Teams Ready For Competition At Virginia Horse Center
FOREST, Va. --- A great deal of parity amongst the Old Dominion Athletic Conference schools will be showcased on Thursday, April 2 at the 2015 ODAC Equestrian Championship. The event will take place at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va., with Washington and Lee University serving as host.
Several teams welcome back all-conference riders from a year ago. Sweet Briar College's Abigail Strohmeyer headlines the returnees after recording the second best average (86.125 avg.) at the 2014 championship. The ODAC Rookie of the Year, Caleigh Wells, returns to Washington and Lee after finishing with the third highest average last year (85.875 avg.). Bridgewater College welcomes back two all-conference riders from a season ago in Emily Manos (83.250 avg.) and Kaitlan Parker (81.6875 avg.), while Randolph College’s Meaghan Hynes (82.625 avg.) returns to the ring as well.
Last season, the BC riders took the early lead by winning the first class over fences with a score of 253.88. SBC was a close second with 250.25 points. Individually, Randolph’s Hynes had the top average in the first round with 87.5 points.
The Generals started their comeback by winning the second class over fences. Claire Stevenson, the ODAC Rider of the Year and Wells led the W&L comeback. Stevenson posted the high score in the second class over fences with an average of 87.25. Wells had an 86.0 average, the third best score in the second round. The Generals won the second class over fences with a total of 251.8 points. Bridgewater finished second in the class to maintain the overall lead with 12 team points heading into the final class on the flat.
The conference championship was decided on the flat with the Generals posting a winning team score of 173 points. Stevenson and Laura Lemon recorded identical scores of 86.5 points to pace the Generals to the first place finish on the flat.
Bridgewater needed a second-place finish to tie W&L for the title, but the Eagles finished third in the class behind Sweet Briar. The Vixens' Olivia Smith had the top ride of the flat with an average score of 88.0.
Last year's full team rankings as well as the 2014 All-ODAC Riding Team along with information for this year's championship is listed below.
| FINAL TEAM STANDINGS | |
| 1. Washington and Lee | 17 pts. |
| 2. Bridgewater | 16 pts. |
| 3. Sweet Briar | 14 pts. |
| 4. Randolph | 10 pts. |
| 5. Lynchburg | 5 pts. |
| 6. Hollins | 4 pts. |
|
|
|
| ALL-ODAC RIDING TEAM | |
| Top-10 Finishers at ODAC Championships Averages based on Fence competitions only *Indicates ODAC Rider of the Year #Indicates ODAC Rookie of the Year |
|
| Claire Stevenson, W&L * | 86.125 avg. |
| Abigail Strohmeyer, SBC | 86.125 avg. |
| Caleigh Wells, W&L # | 85.875 avg. |
| Allison Renzulli, LC | 85.125 avg. |
| Emily Manos, BC | 83.250 avg. |
| Kayla Deyarmin, BC | 82.9375 avg. |
| Taylor Rose, BC | 82.750 avg. |
| Meaghan Hynes, RAND | 82.625 avg. |
| Kathleen Drake, SBC | 81.750 avg. |
| Kaitlan Parker, BC | 81.6875 avg. |
| Old Dominion Athletic Conference 2015 EQUESTRIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS ~ Hosted by Washington and Lee University ~ Virginia Horse Center Thursday, April 2, 2015, 1:00 PM |
| Judges Mr. Glenn Y. Moody, Charlottesville, Va. Mr. Eric Dirks, Manakin-Sabot, Va. Meet Director & Course Designer ▪ Gordon Reistrup Assistant ▪ Kendall Bear Announcer ▪ Claire Stevenson ~ Score Keeper ▪ Molly Moore |
| Schooling Times Washington and Lee University 9:00 - 9:30 am Hollins University 9:30 - 10:00 am Bridgewater College 10:00 - 10:30 am Sweet Briar College 10:30 - 11:00 am Randolph College 11:00 - 11:30 am Lynchburg College 11:30 - 12:00 pm |
| Coaches’ Meeting & Draw for Team Order-Of-Go - 12:15 pm |
|
Order of Classes - 1:00 P.M. |