This week, seven riders were named to the St. Andrews Presbyterian College equestrian team that will compete at the 2009 national championship sponsored by the American National Riding Commission.

The championship is being hosted by St. Andrews in Laurinburg on April 15-19. Collegiate teams from across the nation are expected to compete.

Kelsi Peterson, a senior psychology major from Colorado Springs, Colo., and Caroline Taylor, a junior business equine major from Vanceboro, N.C., both return from last year’s team. Five additional riders were named to the team:

Lindsey Gates – a sophomore from Santa Paula, Calif.

Audrey Hayden – a sophomore English major from Dumfries, Va.

Rob Jacobs – a sophomore politics major from Temple Hills, Md.

Alexis Stevenson – a senior psychology and business equine major from Jacksonville, N.C.

Alex Sonnenberg – a sophomore from Reston, Va.

“The team will train over the next two and a half months for the national championships,” said Peggy McElveen, director of the St. Andrews Equestrian Center. “Their workouts will be quite strenuous – a very intense training program. For the actual competition, three will compete as a team while the other four will compete as individuals.”

St. Andrews has traditionally been highly competitive at the ANRC championships, winning the national title on six occasions. Most recently, St. Andrews won the title in 2007. Riders compete in hunter seat equitation for the team and individual titles.

The championship consists of three riding phases judged on equitation and a written phase covering riding theory and stable management. On Saturday, the riders perform a memorized flat test that includes many of the United States Equestrian Federation hunter seat tests. On Sunday, they compete on an outdoor hunter trials course with three foot heights and then move to a three-foot hunter seat equitation medal course in the ring.

The ANRC National Championship is a USEF Local Recognized Competition and is an Affiliate Member of the United States Hunter Jumper Association. Special sportsmanship and equitation awards sponsored by the USHJA are presented at the ANRC Championship. The 2009 National Championship is dedicated to the memory of Jon Conyers, an alumnus of St. Andrews Presbyterian College, an ANRC Board member, and a highly regarded equine professional and educator.

The purpose of the ANRC is to promote the highest quality of educated riding and related services within schools, colleges, and universities; and in public and private concerns. For more information on ANRC and on the National Championship, visit the organization’s website www.anrc.org.

The 300-acre Equestrian Center is located only two miles from campus and has four barns with a total of 112 stalls, housing both college-owned horses and student-owned horses.

The complex also has one indoor arena, two covered arenas, five outdoor show and teaching arenas, and two hunter trials courses with a bank, ditch, and many permanent jumps.