Pictured: Gabby Brown, Ariana Schmit-Chow, Grace Clark, Abby McGowan, Lucy Nelson, Emma Skelton, Craig Barr, Grace Gorham, Rebecca Wenner and Allison Carey

ASHLAND, Va. - The Randolph-Macon Eventing Team traveled south this past weekend to the Carolina Horse Park to compete in the Southern Pines Horse Trials and the first USEA Area II Intercollegiate Challenge. 

With 10 horse-and-rider combinations attending, RMC had two full teams and a scramble team with N.C. State. Riding on the winning team were Grace Clark, '25, Abby McGowan, '26, Ariana Schmit-Chow, '26 and Austin Skeens, '23.  The team taking home second place was comprised of Gabby Brown, '25, Allison Carey, '25, Emma Skelton, '26 and Rebecca Wenner, '24.

"Every one of these students has truly been putting the work in at home and it was rewarding to see such outstanding results this weekend," said Head Coach Craig Barr. "We have talented horses and riders across the board here and it was a real pleasure to watch them all support each other as a team. They all learned a lot this weekend and are excited to get back to work and prepare for the next event."

Freshman Abby McGowan won her Novice division, and the Yellow Jackets had an almost clean sweep of the division with Emma Skelton in third, Allison Carey in fifth and Ariana Schmit-Chow in sixth.  Additional Top 10 finishes were Julia Fugate in Beginner Novice, Rebecca Wenner in Training and Coach Barr, who piloted sophomore Gloria Huber's horse Namiro Star in the Novice division. Grace Gorham and Kate Holzrichter provided valuable support on the ground during the busy weekend.

The eventing team's next Intercollegiate competition will be at USEA Championships at the Tryon International Equestrian Center May 26-28 in Tryon, N.C.  For more information about eventing at Randolph-Macon, contact Dana Lesesne, Director, at danalesesne@rmc.edu.