Three from UW to be at Intercollegiate Horse Show Association region event

What do Elizabeth Kinnally, Lauren Heisel and Brittany Waltz have in common?

They're all going to represent the University of Wyoming equestrian club at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Zone 7, Region 1 Hunter Seat Regionals in March at Denver.

Three weeks after Kinnally became the first UW rider to qualify for regionals, Heisel and Waltz pointed up at last weekend's eight-team event hosted by the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
"It's really exciting for us to already have three riders qualified for regionals" said UW Coach Kari Randle. "They've all worked really, really hard for this and I'm so proud of them."

At Omaha, Heisel (Story) reached the regional qualifying mark in the intermediate flat class and Waltz (Anchorage, Alaska), the team president, qualified in the open flat category.

UW also received strong efforts from Kristen Erickson (Moorhead, Minn.), Jessica Ford (Casper), Mccabe Jones (Dillon, Colo.), Stephanie Pruitt (walk-trot), Tessia Steingrebe (Longmont, Colo.), and Liz Webb (Gaithersburg, Md.), said Randle.

Bolstered by her performance, Pruitt moved within a single point of joining Kinnally (Westwood, N.J.), Heisel and Waltz at the regional competition.

In the team standings, UW placed second to Colorado University in Saturday's show and finished fourth during Sunday's show.

Following a 12-week holiday break, UW returns to IHSA competition Feb. 14-15 at a western riding event in Curtis, Neb. Randle says three UW riders -- Erickson, Jones and Katie French (Plymouth, Minn.) -- are on the verge of qualifying for the regional western show, slated for Feb. 21-22 at Lincoln, Neb.