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| Stanford wins at UC Berkeley |
Stanford had a busy weekend, with the hunt seat team travelling to UC Berkeley on Saturday, January 26 and the dressage team hosting Stanford's only dressage show of winter quarter on Sunday, January 27. Both teams posted big wins, thanks to strong riding across the board.
On
Saturday at Graceland Equestrian Center in Castro Valley, CA, the Cardinal faced off against teams from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Sonoma
State, Cal Poly SLO and COS. Sophomore and team captain Claire Margolis kicked things
off with some impressive riding over fences, earning the win in Open
Fences. Margolis continued to show her strength in the saddle later in the day when she claimed a matching
blue ribbon in Open Flat on “Jolly,” which clinched her high point rider honors
for the day and extended her lead in the region's Cacchione Cup race
to almost 30 points with just two shows left in the regular season.
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| Fr. Bailey Martinez |
Freshman Bailey Martinez took a ribbon over fences in Intermediate, but showed her dominance on the flat with her win on “Rafael." The victory now gives Martinez two blues and a red in her first year showing for the Cardinal on the flat. Sophomore Erin Gray and freshman Bella Peyser both took ribbons over fences, with Gray earning a fifth in Novice and Peyser taking a sixth in Intermediate.
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| So. Veronica Patterson |
Moving into the flat-only phase, a parade of first-year riders kept Stanford on top for the day. Sophomore Veronica Patterson had a strong ride in Advanced Walk Trot Canter and scored her first-ever IHSA victory in her first year of showing. She was matched by senior Eliza Richartz, who began riding with the team in spring of 2012. Richartz has been on a winning streak, taking her first blue two weeks ago at UC Davis and matching the win with another great ride at Berkeley. In addition, freshmen Haley Harrington and Hannah Grace put in solid rides and earned points for Stanford with a pair of seconds (Harrington in Novice and Grace in Beginning Walk Trot Canter).
Stanford
finished the day with the team championship and a score of 40, followed by Davis, 24; Santa Cruz, 23; Sonoma, 16; Berkeley, 15; Santa Clara, 12; and COS, 3.
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| Stanford Dressage wins team champion at home |
Stanford’s dressage team hosted the Red Barn’s lone IDA show of the season on Sunday to bright skies and judging by Ivetta Harte. The Cardinal kicked off the day with First Level rides by senior Kristen Malinak on "Tommy" (kindly loaned to the team for the show) and freshman Maria Filsinger on "Jackson." In this field of seven riders, Stanford’s two riders tied with a score of 67.77%. A tie-breaker based on rider marks swung the advantage in Filsinger’s favor.
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| Senior Patrick Freeman winning at Upper Training |
Senior and team captain Patrick Freeman represented Stanford in Upper Training, which wound up being the
highest scoring division of the day. Thanks to his polished ride on “Jake”
(donated to the program by Mary Hufty), Freeman's
score of 72% won the class and gave Stanford an advantage. Sophomore Tori
Greenen rode next in Lower Training on “Toby” and put in a wonderful ride
that earned her a red ribbon, which placed Stanford firmly in championship contention going into the last
class of the day.
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| High point rider Monika Huss |
The team's success came down to grad student Monika Huss in Intro, who pulled “Chili” for her ride. Not only did Huss lay down a gorgeous test, but her score of 76.4% was also the highest of the day by a large margin and earned her high point rider honors for the day, her second this season. Thanks to the top rides put in by Huss and her teammates, Stanford was victorious for the day, taking the win over Cal Poly SLO (second), UC Davis (third) and Santa Cruz (fourth).
This
weekend it is the western team's turn to show, this time at UC Davis on Saturday, February 2 and Sunday, February 3. The Cardinal then returns to host its last regular season home show (hunt seat) at the Red Barn on February 9 and 10.
