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YSU equestrian team to compete in national semifinals
Penguins’ equestrian
team coming off
regional victory
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
Five years ago, Youngstown State club sports coordinator Joe Conroy registered the school’s first equestrian team.
He had a gut feeling that head coach Amy Watkins was going to do something special with her team.
After winning their recent regional competition, Watkins has, in fact, done something very special as her team is now headed to Logan, Utah where they will compete in the national semifinals Saturday and Sunday.
They’re a step away from a trip to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national championships, scheduled for May 2-5 at the New York State Fairground Expo Center in Syracuse, N.Y.
It’s a run five-years in the making and Watkins, like the team — which consists of 15 women and one man — is savoring the moment.
“This is an exciting time for the team, but as silly as this sounds it’s just another horse show,” Watkins said. “If they are confident, like they have been all year, I expect them to qualify for nationals. This year has been such a huge transition for the team as we went from seven or eight members to now 16, plus we had to change regions on top of it all.
“Everyone has really gone above and beyond in helping our new team members, showing support for one another and really working together as a team. I am so proud of how much they have accomplished in such a short amount of time.”
A resident of Canfield, Watkins is a graduate of the University of Findlay equestrian program. She serves as a judge for the American Quarter Horse Association, American Paint Horse Association, Appaloosa Horse Club and National Snaffle Bit Association.
Her husband, Mark, a novice judge for the American Quarter Horse Association, serves as her assistant and both were in the horse training business when Watkins decided to start the club team with Kara Klem, daughter of a former client.
“We had one team member back then, Toni Varrechia of Boardman,” Watkins said. “We competed in the Northern Ohio Region our first four years against the likes of Findlay, Lake Erie College, Bowling Green State University, Kent State University, University of Akron, Tiffin University, Thiel College and Walsh University.”
As the lone rider that first year, Varrechia qualified for regionals, duplicating that feat the following season.
In 2017, Sacramento, Calif., native Sarah Newman qualified for regionals, advanced to the semifinal round and qualified for nationals where she was a reserve national champion in her division.
Last year, Sloan Ferguson of Canfield qualified for the semifinals while the team was reserve regional champions in both 2017 and 2018 to Findlay.
“On a side note, Findlay has an equine program that offers a major in equestrian science,” Watkins said. “Their students train horses, manage horse farms, serve as riding instructors and ride five to seven days a week. We ride once or twice a week and in 2018 when they were national champions, we were their only loss. It’s an accomplishment of which we are most proud.”
This year, YSU switched regions when the IHSA was realigned and they now compete against Clarion University, Slippery Rock, West Virginia, Franciscan University, Bethany College, California, Pa., and Indiana, Pa.
“This year we won the regionals and advanced to the semifinals,” Watkins said. “We had six individuals qualify for regionals with four advancing to the semifinals.
“The competition is unique in that the individuals do not own or ride their own horses. It’s basically the luck of the draw where they get on a horse that they are unfamiliar with, then go out and compete.”
Qualifiers are judged on their posture and ability to communicate to get the horse to execute maneuvers called out by the judge.
“I give our team a lot of credit because it was a big transition,” she said. “You don’t know the horses and what to expect, but our upperclass team members helped our newcomers and things worked out. It was a rough year, but a great year.”
Conroy is elated by their success and what his gut confirmed five years ago.
“I cannot tell you how excited everyone is at the success that our equestrian team is currently enjoying,” Conroy said. “They’re a step away from nationals and the exposure that they are receiving is great for the players, team, coaches, YSU and the entire Mahoning Valley.”