The Sweet Home equestrian team took first place in the drill team event at a regional meet in Salem on Saturday, March 29.
“I was very proud of them,” said equestrian coach Billie Bjornsen of the team of Larissa Bjornsen, Cera Kem, Jessalyn Seiber and Meisha Carlin. “We were very excited that we got first place in drill this time. Our drill performance was a lot better and we changed some things in our drill pattern. It worked. The girls communicated in their routine very well.”
Larissa Bjornsen got her second top-five finish in the Figure 8 event, taking third in a field of 69 riders, to qualify for the state championships in Redmond on May 17. Riders must finish in the top five in a particular event in two regional meets to qualify for state.
Other results for the Huskies were:
Bjornsen’s seventh-place finish out of 51 riders in individual flags;
Seiber’s 11th-place finish in a field of 72 in poles;
Bjornsen’s 10th-place finish in a field of 79 in barrels;
Bjornsen’s third-place finish, Kem’s sixth and Seiber’s 10th out of 65 riders in keyhole; Kem and Carlin’s 20th place out of 58 in showmanship;
Kem’s 21st place and Carlin’s 40th out of 55 in stock seat;
Rochelle Zimacona, Jessica Blankenship and Traci Smith’s 24th place out of 31 teams in team penning, with Seiber, Kem and Bjornsen taking 26th in that event;
Zimacona’s 13th place out of 22 in steer daubing;
Blankenship, Seiber, Bjornsen and Kem’s eighth-place finish out of 24 teams in team flags;
Seiber and Bjornsen’s sixth place, and Kem and Zimacona’s eighth place out of 52 teams in birangle.
“We had a good weekend besides the weather being so crazy, ” Billie Bjornsen said.
The equestrians will compete again in Salem on April 24.
“We hope that some of the other kids will qualify,” Bjornsen said.