After this weekend's Zone 1 championship, the equestrian team is riding high. In its Saturday show in South Hadley, Mass., the team earned a trip to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national show by finishing in second place.
The team will travel to Springfield, Mass., for nationals, which will be held May 3-6. The Bears will be part of a 20-team field and are competing as a team at nationals for the fourth time in the last 10 years and the first time since 2003.
"I think the seniors are really happy to finally get there," said Head Coach Michaela Scanlon. "But the only way you get to nationals is to have depth ... every member of the team contributed, so everyone's excited to go."
In addition to the team berth, Whitney Keefe '08 qualified for the national Individual Open Fences event. She will be competing separately for the Cacchione Cup, which will pit Keefe against 29 IHSA region winners. Keefe qualified to be the Zone 1, Region 1 representative in the all-around competition on April 1.
"A lot of people on the team really look up to Whitney," said Liz Giliberti '10, "especially with how hard she works and her dedication to the team. It's great that she'll be able to represent Brown individually and in the Cacchione Cup."
Brown finished the show with 41 points, second only to Mount Holyoke College, which recorded 48. Stonehill College and Dartmouth, the show's respective third- and fourth-place finishers and final two competitors, earned 32 and 31 points.
The most vital contributions to the win came from Giliberti. The first-year captured blue ribbons in the Intermediate Flat and Intermediate Open classes, giving the Bears 14 points. Giliberti was pleased with her performance. "It was a good feeling," she said. Scanlon said she appreciated Giliberti's outstanding results.
"That was what we really hoped for," she said. "Liz is a really strong rider that I thought could possibly lift us up, and she did. And she had a good draw, which allowed her to showcase her talent."
After Giliberti started off the show on a high note, her classmates stepped up as well. Rachel Griffith '10 took second in Novice Fences, and Emma Bogdonoff '10 took third in Novice Flat. Other high finishers were Stephanie Carmack '08 and Leona Rosenblum '09 with fourth places in Walk Trot and Walk Trot Canter, respectively.
Mount Holyoke is an equestrian powerhouse, Scanlon said, and the location of the event also contributed to the Lyons' victory. The horses used in the show were those that Mount Holyoke practiced on throughout the year.
"It's hard not to have a home-court advantage," Scanlon said. "Mount Holyoke knew what the ring was like, and they'd ridden all the horses."
On April 21, the team will ride in the All-Ivy Competition in Etna, N.H., which it expects to use as preparation for nationals. Brown is the only Ivy League team to ever qualify for the national show.
"We're looking forward to All-Ivies," Giliberti said. "We're not going to rest on our laurels, we're going to take the opportunity to practice as much as we can."
