A long winter break isn’t always a good thing.
The Cornell equestrian team returned to action over the weekend, traveling to Saratoga Springs to face the Thoroughbreds. It was the first engagement for the squad since Dec. 9. In a show dominated by the hosts, the Big Red could only manage a fifth place finish, failing to better its second place performance three months earlier at the Skidmore Invitational.
“It was a tough day all around for us,” admitted coach Chris Mitchell.
Skidmore was a runaway winner at the show followed by Colgate, Morrisville, Cobleskill, and Cornell. While the Red’s overall tally of 24 points wasn’t enough to challenge top-seed Skidmore (47 points), the riders did have four first place finishes. Kate Cornell led the way with victory in the open flat while Stacey Olexy (intermediate fences), Melanie Berliner (novice fences) and Dawn Greenberg (novice flat) also posted event bests.
Although a fifth slot may have been disappointing at first glance, Mitchell felt that the performances of his riders were hardly to blame.
“Everybody rode very well, some of us were recognized for it, some weren’t,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s just the way it goes.”
Mitchell’s sentiments were echoed by sophomore Dawn Greenberg, who won in the novice flat, and qualified for the regional championships along with teammate Julie Canter. Greenberg cited the subjective scoring system used in equestrian as a possible reason for the fifth place finish.
“It’s just the way we’re scored. It’s not completely comprehensive,” she said. “It totally depends on the judges”.
When asked about the results, Greenberg refused to be discouraged or disappointed by the team’s showing at Skidmore.
“We rode well and the coach was proud of us” she said.
Greenberg and her teammates will be hoping that their performances translate into a higher placing for the team when it returns to the Oxley Equestrian Center, next Saturday, February 24.
Archived article by Soo Kim