Although the regular season may have wrapped up on Nov. 18 with a show hosted by Endicott College, the fall showing schedule wasn't quite over for the Tufts equestrian team.
After breaking for the winter in second place behind Stonehill College in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association's Zone 1 Region 4 standings, the Jumbos were recognized for their impressive performance with a bid to the invite-only Tournament of Champions, hosted by Centenary College in New Jersey.
"Because we have been doing well, [coach Katie Schaaf] was hoping there would be a chance that we'd be invited," junior tri-captain Becca Renier said. "We were hoping for it and we thought we'd have a chance, and they finally told us that we were. It was kind of exciting because it wasn't for sure, but this year is by far the best so far since any of the seniors have been on the team, so we were really hoping that the hard work would pay off."
The show, which took place this past weekend, featured some of the strongest teams from across the country, and Tufts, a club team, squared off against several varsity opponents.
"It was really fun because there was a really high caliber of competition," senior tri-captain Megan Kiely said. "It's the same as going to Nationals - it's all the best teams in the country. We were really excited to be invited this year."
The Jumbos got off to an exceptional start, with freshman Katie Christiansen taking first place in Intermediate Fences and senior tri-captain Kathryn Wulster posting a second-place showing in Open Fences.
"We were leading the horse show part of the way into Saturday, which was exciting because nobody expected us to do that well," Kiely said.
Though their competition eventually gained on them, the Jumbos still hung on to finish in 12th place, an impressive finish for a school of Tufts' size. Kiely grabbed fifth place in Open Flat, while sophomore Leigh Cooper nailed down seventh place in Walk Trot Canter. Both Wulster and Renier garnered medals at the conclusion of the tournament, finishing eighth and 12th respectively.
In addition to Christiansen, several other freshmen have been crucial to Tufts' success this season, including intermediate rider Chelsea Brown, novice Sarah Nash and walk trot rider Margot Lurie, all of whom competed this weekend. Junior Emily Young rounded out the squad in Novice Flat.
"We have a bunch of different levels at which we compete, and two of the levels are intermediate and novice, and another is Walk Trot," Renier said. "There are four freshmen who have been competing a lot in those and placing quite well. There are only five classifications in total, so in three of the five they've been gaining up a lot of points."
Tufts' riders in the highest level, Open, have also excelled this season. These riders' points accumulate from the Open Fences and Open Flat classes over the course of the season as the riders compete for their region's Caccione Cup. At the end of the season, the Cup winners automatically qualify for Nationals, and last year Tufts sent senior tri-captain Tessa LeCuyer. The Jumbos are currently dominating in the Caccione standings, with Renier in first, Kiely tied for second, and Wulster in a tie for the third-highest point total.
"We've all continued riding and practicing, and this semester the three of us have been trying to ride multiple times per week, so that's contributed to a lot," Renier said. "We've also been riding in places other than the team's barn to ride as much as possible. It's kind of a continuation of last year."
Renier and Kiely have also already qualified for Regionals, along with Young, sophomore Cecilia Pontoriero in Novice Flat, and senior Stephanie Sirabian in Advanced Walk Trot Canter.
For now, the Jumbos will practice as much as they can before the spring season rolls around, bringing with it the opportunity to overtake Stonehill. The Skyhawks have taken the regional title in all but one of the past six seasons, and they earned the national title in 2003.
"Tufts and Stonehill are both leading the rest of the schools in the region by a lot," Kiely said. "Usually everyone is sort of closer to us, but we're running away with the region, which is nice. We have shows beginning in early March and we usually finish up in April or May, so we have the spring semester to try and catch them."
