ST. PETER, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston hunt seat equestrian team picked up a pair of wins at two shows hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. UMC took home the high point team title for both shows on the weekend. In addition, Sable Bettencourt (Jr., Cloquet, Minn.) and Anna Ojczyk (Fr., White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake H.S.) tied for Reserve High Point Rider in Saturday's competition, and then again for High Point Rider Sunday. The shows included UMC, Gustavus Adolphus College, Lakehead University (Ontario), North Dakota State University, St. Cloud State University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

"We started out the season strong, and that is just so exciting to see right from the get-go," said UMC head coach Brooke Leininger. There were a lot of individual accomplishments this weekend that the athletes have been working toward for years, as well as some very impressive first outings for freshman.

Saturday's competition, under judge Heidi Hildebrand, started off with big wins from Emily Steeley (Jr., Portsmouth, R.I.) in Open Equitation Over Fences and Ojczyk in Novice Equitation Over Fences and a second place finish from Bettencourt in Intermediate Equitation Over Fences. Bettencourt then went on to win Intermediate Equitation on the Flat qualifying the Regional Championships and moving into the Open division. Ojczyk finished second in Novice Equitation on the Flat while Karcyn Pleune (So., Ada, Minn.) won in Beginner Walk Trot Canter and Emily Berglund (Fr., Becker, Minn.) finished second in Walk Trot.

On Sunday, under judge Pam Keeler, the Golden Eagles started strong once again with strong rides and wins over fences. Ojczyk won Novice Equitation Over Fences, while Bettencourt won Intermediate Equitation Over Fences. Steeley picked up a second-place finish in Open Equitation Over Fences. Bettencourt started off the flat classes with a big win in Open Equitation, followed by Monika Frame (Fr., Polson, Mont.) taking second in Intermediate Equitation on the Flat and Ojczyk winning Novice Equitation. Rhiannon Nicoll (Fr., Rice, Minn.) and Sam Kramer (Sr., Corcoran, Minn.) both took second in Novice Equitation on the Flat sections, followed by a second-place finish from Heidi Morris (So., East Bethel, Minn.) in Advanced Walk Trot Canter and second-place finishes from Pleune and Paige Clark (Jr., Andover, Minn.) in Beginner Walk Trot Canter sections. Margaret Knowles (So., Bloomington, Minn.) finished the day with a win in Walk Trot, qualifying for the Regional Championships and moving up to Walk Trot Canter.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).