SAU western team qualifies for nationals

FINDLAY, Ohio — This past weekend, the St. Andrews Knights western team traveled to University of Findlay in Ohio for the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association semifinals, took home Reserve High Point Champion and qualified for the national competition, which will take place in Tryon in a few weeks.

St. Andrews was the high point team of the entire season, qualified, and placed in the semifinals. There are three semifinals held on the same weekend in different parts of the country. The top three schools move forward to the national championship.

Individually, St. Andrews’ Jerica Bozio was the Open Horsemanship Champion in the semis; Lily Roman was the Level Two Horsemanship Champion and a reserve in Ranch Riding; Starr Benton was the Beginner Horsemanship Champion; Luke Rogers placed fifth in Level One Horsemanship; Noel Pickel placed sixth in Reining and Natalie Bailey was a reserve in Rookie Horsemanship.

Bozio, Pickel, Annabelle Gandert and Olivia Boyette qualified individually to compete in the semifinals, and Bozio will be moving forward in the individual competition at the 2024 nationals in both Ranch Riding and Open Horsemanship.

Coach Carla Wennberg and assistant coach Cailey Smith helped qualify St. Andrews for nationals.

St. Andrews is part of the IHSA, which sponsors collegiate riding competitions for Western Horsemanship, Reining, and Ranch Riding. St. Andrews competes during the regular season in Zone 4, which includes member colleges in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.