay. From there, the top four advance to the IHSA Nationals Horse Show in Syracuse, N.Y. in May.