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Jacobs’ love of horses, skill in saddle take her to TCU
Mooney senior signs for equestrian scholarship;
Tofil, Fowler also among Valley athletes to commit
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
At Cardinal Mooney High School, academic and athletic firsts seem to go hand-in-hand.
On Wednesday in their school library, the Cardinals’ Jenna Jacobs and Taylor Tofil added two more school firsts by announcing where they will be pursuing both careers this fall.
Jacobs is the first Mahoning Valley native to earn an equestrian scholarship to Texas Christian University and Tofil is the first Cardinals’ swimmer to earn a Division I ride, announcing that she will attend Youngstown State upon graduation.
“I just really wanted to thank Mr. [John] Young, my principal over the last four years because without him I don’t think this would have been possible,” Jacobs said. “He was always such an inspiration and allowed me to pursue my dream of going to an NCAA Division I institution in order to be a competitive equestrian athlete.”
Jacobs’ love of horses dates to when she was just 3.
“I love horses. I was that girl who had a horse obsession and then it just spiraled into competing on the state level; then the national and world levels. Now, I’m going to college for it,” Jacons said. “Honestly, we did not know too much about the NCAA portion of women’s equestrian. We applied to six colleges, including TCU, and were invited for several official visits.”
A three-time National Snafflebit Association world champion in 2014, Jacobs was also first at the American Quarter Horse Congress Youth HUS event last year and as a member of the River Cities team at the National Youth Association Tournament, has helped them to the championship the past three seasons.
Taking part in world shows and other top equestrian tournaments the past several years helped increase her visibility to the Horned Frogs’ coaching staff.
“Their coaches scout those events and we also sent them a video of me riding. They were impressed and invited me for an official visit,” Jacobs said. “That visit took place this past January and it kind of sounds cliche, but as soon as mom, dad and I walked on the campus, we knew that this was the place for me. The staff, the coaches and all of the equestrian girls were so amazing. It was a perfect fit.”
Jacobs’ first Pony of America pony was Ima Keeper, that coming in 2004 when she began at John Zedaker’s barn.
With her second horse Fine Details, she earned numerous All American Quarter Horse Congress top-10 finishes and top-five in Youth HUS and Non-pro HUS finishes.
On current horse Doodle Jump, she was a two-time Reserve American Quarter Horse champion while finishing fourth overall this past year at the Youth World Show, an event that attracts riders from over 25 countries.
Featured in both the Equine Chronicle and National Snafflebit Association’s Way to Go publication, she was also the National Miss Teen second runner-up in 2014.
A role model for other riders to look up to, she’s logged over 200 hours of community service for a variety of local and NYATT events and with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average, ranks 27th out of 139 in her graduating class.
Tofil, who has been swimming since age five, finished in the top-20 at state in Division II in the 100 butterfly during both her sophomore and senior campaigns.
She broke the minute mark (59.75) this past year, a goal that she had set and ultimately achieved.
“I felt like I had a good season and I’m excited about competing on the Division I level at YSU,” Tofil said. “I look forward to training, a very competitive season and the Horizon League championships.”
FOWLER SIGNS WITH PBAU
Warren JFK senior Ryan Fowler signed a letter-of-intent to play golf at Palm Beach (Fla.) Atlantic University, where he will will study human performance and conditioning.
Fowler was the 2014 Division III state golf medalist. He played in his first competitive golf tournament, USKIDS Junior Golf Tournament, at the age of 6 and has competed in numerous competitions across the country.
Fowler is ranked eighth in Ohio according to Junior Golf Scoreboard. He selected by The Vindicator sports staff as the newspaper’s Boys Golf Athlete of the Year for 2014.