Heavy rain and mud were just a few extra variables Equestrian riders and their horses had to work around last weekend.
Both overcame the obstacles and won the District 2 meet.
The girls competed at AmberWay Stables in Ortonville for part two of the district meet.
The first part was Sept. 6-7, where Clarkston ended up in second place behind Imlay City by 27 points.
‘They did really well against good team,? said Head Coach Don Miller.
On Saturday, they remained in second place by scoring 15 points and narrowed the distance in the score by 12.
The last day of the meet, the Wolves pulled ahead and became District 2 champions by 37 points.
Miller attributes some of the success to a strategic analysis by assistant coaches Rich Parke and Steve Gambrel. They took a look of the first weekend’s meet and put together a plan of action.
‘We reorganized and redeployed our riders to combat the onslaught of the competition and neutralized their strategic maneuvers,? said Miller.
The team will go onto the Regional championship on Sept. 27 and 28 at Shiawassee County Fairgrounds in Corunna.
They will compete against champions from three other districts from Southeastern Michigan.
‘We hope to move on from that to compete and represent Clarkston in the state championships,? said Miller.
The top two teams from the regional championship will advance to the state championship held October 9-12 in Midland.
‘We are proud to represent Clarkston High School, District 2 and our District 2 Chair, Fred Stockley, on our journey to regional and state excellence,? said Miller.
The Equestrian team includes Anne Bendle, Natalie Hansen, Danielle Bouchard, Mandy Peterson, Melissa Bemis, Lauren Blaszkowski, Emily Pobuda, Amber Olsen, Kasey McKay, Riana Leek, Emily Hawkins, Erica Bono, Darci Molina, Jacquelyn McClain, Taylor Macielak, Abbey Podbielski, Alyssa Olsen, Alexandra Wright, Katie Chasins, Lauren McEvilly, Erin VanBuskirk, and Taylor McEvilly.