OPSU Communications
Cody Godfrey
GAINESVILLE, Texas—September 29-30 saw the Panhandle State equestrian team at North Central Texas College in Gainesville for the first western show of the season.
Junior MaKayla Hoffman, riding in the Intermediate-2 Class, placed third on Saturday and fourth on Sunday; while Senior Hannah Hammack, riding in the Advanced Class, placed fourth Saturday and sixth on Sunday. First year rider on the team and freshman Jacee Barr, riding in the Intermediate-2 Class, placed sixth and third on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Mackenzie Leach, a sophomore at OPSU, placed fourth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday in the Beginner Class; meanwhile, Cassie Alcorn, riding in the Intermediate-1 Class, placed first on Saturday, along with Ms. Sarah Atha, who came in first in the Beginner Class. Junior Reilly Shore placed sixth on both days. All in all, a good showing for the equestrian team, which is now preparing for a hunt seat show in Purcell, Okla. on Oct. 13-14 and the next western show in El Reno, Okla. on Oct. 20-21.
“We have a very young team to start off the year with,” coach Lisa Drumhiller said. “We lost almost half of our team due to graduating seniors, but have now grown in size with numerous freshmen and transfer students, most of whom have never done IHSA equestrian team before. I am very proud of how these ladies placed this past weekend and look forward to SNU in a couple weeks.”