Final Day–Saturday
The NCEA Championships wrapped up Saturday evening with the overall title going to Auburn after a sudden death ride-off against Georgia. Auburn also won the Hunter Seat Championship. The top Western seed, Oklahoma State, won the Western title after a 6-2 victory over Kansas State.
Oklahoma State won the program’s fifth National Championship. The Cowgirls previously won the Western title in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2008.
The Tiger’s victory is their third Overall National Championship as well as their third Hunter Seat Championship. Auburn won the Overall title in 2006, the Hunter Seat title in 2008 and both titles in 2011.
The NCEA Championship is the ultimate title that an NCEA Equestrian team can win. But several student-athletes have shared more about what they have gained from their participation with the NCEA. GoHorseShow took the opportunity to ask several top competitors about what experience to date in their collegiate career has had the most impact on them. Here is what they had to say:
Indy Roper—Auburn University, senior (pictured above left)
“Definitely the friendships I have made. The friendships with the girls on Auburn’s team and the friendships with the girls on opposing teams. Those are friendships I will cherish for the rests of my life.”
McKenzie Lantz—University of Georgia, junior
“I have learned that showing can be more than just individual. You have got to do it for more than just yourself and being on the team has really brought that out. Knowing you are showing for more than just a ribbon, at the end there is that one big goal in mind.”
Carey Nowacek—Texas A&M University, senior
“We have great coaches… I think they are the best coaches in the country. And, our team support—we support each other, we help each other. It is amazing to have teammates to tell you what to do when you are doing something wrong and then support you. It is just a great family.”
Gillian Chant—Baylor University, sophomore
“The best thing about my decision to ride for Baylor has been Coach Walquist. The experience with her and really having a coach that believes in you and your strengths even when you’re not having the best day or the best pattern. She knows your potential and she still believes in you and knows what you’re capable of doing and that has given me a lot of confidence in myself and has allowed me to get my confidence back as a rider. Coach Walquist is awesome.”
Ty Paris—Oklahoma State University, freshman
“How good our team can come together. I am not riding for myself anymore, it is more than that and it makes riding more fun.”
Calli Rouse—Texas Christian University, sophomore
“Being on the team and being in a team atmosphere has been an experience that is just very unique… the connectedness and rooting for all of your teammates brings you together and that is just an experience I had never really felt before. When we all get together we are so happy for all of the team, English, Western, we are rooting for each other 110% every single time.”
Megan Gould—New Mexico State University, senior
“Traveling to all of the different places, meeting all of the different girls, and just expanding my networking through this. It has been a really great experience.”
Whitney Unkefer—Kansas State University, senior
“The teamwork. We are all so close and that really makes this an incredible experience. Everyone is close friends, everyone is best friends, we kind of joke about the fact that we have 48 sisters. I could call any one of my teammates at any time if I needed any help and I think that is the best part. It has really taught me how to work in a team, be able to take criticism and be able to give criticism in a good way. We are such a tight group, we love to be loud and I think it shows!”
Parris Rice—Baylor University, sophomore
“Nationals last year where everybody really came together to support the last girl it came down to for the English team to win. And the experience at Baylor, everyone will come together when they need to for difficult times.”
Katsy Leeman—Auburn University, sophomore
“Riding and learning with all of these girls. A team of forty girls can be a little scary at first, especially with the moods we go through, but winning with them and losing with them is better than anything I have done before. You learn so much and you really come together when it counts the most and it is nice to have a whole team of girls to help you learn.”
Lauren Devoe—New Mexico State University, sophomore
“Going to the tournaments has been a lot of fun. Riding at all of the schools and having the opportunity to travel to a lot of places has been a lot of fun for me.”
Alexia Estrada—Texas Christian University, senior
“The growing aspect honestly. Looking back on my freshman year, I have grown so much as a rider and as a person. I don’t think I would even recognize myself going back to 2009. I just think it has been the tough games, the away games. My freshman year, we were on the road like six weeks and we would do a 3-day tournament, we went from Auburn, to Georgia, to South Carolina and I would say as a freshman that stepped my game up the most.”
DuBois Barnes—Baylor University, sophomore
“Changing from an individual sport to a team sport changes the dynamic of equestrian. It really changes you as a person and it has had a great impact on me.”
