WACO, Texas – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) saw three postseason meets in week nine of spring competition, for the ECAC Single Discipline Championship.
 
Read below to find out how all the meets shook out!

College of Charleston wins ECAC Single Discipline Championship
CHARLESTON S.C. – The No. 2 College of Charleston NCEA equestrian team won the ECAC Single Discipline Championship after 7-3 wins against No. 3 Sacred Heart and No. 1 Dartmouth.
 
Senior Kathryn McCarthy earned MOP in the flat against Sacred Heart and MOP in the fences against Dartmouth while freshman Dylan Bazaar claimed MOP in the fences against Sacred Heart.
 
"Hope and I are speechless," said head coach Natasha Vitkovic "These girls have put their blood, sweat and tears into this year and it paid off today. For the first time in history, CofC equestrian is your ECAC Single Discipline Conference Champions. 
 
We can't thank our support staff enough for everything they have done to help us prepare for this championship. It was an extremely hard-fought win in this 'round robin' format, as both teams are extremely talented and have an equally talented coaching staff. It was special to see this event come together, for all of us; thank you Dartmouth College and Sacred Heart University for all your efforts in planning this event.
 
Thankful for our amazing horses that didn't put a foot wrong. We would not have these opportunities without them. We are so incredibly proud of these girls; in such a short time they have become champions. Looking forward for what's to come in this post season."

Dartmouth finishes second in the ECAC Championship
CHARLESTON, S.C.--The Dartmouth equestrian team rode to a second-place finish in the ECAC Single Discipline Women's Equestrian Championship in Charleston on Saturday.

To begin the day, the team roared back from a 3-2 halftime deficit to knock off Sacred Heart 6-4. The two teams completed the flat section of the meet on Friday and completed the fences portion on Saturday morning.

On the flat Samatha Tackas '27 and Chloe Terestchenko '25 won their matchups 85-71.5 and 83.5-69.5 respectively. Despite trailing, the Big Green held an 18.5 raw score lead over the Pioneers.

Takacs went on to win the meet's Most Outstanding Performer (MOP) for the flat.

Needing a strong performance over fences to not only mount a comeback, but to set up a would-be conference title meet against the College of Charleston, Dartmouth needed to take at least three of the five fences matchups in the second half. Its 4-1 effort secured a 6-4 win.

Takacs (88-82), Terestchenko (85.5-82.5), Cassidy Exner '27 (83-77.5), and Elise Stephens '28 (83.5-39) won their contests. Stephens was named the meets MOP over fences.

"Even though we were behind at the half, we were confident we could come back the next morning and win the points we needed," Head Coach Tenely Walsh said.

Later in the day, Dartmouth squared off against the College of Charleston with the ECAC title on the line. The Cougars prevailed 7-3, edging the Big Green 4-1 on the flat and 3-2 over fences.

Exner earned MOP honors on the flat for her 86-79.5 performance, while Takacs and Kileigh Van Ness 28 picked up team wins over fences (85-84.75 and 76.5-53 respectively). Exner and Terestchenko each missed winning their fence matchups by a half of a point (84.5-84, 81.5-81).

"Give credit to Charleston, they rode really well. But I'm happy with how we competed," Walsh said.  "We dropped three contests by two points or fewer, and only needed two of those to win."

The team finished with a higher raw score and the highest cumulative raw score of the three teams for the weekend.

Takacs and Exner were both named to the ECAC All-Tournament team for fences, and Exner also was selected for the ECAC All-Tournament flat team.
 
About the NCEA
A non-profit corporation, the NCEA is a governing body to advance the sport of equestrian. The NCEA is responsible for the development and administration of equestrian rules and guidelines. Equestrian is subject to all NCAA policies and procedures in the same manner as other sports. In 1998, Equestrian was identified and adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) as an emerging sport for women at the Division I and II levels. 
 
NCEA competitions are in a head-to-head format, and schools may choose to compete as a single or dual discipline team (Jumping Seat and Western). Each discipline has two events: in Jumping Seat, Fences and Flat, and in Western, Horsemanship and Reining. Teams can have five riders per event, with horses assigned by random draw at the start of the competition. Riders from opposing teams compete on the same horse, and whichever rider receives the higher score earns one point for her team. The level of difficulty is demonstrated by the accuracy of the pattern and how the competitor uses the horse to the best of her ability.
 
To stay up to date all year long on all things NCEA Equestrian, follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NCEA_Equestrian and @ncea_eq.
 
- collegiateequestrian.com -