To the Editor:
Little does the rest of campus know, but the Fairfield University Equestrian Team (FUET) has been getting up every Sunday morning for the past 6 weeks at 4 a.m. and going to horse shows either in Long Island or somewhere in CT. In my opinion we are the best-kept secret of the university, with the best record. Sadly, our season for this semester has ended.
The Equestrian Team is a yearlong sport with between 3 and 5 shows per semester. Every April depending on how well we’ve done during the season there is a “Regional” show, followed by “Zone Finals” to determine which college in our Zone will send a team to Nationals. The team has sent at least one rider to Nationals every year with the exception of its first year in existence (1992).
Our season started Oct. 7 in Long Island; the team acquired 19 points over the course of the day – not enough to take home the win. However, the next weekend we came back strong, bringing our total points to 57 and taking the lead over the region. Every show from there on just widened our lead, 95 to 124 and we finished with a total of 165 points. The closest college is Sacred Heart with 132 points and St. Joseph’s with 127 points.
Fairfield is also home to the High Point Rider in our Region, Jillian Brown ’04. She has acquired 54 points this season and is ahead of the closest rider by 19 points.
FUET is invited to many nationwide tournaments throughout our season. Sadly we were unable to attend the Preseason Classic in South Carolina this year due to the events of Sept. 11. Shortly after winter break the team will be attending a nationwide invitational tournament in Ohio. Fairfield is proud to be invited to these tournaments with mostly NCAA teams. We will be attending another tournament over Spring Break in New Mexico.
Look forward to hearing of our achievements over the next semester. If anyone is interested in joining our club, email 02_sbooth@campus.fairfield.edu.
Sincerely,
Megan Long, ’02
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