To the editor:
Brandon Equestrian Team competes at state championship. Brandon High School’s Equestrian team has grown so much over the last seven years, that it was decided to take the option to split the team and compete in the ‘A? Division and also the ‘C? Division in the District II competition in The Michigan Interscholastic Horsemanship Association.
The (MIHA) was founded in 1974 by a group of forward thinking teachers and judges who saw the need for a competitive outlet for their high school equestrians. Chuck Schroeder and Gerald Fuller were the first to arrange competition between Milford-Lakeland and Hartland that year. In 1975, they were joined by Wanda Keech and Virginia Bennett and the four formed the committee that soon became the MIHA. By our 34th year (2007), MIHA had 2,111 registered riders on 343 teams across 20 districts. We have also added a Junior Division across the state, making interscholastic competition available to students in grades 6-8. In its second official year (2007), the Junior Division had registered 865 riders on 181 teams in 19 districts.
The ‘A? Division consisted of the following riders: Matt Dunavent; AnnMarie Morris; Tara Bartle; Samantha Sharp; Emily Slater; Melissa Winget; Shelby Brown; Steve DeWitt; Hannah Pellerito; Chloe Grounds and Captain, Toni Lambiris. They competed against the other ‘A? Division teams from:
Oxford, Clarkston, Romeo, Goodrich, Notre Dame, Lapeer East and Rochester Adams. Although Oxford’s ‘A? Division team won the ‘A? Division, the Brandon Team worked hard as a team and was in the fifth position after the first of three meets, they were unable to sustain the position.
The ‘C? Division team of Brandon High School was represented by Captain, Jes Nelson; Captain Katy Davis; Celina Prince; Amanda Fisher; and Lauren Elliott.
The team came out strong in the first meet against the ‘C? Division teams of Oxford, Clarkston, Rochester, Lake Orion and Sacred Heart with a strong 40 point lead. They were able to hold the lead over the next two meets and became the ‘C? Division Champions of District II. The last time the team won the District division championship was in 1999. With the division win, the team was off to the Shiawassee Fairgrounds for the Regional competition. There the team started off with first and second placing in all of the Showmanship classes, placing the team ahead of Grosse Ile, Howell, and Capac. Then they lost their ground in the several classes putting them in last place. Down to the wire, the speed classes saw Jes Nelson place first in barrels and the two person relay team of Jes Nelson and Katy Davis finishing first and the two person relay team of Celina Prince and Lauren Elliott placed second bringing the team back to finish second as the Reserve Regional C Champions for the Division C. As Reserve Champions, the team won their place to compete at the State Level against 11 other Division C teams from throughout Michigan at Midland Fairgrounds October 11-14. With the other teams from District II winning their Divisions at Regional competition, this was the first year that all of the winning teams went onto the State Competition. The Brandon team spent many hours practicing between the win at Regionals and prior to leaving for the State competition under the guidance of Head Coach, Kate Stockley and assistant coach, Kathy Stockley.
‘I really go nuts with the speed classes,? says Coach Kathy. ‘I love to scream the horses to run faster. It amazes me how well the riders handle the horses at the speeds they rides within the patterns.? ‘It’s like watching the Kentucky Derby!?
‘We were up against many top riders and the teams which finished in the top spots for our Division had been to the state level many times and most were the returning Champions. Our team was awesome with their enthusiasm. We were well prepared and the team did their best the entire time they were showing,? said, Coach Kate. The experience was great at so many levels and while driving home with three of the riders, Coach listened while they were planning their strategies for next year’s competition.
Coach Kathy Stockley