April 17, 2003

Columbia, SC – Eight members of the USC Equestrian Team will attend the Varsity Equestrian Championship to be held this Friday, April 18, at Texas A & M University’s Dick Freeman Arena in College Station, TX. NCAA Division I and II equestrian programs have qualified to compete in Hunter Seat Over Fences, Hunter Seat Under Saddle, Western Horsemanship and Reining classes at the Varsity Equestrian Championship.

Competing will be freshman Courtney Borton, junior Kyra Hufford, sophomore Kerrie Reeves, freshman Laura Pipken, senior Sarah Tomasi, freshman Tara Brothers, senior Brooke Spitzer, and freshman Chelsea Koornick.

On the English side there will be two events: equitation over fences and equitation on the flat. Those two categories will be broken down into three sections each, with one rider from each school participating in each section. The western classes will be reining and western horsemanship, with the breakdown identical to the English show. The lowest score in both English and western will be dropped and a tiebreaker class will be pre-determined before the start of the competition.

USC Equestrians, along with riders from Kansas State University, Auburn University, Texas A & M University, Stonehill College, Brown University, West Texas A & M University, California State University – Fresno State, Sacred Heart University, Pace University and Oklahoma State University will compete for the Hunt Seat Team Championship, the Western Team Championship and the Overall Team Championship.