By: Brianna Ammori

For the second year in a row, the Walled Lake Central Equestrian team headed to the regional championships, a three-day event in which Central placed 8th with 73 points.

Roughly 36 teams from all over the Midwest and eight teams from each division competed from September 29 to October 1st. Walled Lake Central was in the B division, where teams had between 8 and 9 riders per team.  The regional competition was conducted over the course of three days with groups either camping out or staying at a hotel near the showgrounds. The set up was done early Friday morning and they competed through Sunday afternoon. At the end of the weekend,

The most exciting time for the Equestrian team was when they found out they were placed in the regional championships due to them getting 2nd place overall at the district meets against Holly, South Lyon East, and West Bloomfield. “Regionals went really well as we earned some points for our team and it was good to spend time together as a team,” said junior Emma Bradley, who has been on the team since she was a freshman. Bradley not only is on the equestrian team at school, but she also rides for fun at various barns. “Horseback riding has been my life for a very long time, and I was so happy I got to participate in the Regional Championship with the rest of my team.”

Senior Mackenzie Biediger has been on the team since she was a freshman also, and she was very sad that it was her last time riding with her team. “Riding is a lot like the feeling of flying. It’s freeing and a good way to escape life for a little bit, plus there’s an adrenaline rush,” said Biediger. She spends the majority of her free time at the barn and riding her own horse.

As well as the older people on the team, there were also some freshmen on the team many of which this was their first year. These freshmen are new to being on a high school equestrian team, but some of them have been riding horses since they were little. Freshman Lily Higgins has been riding since she was a little girl, but she was excited to finally be on a team with her childhood friend Junior Emma Bradley. “It was really scary being a freshman on the equestrian team but I had my friends with me to help me along the way and regionals was so much fun,” says Higgins. Lily was excited to continue being on the equestrian team throughout high school.