Day 2–Friday
The Oklahoma State Equestrian team has had an extraordinary year. The number one western seed has had great momentum coming into the National Championship. In March, the Cowgirls won their second consecutive Big XII Championship. The team’s overall record this season is 11-5, and they have a western record of 14-2. Seven of the OSU riders are named to 2013 NCEA All America Teams—five are western riders. And, three of the four total riders selected as NCEA Horsemanship First Team All Americans are OSU Cowgirls.
The Cowgirl’s Horsemanship First Team All Americans are Lauren Halvorson, Lindsey McMullen and Katy Krshka. Halvorson, a redshirt junior, earned All America honors for the third straight year. McMullen, a sophomore, earned her first All America honors. And, sophomore rider, Krshka, was selected as a First Team All American for the second consecutive year in both horsemanship and reining!
The Cowgirl’s hold impressive statistics this year, but, the real story is not about the numbers. Instead, it is about the qualities these girls display behind the competition, how they work together to earn a top spot in the NCEA and the leadership they have to help maintain a top position.
OSU Cowgirl Head Coach, Larry Sanchez and Assistant Coach Kayla Hrencher commend the girls for their work ethic. “I am very proud of the girls. They have worked very hard all year and you know, we’ve had some success just because of their hard work,” stated Sanchez.
However, talent and work ethic are not the only elements that create a statistically rich team. Sanchez explains the importance of teamwork and the special bond the Cowgirls have.
“This team is a very tight group, they get a long well, they support each other, they encourage each other and that is very important when you are dealing with an equestrian team. And, it is just nice that this team has got that going for them and they have been this way since the beginning of the season.”
Hrencher, who coaches the horsemanship riders, commented on how the girls have really “clicked” this year and brings up the importance of the upperclassmen leadership that the team has. Hrencher says, “We have a good set of juniors and a good two seniors who have helped lead the team.”
The Cowgirl’s agree with their coaches on the importance of quality leadership. Each rider commented on how their teamwork and solid leadership has contributed to their success.
When asked about how it feels to be a First Team All American in both western events for the second year in a row, Krshka said, “it is kind of surreal. I don’t know a better feeling than to know that your hard work all year has paid off and you were selected to that.”
Krshka, explains how she could not have done it on her own. She contributes the season’s success to the Cowgirl’s team chemistry. “We work really well together. We feed off each other and push each other to be the best we can be because we couldn’t do it without each other.”
Redshirt junior, Halvorson (pictured left), adds by stating, “I feel like we all kind of are able to teach each other. We all have different strengths and weaknesses and are able to help each other out that way.”
She comments on the advantage she has as an upperclassman
and how she uses her position on the team to guide others.
“As being older, I have ridden some of the horses before
that the others haven’t ridden. I have seen things and I have been to nationals several years. I redshirted my first year, so this is actually my fourth year coming to nationals, so I kind of just know what is going to happen and if they don’t know what is going on, I can give them a heads up.”
The ladies gave several examples of their teamwork and the strong leadership that is guiding the Cowgirls. Perhaps the teamwork and leading by example has created a whole new interesting dynamic with this team and has catapulted them to success. It has turned essentially an individual
sport into a total team effort where the motivation to win comes from a desire to give back to their leaders.
McMullen explains this by talking about the Cowgirl’s horsemanship captain, senior, Marissa Dalton. “Marissa is great, she is our captain. And then, we have another captain, who is a reiner. They are just natural leaders, they really push us, they really unify us, and we are all good friends.”
McMullen states that her desire to win the national championship is because “I want Marissa to win. I want her to leave here withsomething. We all have pushed ourselves this year for her. We all love her as a friend and as a person. We respect her and I think that’s the biggest thing. If you respect someone who is leading you, you let them kind of take charge and you want to win for them.”
When asked about her leadership role, Dalton said that her relationship with her teammates “is more than a friendship, we literally are like sisters. We do things together all the time and it is such a great family atmosphere. Each girl means something different to me and we are just like family, honestly.”
Dalton then shared some of the challenges she has faced as a leader and the struggles she has had to overcome in order to guide her team in the right direction.
