Feb. 11, Wellington, Fla.

Sixteen collegiate riders competed for the Winter Equestrian Festival Collegiate Equitation Challenge Trophy. The trophy, sponsored by the South Florida Hunter Jumper Association, was captured by Texas A&M senior, Brooke Coleman. Coleman defeated Auburn’s (Ala.) Maggie McAlary, who was last year’s champion, in the final round of competition.

The day started with the preliminary round at 2 p.m. The riders were paired at random and competed head-to-head on the same horse. The horses were provided by local professionals and included many sale horses from the nation’s top trainers. The eight winners were then qualified for the evening final. Winter Heaven Farm of Wellington presented a trophy to the high score of the preliminary round. This award was also won by Coleman who topped the scores with an 87. Coleman rode Centrino, who was provided by Jet Show Stables and Jimmy Torano.

A consolation bracket was offered for the other eight riders and was judged by Ann Pennington and Melissa Bark. They moved through three additional rounds of head-to-head competition to crown the winner. Oklahoma State’s Samantha Elser earned the title by edging out Nellie Foosaner from the University of Miami (Fla.). Elser was presented the Consolation Bracket Championship Trophy courtesy of Martha Jolicoeur of Martha Jolicoeur Properties, Wellington.

The evening finals began in the International Arena with a challenging course from Bobby Murphy. Along with Coleman and McAlary, the finalists included: Kendra Vicary of Baylor University (Texas), Kimberly Budnick of California State University at Fresno, Caroline Cramer of the University of Tennessee-Martin, Megan Violand of South Dakota State University, Jordyn Pettersen from Southern Methodist University (Texas) and Victoria Lee from Texas Christian University. 

The eight riders were narrowed down to four and then to two finalists, Coleman and McAlary. Each rode the horse Striptease owned by Emma Butchard and trained by Erika Belden and James Toon. Coleman, who rode second, clinched the championship by posting a score of 75, beating out McAlary’s 65.

Also included in the event was a presentation of saddles by Pierre Jolicoeur and the P. Jolicoeur Collection. As part of a sponsorship of Varsity Equestrian, Joliceur donated two saddles to each varsity program, one of which was given during the awards presentation. To further introduce spectators to the format, there was also a demonstration of varsity collegiate equitation on the flat during the breaks between the final rounds. 

Participating were Varsity Equestrian alums, Haylie Jayne Rolfe of the University of Georgia, Ally Blais of Oklahoma State University, Eleanor Kunsman and Kristen Terebesi of the University of South Carolina.
The event was sponsored by Varsity Equestrian and Equestrian Sport Productions. 

Judging the championship bracket was Jimmy Torano and Ralph Caristo. Special recognition and appreciation is given to Katherine Bellissimo, Michael Stone, David Burton, Jill Townsend, Marion Maybank and the College Prepatory Invitational Horse Show.