Kiley Fischer, Sports Editor
With one student heading to Nationals and a team performance good enough for second in the division, the Seton Hill University (SHU) equestrian team is boasting a standout season.
Alexandra Kemp-Thompson earned the opportunity to represent SHU at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championships thanks to her “phenomenal day with great rides” in the Zone 6 Finals, as well as her title of Overall High Point Cacchione Cup Rider for Region 5 earlier in March, according to a press release.
Freshman teammate Jenna Bodnar offered a much simpler explanation. “To make it to nationals as an individual, a rider has to have the most points out of every other rider in the sixteen teams in our division. If she does, she goes to Zones. If she takes first place in Zones, then she goes on to Nationals.”
Kemp-Thompson, a junior, will compete in the Open Equitation Over Fences, the Open Equitation on the Flat and Cacchione Cup Over Fences and Flat May 3-6 in Raleigh, NC.
“Alex is an incredibly driven rider,” said Bodnar. “She is constantly looking to improve and she is a consistently solid rider.”
In addition to Kemp-Thompson’s success, the equestrian team as a whole has seen a fantastic season.
“I think the biggest thing people need to know about the equestrian team is that we are the oldest sport on campus and we work just as hard as all of the other teams do, despite the fact that many people don’t know we exist,” said Bodnar.
“Our team won Reserve High Point Team for the year, which means that we came in second out of the sixteen teams in our division for the year, right behind West Virginia University. We are a consistently strong team with one of the best winning records of all the sports on campus.”