The equestrian team rode its way to fourth place in Saturday's Roger Williams Show, its first of the season.
The Bears' scoring was jump-started by tri-captains Lindsay Wong '13 and Allison Dungey '13, who finished in first and second place, respectively, in the Open Fences division. Bruno went on to capture top honors in two other divisions as well, with Amanda Picciotto '15 winning the Open Flat and Liz Mahoney '15 topping the Intermediate Flat.
The Bears were tied atop the leaderboard after the sixth division, but some poor horses in the final two divisions caused Bruno to fall to fourth by the end of the tournament. Wong said she was impressed with the team despite the late setbacks.
"We had some unfortunate draws with horses at the end of the day, but only so much of that is in our control, and the girls handled it to the best of their abilities," Wong said. "For the first show of the year, it went really well."
Bruno's weekend lineup featured three riders making their collegiate debuts. Though they drew bad horses, according to Wong and Dungey, Head Coach Michaela Scanlon said the rookies "rose to the occasion."
Those new competitors were just a few of a big crop of incoming riders for the Bears, whose roster swelled to 41 women this season. Dungey said a strong group of upperclassmen is helping the promising young riders develop.
"We took a lot of great, great riders this year, but it always takes a while for new people to adjust to riding in college," Dungey said. She added that the returning team members "are all very strong leaders, and they're all able and willing to help out the new girls."
The Bears will compete in four more shows this fall. Dungey said the fall season will prepare the team for an intense spring season in which the Bears will show at their Zone Championships and, if they qualify, in regional and national championships.
Wong said the team's goals for the year are to repeat the successes of last year's team, which took third place at national championships. Scanlon echoed those hopes, specifically mentioning the Bears' aim "to be regional champions."
