ALFRED, NY/ITHACA, NY – The Alfred University western and hunt seat equestrian teams each finished as the High Point Teams over the weekend, as the western team hosted the 2026 Area 25 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Regional Championships on Saturday and the hunt seat team travelled to Cornell University for the 2026 Zone II, Region I IHSA Regional Championships on Sunday.

The western team defeated Alfred State College as the Reserve High Point Team, West Virginia University in third, Slippery Rock University in fourth, Pennsylvania West University – California Campus in fifth and Bethany College in sixth. The hunt seat tam claimed High Point over Reserve Champion, Cornell University, third place Binghamton University, fourth place University at Buffalo, fifth place Ithaca College, sixth place Nazareth University, seventh place Hobart & William Smith Colleges, eighth place SUNY Brockport, ninth place Rochester Institute of Technology, 10^th place University of Rochester and 11^th place Keuka College.

Samantha Smit (Columbiana, OH/Ursuline) was the western High Point Rider for Area 25 and Maggie Childs (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) was the Cacchione High Point Rider for Zone II, Region I for IHSA hunt seat.

Smit will compete at the IHSA Semi Finals hosted by the University of Findlay on March 21-22, helping rank Alfred University western equestrian in the Top-21 schools in the nation. Smit will compete in both High Point Reining and High Point Horsemanship, hoping to punch her ticket to IHSA Nationals.

Childs will compete at the IHSA Zone II Finals at Lehman Farms in Pittsford, NY on April 4, helping the hunt seat equestrian team rank in the Top-40 schools nationally. She will compete in both fences and on the flat for her chance at making IHSA Nationals.


Saturday's Western Results:

Open Reining
Samantha Smit - CHAMPION

Open Horsemanship
Samantha Smit - CHAMPION

Ranch Riding
Brooke Boyko - 3rd Place

Level II Horsemanship
Brooke Boyko - CHAMPION

Level I Horsemanship
Keira Hanschman - CHAMPION

Rookie Horsemanship
Michael Doner - 3rd Place
Joslyn Dukich - 4th Place
Meridian Bremel - 5th Place
Megan Wilson - 6th Place

Beginner Horsemanship
Hannah Barr - 3rd Place


Sunday's Hunt Seat Results:

Open Fences
Maggie Childs - RESERVE CHAMPION
Ani Sydorowych - 3rd Place

Open Flat
Maggie Childs - RESERVE CHAMPION
Ani Sydorowych - 3rd Place

Limit Flat
Will Utzman - 3rd Place

Novice
Ellie Smith - 5^th Place