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Midway's equestrian western team placed third at the IHSA National Championships for the third year in a row on Sunday.
Midway's equestrian western team placed third at the IHSA National Championships for the third year in a row on Sunday.
Midway's equestrian western team placed third at the IHSA National Championships for the third year in a row on Sunday.
Posted: May 05, 2024

Western places third at IHSA Nationals for second straight year

MILL SPRING, N.C. - A standout final day produced repeat success for the Midway equestrian western team, which had an excellent finish to the 2023-24 season on Sunday.

For the second-consecutive year, the Eagles placed third at the Intercollegiate Horse Show National Championship tournament. At the end of three days of competition, only first-place Middle Tennessee State and runner-up St. Andrews (N.C.) came in ahead of Midway.

"I am so proud of everyone involved," Midway coach Conner Smith said. "We had some highs, we had some lows, but we certainly kept rallying until the very end. That's what made it happen."

The biggest highs on Sunday came courtesy of Chase Summerville. After being named Reserve Champion in two events last season, the sophomore from Albany, Pa. earned a National title in Individual Level-Two Horsemanship.

Summerville also earned another Reserve National Championship in Team Open Horsemanship on Sunday.

This marks the first time in Smith's five-year run as head coach he's had multiple national champions in the same season. Freshman Alana Utlak won the first in Team Level-Two Horsemanship Friday.

Jordan Schauer, a Ranch Riding National Champion a season ago, was named a Reserve Champion in Back on Track Western High Point competition Sunday. 

Schauer and Summerville now give Smith 10 Reserve National Champions in his tenure at Midway, with Kaylee Klein (Team Level-One Horsemanship) and Sadie Tullock (Individual Level-One Horsemanship) also earning such honors this season.

Sofia Getty had a top-10 finish on Sunday as well, placing sixth in Team Rookie Horsemanship.

With another great season in the books, Smith credits the continued ascent of the western program not only to the performance of his riders, but to the strong support system around them. 

That was on full display this weekend, where "a great, ecstatic cheering section" of roughly 20-25 people was on hand to cheer the Eagles on at all stages.

"We had families in the barn cooking us lunch, we had breakfast brought to us. It was a lot," Smith said. "We had so much parent support, student support. We had a huge crowd and I think it really comes down to the team knowing how supported they are and it continues to encourage them to work as hard as they do."

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