The Rocket

Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: Sports

Mackenzie Womer

Most athletes form bonds with teammates and coaches during their playing careers. But for one SRU athlete, her bond runs farther.

This is the case for Mackenzie Womer, a junior who competes for the Slippery Rock Equestrian team. Womer, a junior in her last year of undergraduate study, has made her mark as a solid intercollegiate horse show performer.

Womer, who said she has been riding since she was 7 years old, said her favorite thing about riding is the connection she has with the horse.

"The bond with the animal is such a great feeling," Womer said.

The Rock equestrian team is a member of the IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association). It's division equivalent to the PSAC and is the third region of the third zone, a region that consists of schools such as Penn State, the winner of this season's zone championship, Pitt, West Virginia and IUP, to name a few. There are a total of 16 teams in the Rock's region.

Womer placed first in the region championships that took place at Dickinson College several weeks ago. She earned the right to move on to the zone championships in Flemington, N.J., but took fourth place, and therefore failed to qualify for a national championship opportunity. Only the top two zone placers qualify for nationals in the zone tournament.

Competing in eight to nine horse shows per year, Womer said the experience has been one that she doesn't know what she would do without.

"This run has been awesome, and it was very nice to be competing with the other schools," Womer said. "It ended my intercollegiate career very well."

Womer said she feels that in order for the team to continue to get stronger, the most obvious keys are recruiting higher numbers of students and letting everyone on the team gain more experience.

Jay Foster, an assistant on the Rock football team, is the adviser for the team. Foster said he likes to leave the organization in the hands of the students, and is impressed with the way the team has performed.

"I've been around horses all my life, but when you go and watch it as a sporting event, it's completely different," Foster said. "It's a really cool experience."

Foster said the most interesting part about the equestrian competition in this league is that the athlete doesn't know the horse that he/she will be riding entering the competition, as it is a rule that the host school will provide each horse, drawing names out of a hat to see which horse an athlete selects for the competition.

Womer said the team is continuing to grow in numbers each year.

"This year was really neat to work with the younger members and watch them gain experience throughout the season," Womer said. "It was so fun to be with all the girls on this team over the years."

Womer said there is no other experience to her like performing, and is proud to have it as a big addition to her college experience.

"Whenever I ride, I'm in a completely different world," Womer said.

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