Department of Animal Sciences

Pictured left to right: Carrie Hertel, Danielle Lorenz, Elizabeth Whitman, Cole Newman, Katie Dovenberg, Kathryn Sargent, Coach Dawn Ross, and Founder and President of IHSA Bob Cacchione.

OSU's IHSA team came back from their most recent competition as national champions!  You can read more about the competition on the IHSA website.

On May 6, 2012, the 39th annual Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships concluded at the Hunt Horse Arena on the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. This year, the OSU Beavers, who had competed at Nationals the last six years, earning two fourth place finishes, one third, and, in 2009 and 2011, two reserve championship titles, fought their way to the top of the competition, and came home as the Western National Champion Team.

This immense success can be attributed to Coach Dawn Ross and all of the students that competed on the team throughout the year to earn the twelfth consecutive title of Western Regional Champions, winning the bid to Semifinals. From this group, one rider from each class was selected to compete for the team at Semifinals and Finals. Team members selected this year were Kathryn Sargent, Animal Sciences senior, in beginning horsemanship; Danielle Lorenz, Animal Sciences sophomore, in intermediate horsemanship; Katie Dovenberg, Animal Sciences sophomore, in novice horsemanship; Cole Newman, junior, in advanced horsemanship; and Elizabeth Whitman, senior, in open horsemanship and reining.

In the Ocala, Florida, Semifinals, the Beavers held steady throughout the entire two-day competition and ranked highest among the eight teams riding in the AQHA competition. The top three teams from Semifinals advanced to Nationals.  Semifinals were held that same weekend in Findlay, Ohio, and Harrington, Delaware.

In Raleigh, Oregon State was the only team that placed continuously in every team class. Dovenberg rode her best, giving the team a solid lead by earning her own national championship in team novice horsemanship. Whitman held her own in the team reining class by tying for third and keeping the lead for OSU. Sargent and Newman followed, each taking a third place in their classes. The final two riders were Lorenz, who placed second in intermediate horsemanship, and Whitman, who placed sixth in open horsemanship. The placings were enough to grasp the lead over the reserve team, Ohio State University, and third place team, University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Taking individual honors at Nationals were Lauren Welch and Stephanie Borgen, who placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in beginning western horsemanship. Elizabeth Whitman competed individually in open horsemanship and reining, placing third and fifth, respectively. A unique title given to one western rider in every region across the nation is the AQHA high point rider. Whitman was able to claim this title and earn herself a guaranteed trip to nationals in order to compete against all other riders to become best of the best. Scores for this honor were combined between a horsemanship phase and a reining phase. Whitman had placed fifth in 2011, and she continued her legacy by claiming yet another fifth place in the nation out of twenty-five riders.

Summing up the competition, Coach Dawn Ross said, “This is truly a team. It’s not just about those who represented us at Nationals. It took the whole team to get us to where we are now. They had the optimism to think positively, the faith to believe in themselves, the vision to think big, the enthusiasm to enjoy the challenge, the determination to take big risks and, most of all, the perseverance to try until the goal was achieved.” CONGRATULATIONS BEAVERS!!