“This year I have lost several times, however, each time you have to ride your horse for what they are. My biggest defeat is I override, and I know that, so recently I have really been working on just riding the horse that I get and that’s where I get my success. So, that is what I encourage everyone else to do.”
Perhaps what makes Dalton the highly respected leader that she is and an exceptional teammate to the Cowgirl’s is her honesty and ability to lift the team up even in times when she personally feels she let them down by not winning her ride. Dalton says, “I feel like when I lose, I can’t contribute to my team’s success. I feel like I let my team down. Especially when the team loses, it is really hard because, I feel like I didn’t contribute at all. But, when I stay positive, then, they are more positive, so then when they go in, they don’t feel like they will lose. It is important to always stay in a positive atmosphere because then things will go positively, if you are negative then things will never fall into place.”
The leadership abilities like Dalton’s, in addition to the teamwork, talent, and work ethic of the Cowgirl’s has built a solid team that has reached much success in the past year. The Cowgirls’ have impressive statistics this year, and it is evident that it is from more than just talent.
The Cowgirl’s will begin competition Friday, April 19, in the championship’s second round. GoHorseShow.com wishes the best of luck to them and all of the other teams competing at the NCEA Championship!
The NCEA Championship first round was held Thursday, April 18. The western results were as follows:
Bracket A, Auburn defeated Baylor, 5-3
Bracket B, South Carolina defeated New Mexico State, 6-2
Bracket C, Texas A&M defeated Fresno State, 5-2
Bracket D, South Dakota State defeated Tennessee-Martin, 5-3
The winning teams from round one will advance to round two
competition Friday.
The second round competition in the western arena will be as
follows:
Bracket E, Oklahoma State vs. Auburn
Bracket F, Texas Christian vs. South Carolina
Bracket G, Georgia vs. Texas A&M
Bracket H, Kansas State vs. South Dakota State
Day 1 – Thursday
The NCEA National Championship, held in Waco, is 20 miles south of the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion. The explosion leveled nearly half of the small town located just north of Waco. The explosion was reported at approximately 7:50 pm on Wednesday after the West Fertilizer Company plant caught fire. Extensive damage was done within a four-block radius of the plant.
It leveled nearly 60 houses and damaged a school, a 50-unit apartment complex and a nursing home. Over 160 people have been sent to local hospitals with injuries—many severe. A total death count has not yet been released. Rescue officials continue to search through the rubble for many people who are still unaccounted for. The devastating explosion registered as a 2.1 on the Richter scale and was felt many miles away.
Despite a small adjustment to Thursday’s competition start time, it was not necessary for NCEA Officials to make any changes to the event. The 9 am scheduled start was slightly delayed while officials waited on an ambulance to arrive. First responders from across central Texas were attending at the scene of the explosion in West throughout the night. News of the tragedy shook many people.
New Mexico State University horsemanship rider, Clarissa Edgerton, shared her concern about the incident. “I did not personally hear the explosion, but I saw a video of it and it scared me because
of how recent it happened after the Boston Marathon bombing. My friends and family were calling and asking me how close I was to the fertilizer plant explosion and if I had felt it.”
Baylor University’s Director of Equestrian Operations, Kendra Vicary personally knew a victim who was in the nursing home at the time of the explosion. She explained how scary the situation was for her and her friend’s grandmother.
“Last night I was actually here when I was told about it and it kind of put me in one of those panic modes trying to figure out the best thing to do. We had no idea if she was alright. We could not contact her. Basically it was just one of those wait things, we just kept calling the hotlines. We eventually found her at Hillcrest Hospital in Waco. It was really scary. At all hours of the night last night we heard sirens going back and forth down I-35. It was very crazy, it sounded like a war zone around here.”
Fortunately, Ms. Vicary’s friend was uninjured. She had several pieces of glass in her hair, but no major cuts. She was released from the hospital today and placed in a different nursing home in Waco. Police officials were continuing to investigate the scene today.
Meghan Murphy will be covering the NCEA National Championships for GoHorseShow.com. Meghan received her Bachelor’s Degree from Baylor University in December 2012 where she majored in Communications. She competed on the Baylor University Equestrian Team for four years. Currently, she reigns as the 2012 Michigan Quarter Horse Association Queen and was 1st runner up in the 2012 All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen’s Contest.
