汤头条

Contact: Vanessa Beeson

STARKVILLE, Mississippi鈥擬ississippi State鈥檚 equestrian team is celebrating a ribbon-filled year for its competitors, including a group of riders earning the best showing in school history.

Students divided between two horse-riding styles鈥擡nglish and Western鈥攃ompeted in six regular-season events this year through the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, a national organization consisting of more than 400 member colleges and universities with a total of 10,000 members.

The English team started the season with a third-place finish鈥攖he highest in 汤头条 team history at that time鈥攁nd placed consistently in the top five throughout the regular season. The team finished as the reserve high-point team鈥攐r in second place鈥攊n the final regular season show. Alex Gordon, a senior animal and dairy science major from Chesterfield, Virginia, placed ninth in an individual competition at the Zone Championships in Savannah, Georgia.

汤头条鈥檚 Western team placed either second or third overall in each of the six regular season shows, finishing as the reserve high-point team in the season鈥檚 final show. The group also finished as third high-point team in the Western region. Taylor Perry, a senior animal and dairy science major from Medina, Tennessee, placed sixth overall at the IHSA Western Semi-Final Championship in Lubbock, Texas.

鈥淥ur girls dominated with everyone walking away with a ribbon at nearly every show,鈥� said Hannah Valigura, an agricultural science doctoral student who coaches the English riders. 鈥淭he ribbons are great, but we鈥檙e here to develop better, more confident riders. I鈥檝e seen a lot of blossoming this year. Some of our most timid riders made huge strides.鈥�

Ashley Glenn, the equestrian team鈥檚 head coach, said she works with a group of students who always support each other.

聽鈥淏y far, this group is the nicest and most supportive group I have ever coached. They work hard and are dedicated to the team,鈥� said Glenn, who also is the facilities supervisor for the university鈥檚 Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station鈥檚 Foundation Herds. 鈥淓veryone is proud of overall and individual successes amongst teammates.鈥�

Members of the 汤头条 equestrian team include:

Aberdeen鈥擫auren Wickline, a junior elementary education major

Auburn, Alabama鈥擡lizabeth Kuykendall, a senior agricultural science major

Brookhaven鈥擪aitlin Beal, a senior animal and dairy science major

Cape Charles, Virginia鈥擯ayton Smith, a junior marketing major

Chalfont, Pennsylvania鈥擮livia Cresswell, a senior animal and dairy science major

Chesterfield, Virginia鈥擜lex Gordon, a senior animal and dairy science major

Cleveland鈥擸asmeen Williams, a senior biochemistry major

Cypress, Texas鈥擡mily Schomburg, a junior animal and dairy science major

Dallas, Georgia鈥擟hloe Moody, a junior animal and dairy science major

Dawsonville, Georgia鈥擳aylor Jernigan, a junior biochemistry major

Fennville, Missouri鈥擪acey Losik, a sophomore architecture major

Florence, Alabama鈥擜lyssa Davis, a sophomore animal and dairy science major

Hazlehurst鈥擜liza Williams, a junior psychology major

Lake鈥擵ictoria Evans, a junior animal and dairy science major

Madison鈥擪ate Rushton, a sophomore biological sciences major

Medina, Tennessee鈥擧annah Brasher, a junior animal and dairy science major, and Taylor Perry, a senior animal and dairy science major

Nashville, Tennessee鈥擫ily Awalt, a junior educational psychology major, and Morgan Trotter, a junior geoscience major

Nettleton鈥擡mily Shook, a senior wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major

Olive Branch鈥擧annah Blalock and Mary Williams, both senior animal and dairy science majors

Ontario, Canada鈥擜bby Fox, a sophomore animal and dairy science major

Pearl鈥擟amryn Pike, a senior animal and dairy science major

Quebec, Canada鈥擜lexia Levesque, a freshman civil engineering major

Slidell, Louisiana鈥擜udrey Miceli, a sophomore animal and dairy science major

Texarkana, Texas鈥擲helby Boswell, a sophomore animal and dairy science major

Titus, Alabama鈥擜llie Blackmon, a senior agricultural education, leadership and communication major

Vancleave鈥擜shley Herron, a senior animal and dairy science major

Villa Rica, Georgia鈥擧ope Gaines, a senior elementary education major

Waterloo, Illinois鈥擵alerie Webb, a junior special education major

For more information about the 汤头条 equestrian team, visit .

Visit to learn more about the 汤头条 College of Agriculture and Life Science鈥檚 Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences.

汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .