The Averett Equestrian teams are gearing up for their last shows of the season after the previous semester’s successful showing. Everyone is excited and hopeful of being able to continue competing in the post-season events.
Last semester, the teams finished with 15 first-place finishes, 16 second-place finishes, 16 third-place finishes, 10 fourth-place finishes, six fifth-place finishes, and three sixth-place finishes. Also, IDA (Intercollegiate Dressage Association) was awarded high-point team twice, high-point rider thrice, and reserve-high-point rider once, while IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) was awarded reserve-high-point team once.
The team captains were happy with last semester’s shows and are excited and have high hopes for the teams in the coming shows.
“I feel like it was really good based on just personalities and performance and everybody, kind of coming together and being our goal to be great for each other,” Paige Johnson, senior and captain of the IHSA team from Ooltewah, Tenn., said. “A lot of times with a team, even if it’s a team sport, it’s still very individualized and I felt like this year with the group of girls we had, it was all of us working towards one goal.”
This past semester the teams have added five freshmen to their rosters, which has allowed the teams to be able to compete as full teams. Of thefreshmen, Audrey Beckhardt, from O’Fallon, Mo., and a member of both teams, earned two high-point rider awards during the IDA double-header hosted at the Averett Equestrian Center on Nov. 23 and 24, 2024. Alongside Elize Idén, a freshman from Sweden, and a member of both teams, who earned a reserve-high-point rider award during the first day of the IDA double-header.
Coming off the end-of-semester show, the teams have continued to prepare, support one another, and build camaraderie.
“We have team workouts, which I think really helps with that camaraderie,” Elyse Keeney, senior and captain of the IDA team from Fitchburg, Mass., said. “To have it one day, just to see everybody in the same room, working towards the same goals, but working towards them just a little bit differently. It’s just a lot of constant support from each other and it’s a very big family environment.”
The teams only have a few more shows left before knowing for certain who will be competing in the post-season. However, both captains are confident that individuals will be competing in the post-season, if not the full team.
“I’m pretty confident a good handful of people are gonna make it post-season,” Keeney said. “As a team, I know Megan has already pointed out, so that’s our upper training score going. Elize and Audrey are doing great at the first level, Carly and Mackenzie are doing great in lower [training], and in intro, we always have strong riders.”
IDA won High Point Team and Team Regional Champion during a double-header on Feb. 8 and 9. They will compete in the nationals April 24 – 27 in St. Louis, Mo.
IHSA has four more shows (two single and one double-header), the first of which is on Feb. 16, 2025, hosted at Averett’s Equestrian Center, before their post-season begins.
IHSA’s first post-season competition will be regionals on March 23, 2025, hosted by the University of North Carolina – Greensboro, which then moves into zones on April 5, 2025, hosted by Virginia Tech, before nationals. This year nationals are being held in Mill Spring, N.C. at the Tryon International Equestrian Center from May 2 through 4, 2025.
