Eight members of the equestrian team headed to the Holly Hill Farm in Hanover, MA on Sunday to compete in the Zone 1, Region 1 Championships of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). Despite strong efforts, only three of the riders qualified for the Zone Championships this coming Saturday. Junior co-captain Hally Phillips will compete in the open flat, sophomore Heather Foster in the novice flat, and junior Melissa Faubert in the walk/trot.
"Regionals went pretty well," said Phillips, who along with Foster and Faubert will have a chance to qualify for the national championships at next weekend's show. "Three of us qualified for Zones. It would have been nicer to have more, especially since everyone rode well."
Phillips finished second in the open flat - the highest class in the show routine - after failing to qualify for open over fences (the jumping routine) the day before, at the last show of the regular season. Still, she remains excited about next weekend.
"I was satisfied with my ride," Phillips said. "I made a careless error, which was disappointing, but I still made it [to Zones], so hopefully I won't make the same mistake this weekend."
Despite having to perform more commands than usual, Foster and Faubert came in first place in their respective classes after competing in grueling shows.
"They both rode very well, and the judges were having a hard time deciding on who they liked best," Phillips said. "The judges were testing them a lot. They held strong during their whole class, even though they were both very long - especially Melissa's."
In equestrian shows, only one rider represents the team in each class. While more than one person can compete, the rider whose score counts is called the "point bearer."
Phillips, Foster, and Faubert were the only three point bearers who even came close to qualifying for Zones. After Phillips' second place, the next best finish was fifth.
The Regionals came only a day after the team had finished its regular season, at a show also hosted by BU and held at the Holly Hill Farm. The group finished fifth out of ten teams in the region.
"It wasn't our best show," Phillips said. "We didn't pick the right point bearers, and the horses can be finicky at times."
But spirits remain high, and the three riders are getting in last-second practices in preparation for this weekend's show.
"The riders are training hard," Phillips said. "[They're practicing] at least twice, if not three times, this week, working on a variety of difficult commands and getting as strong as possible. Everyone who is going has a strong chance to make it to Nationals. We're hoping to do well."
Zone Championships will take place this Saturday at the Stoneleigh Burnham School in Greenfield, MA, and are hosted by Mount Holyoke College.
Women's ultimate team drops tournament to Bucknell
While many headed home this past weekend for Passover, some members of the women's ultimate team battled its way to a second place finish at the Chesapeake Invitational in Maryland, losing to Bucknell, 15-7, in the finals.
Since many players were out due to the holiday, the E-women ran a ten-member team, which proved too much of an obstacle to overcome. Also working against the squad was the half-hour wait it had to endure after beating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the semifinals, while Bucknell worked through a long match against Swarthmore. When the break ended, the team was forced to play following a period of down time. The Bucknell women, meanwhile, were fired up following a close, 13-10 victory.
"They just ran out of gas," senior Sally Mimms said. "The limited team didn't allow the players to have enough depth to win the match. One more person could have changed the game a lot."
This weekend, the E-women will head to the last tournament of the regular season, the Yale Cup. Sixteen teams, including Bucknell, will be present.
"We'll be looking to return the favor [to Bucknell]," Mimms commented. "We're taking a full squad. I expect that we'll have a good game against them."
Other notables competing in the tournament include Brown, the University of Pennsylvania, Williams, Swarthmore, and Cornell.
"This tournament is basically an East Coast showdown," Mimms said. "Most of the more prominent East Coast teams are there. It is also a good indication of what we can expect at Regionals, since a lot of the same teams are in our region. It's always an informative tournament in that way."
Tufts will head into the tournament most likely in the number one or two seed, depending on how last weekend's defeat is considered. Should the loss be weighed heavily, the squad would find itself behind Bucknell.
Following this tournament, the team will compete in the April 21-22 Metro Boston Sectionals, to take place at Tufts. Regionals will be on May 5-6 at Williams College.
