As the journey to nationals continues, the equestrian team traveled to Saratoga Springs last weekend to compete in the Zone finals.
The Red sent a team of seven to the show, as well as four individuals riders. Two of the individual riders — freshman Georgiana de Rham and senior Bronwyn Scrivens — rode both as individuals and for the team. This was Cornell’s second time sending a team to Zones. Last year, the Red placed third as a team — just one place shy of qualifying for nationals.
The day started off with the over fences contest beginning with the open classes — the highest level class in Intercollegiate Horse Show Association competitions. Scrivens was the open fences rider both as an individual and team rider, and placed fifth in both classes. As the Cacchione cup rider for Cornell’s region, Scrivens will automatically be competing at Nationals in the Cacchione class. Later in the day, Scrivens got back in the saddle for the team. She placed third for the team, and her ride on the flat, combined with her performance over fences, gave her a second place finish as an individual.
De Rham also qualified for nationals by winning the individual intermediate fences class. She is now the Zone’s intermediate fences champion. In addition to her individual win, de Rham placed second for the team in the intermediate flat class — which was the highest finish for the team on that day.
The entire team did not finish strong enough to qualify for nationals. In order to advance, the Red needed to place in the Top-2. After a long day, the squad finished fourth with 27 points. Skidmore came first with 49 points, followed by St Lawrence with 44 points. The third place team, Sacred Heart, beat Cornell by one. Although the team gave it its all, the Red was certainly up against some very stiff competition and will not continue this season as a team in further competition.
Original Author: Ariel Cooper