Sheffield University Equestrian Club

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Description 2008 BUSA Report It has been a successful season for both of the University Equestrian teams in their league rounds, in no small part thanks to the team newcomers who have enjoyed individual successes in their first year in BUSA. The A team have made a victorious clean sweep of their league matches, ensuring their place at the Championship league regional finals on 5th March.  The team benefited from the new talents of first year Claire Bennett who won her first BUSA match at the team’s home competition on the 14th December.  The team led from the start with imposing dressage scores and continued to perform well in the jumping phase.  Individual placings also went to team captain Louise Way (3rd) and Emily Hart (5th). Without home advantage the team continued to be equal to a challenge, including a trip to Wales, where they enjoyed victory and the delights of a Bangor Travel Lodge, displaying remarkable consistency with individual placings 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.  Rider of the match here was Anna Lancashire who proved that her promotion to the A team from a successful year in 2007 with the B team (which went to Nationals) was the right decision.  The team were equally triumphant at matches in Chester and Manchester.  Impressively, at Chester, the team captain spent most of the day dozing after a heavy night, awaking in time to pull 3rd place out of the bag, while Emily Hart achieved 2nd and Claire Bennett 5th.  They completed the winning run at Manchester with individual placings from Emily, Claire and Louise; 3rd, 5th and 6th respectively after an exciting and influential jumping phase. The B team have also ridden to a high standard this season and have finished equal first in terms of team points with Nottingham University; they await a decision as to whether they are to attend the Trophy league regional finals.  The four teams in the league were on level pegging after the two first matches, the Sheffield gaining 2nd position at Loughborough and 3rd at Nottingham Trent.  Individual success at Loughborough went to Ellen Sellers, Lucy Nickson and competition captain Kate Carson with 3rd, 5th and 7th respectively, and for Kate at Trent, who achieved an important 1st place. Unfortunately home advantage did not play ball; the team were knocked into 3rd place at Sheffield last week.  The team bounced back for their final match at Nottingham where they won, scoring yet more individual placings.  Ellen Sellers has ridden particularly strongly this year, with 2nd place at Sheffield, and Kate produced 3rd place at Nottingham proving the team to be a force to be reckoned with.  New members of the team, Lucy Nickson and Stephanie Jones have also proved themselves valuable players, with consistently high standards of riding, which has been invaluable to the team’s success.  The B team have done an impressive job competing against some of the strongest riding teams in the region.   As well as competing successfully at BUSA, the teams joined forces and beat Hallam in the Varsity competition held at Parklands. It was an eventful day; with Sheffield in the lead by 10 points after the morning’s dressage the afternoon saw the showjumping. Kate Carson was the first to go round with a clear on Hogan and then it was Hallam’s turn to jump. The 6th fence saw a nasty fall which resulted in an air ambulance and the rest of the showjumping being cancelled. Thankfully enough the Hallam rider was given the all clear at the hospital.