WMU equestrian team member heads to national competition

KALAMAZOO—A member of the Western Michigan University Hunt Seat Equestrian Club has won her division at the regional and zone levels of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association and will compete next month at the annual national championship in Harrisburg, Pa.

Katie Stewart, a sophomore sales and business marketing major from Hickory Corners, Mich., will compete at nationals after winning in the Open on the Flat division during the IHSA Zone 6 championship held April 5 at Lake Erie College. She was one of three WMU riders competing at that level but the only one who will advance to nationals. Taylor Davis, a sophomore advertising and promotion major from Buchanan, Mich., and Jordan Musial, a junior behavioral science major from Wheaton, Ill., were the other WMU competitors at the Zone 6 event.

The national IHSA competition will be held at the Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg May 1-4. Stewart will join riders from all over the United States who will be competing for the national title in their divisions.

Equestrian club boasts successful year

Stewart's appearance at nationals will conclude a successful year for the WMU club. By the end of the group's regular eight-show season, 11 team members had accrued 36 or more points in a division to qualify to compete at the regional level. The three riders who moved onto zone competition did so by placing first or second in their division.

The WMU Hunt Seat Equestrian Team competes in the IHSA all school year. Team members compete against 12 other Michigan and Canadian teams, including those from such schools as University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University, University of Western Ontario, Albion College and Hillsdale College.

More than 400 colleges and universities around the nation have equestrian teams competing in the IHSA. Those teams are made up of more than 9,300 individual riders.