At the Zone 1 Regional Championship in South Hadley, Mass., on Saturday, the equestrian team its winning streak in dramatic fashion, finishing second by virtue of a tiebreaker and advancing to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association's National Championship for the second straight year.
Earlier in the year, the team watched its 19-point region lead shrink to just one point as it entered its last regular season show, but it snatched a first-place finish at the show to advance to Zones. On Saturday, the stakes were even higher, as the team needed to finish in the top two to move on to Nationals.
The Bears got off to a great start on Saturday as Whitney Keefe '08 continued her excellent riding in pressure situations, earning a blue ribbon in Open Fences that gave Brown an early first-place lead in the show. Earlier this season, when the Bears were in a must-win situation at their last show of the year, Keefe stepped up and won two blue ribbons that helped secure Brown's Region One Championship and the chance to compete Saturday.
"Whitney was really a star on Saturday," wrote Kona Shen '10 in an e-mail to The Herald. "She has been riding spectacularly all year and this judge was very rigorous in testing her abilities."
While Keefe was able to stand up to such rigorous judging, the Brown riders that followed her were unable to do the same. After Keefe's win, three Bears - Rachel Griffith '10, Emily Bourdeau '10 and Allegra Aron '11 - all earned fourth-place ribbons. Their respective fourth-place finishes in Intermediate Fences, Novice Fences and Intermediate Flat put the Bears in a tie with Mount Ida for third place.
Dakota Gruener '11 was able to get the Bears back in the running by earning a blue ribbon in Novice Flat. Gruener's first-place finish left Brown alone in third place and only three points behind the leaders, Stonehill and Massachusetts. After another fourth-place finish, this time by Stephanie Carmack '08 in Walk Trot Canter, the Bears were four points behind Stonehill for second place with only two events to go.
"Saturday was very tense. When I was getting ready to ride, I was aware that we were in third place and that I really needed to show well for the team to stay in the running," Shen wrote. "My teammates were really helpful in dealing with the pressure. I was happy with how I rode, but was still nervous about the day's outcome when I finished."
Knowing how badly her team needed points, Shen came through for the Bears with a second-place finish in Walk Trot, earning a huge point that left the Bears three points behind Stonehill for second place. Shen's point set the table for Keefe to be the hero and secure the team a trip to Nationals if she won the blue ribbon in the last event of the day.
"When we were aware that our team needed (Keefe) to finish first to go to Nationals, we were completely confident that Whitney would be able to get us there," Shen wrote.
The Bears' confidence in Keefe was well placed, as she took the blue ribbon in Open Flat. Keefe's first-place put the Bears in a tie with Stonehill for second place, but the Bears won the berth to Nationals by virtue of the blue-ribbon tiebreaker, as Brown had won three blue ribbons on the day compared to Stonehill's two.
The second-place finish earned the Bears a trip to IHSA Nationals in Los Angeles, from May 8 to 11. This will be the second straight year the team has competed at Nationals, as well as a second chance for Keefe to win the Open Flat title in the individual competition.
Keefe earned the chance to compete as an individual at Nationals after taking second-place in the individual competition on Saturday. Keefe finished second in Open Flat at Nationals last year.
"In preparation for Nationals, we're practicing all the time, on different horses and with different instructors. We're staying in good shape and keeping very focused on doing well in Los Angeles," Shen wrote. "I think that our team is going to be very competitive at Nationals, and we're all working really hard to make sure we show well."
