St. Andrews finished in 4th place at the event.
The equestrian competition brought between 250 and 300 people to the community, organizers estimated.
Participants and spectators alike were enthused by the equestrian competition.
"It is a great experience," said Paul Frederick, a rider for the Savannah College of Art and Design. "It is one of the only places where we get to be out here competing in natural settings."
He said it was an honor to compete against top collegiate equestrian athletes in the four-phased competition.
"St. Andrews has a gorgeous facility with tons of land," Frederick said, complimenting the St. Andrews Equestrian Center on its two covered rings and plenty of housing.
Even with 112 stalls, the facility needed to set up temporary stalls to house the influx of additional horses, something Frederick said he appreciated.
His mom, Melanie Frederick, said she was happy to be there with her son.
"It's great to see his talents," she said. She said the family had traveled to Tennessee from Virginia the year before to see him compete in ANRC as well and they were happy to come down to Laurinburg.
Tenley Struhs, a freshman from Otterbein College, was equally thrilled to be at the competition.
"It is a great experience for Otterbein," Struhs said. The college had not been able to compete in ANRC for the past decade.
"It's good to be back at it," she said.
Struhs said the team was made up of two freshman and a sophomore and expects they'll see a lot of ANRCs in the next few years.
"It's beautiful, gorgeous and well-planned," Struhs said of both the event and the facility. "Everything runs on time."
Otterbein college is located in Westerville, Ohio.
Paul Baldasare, the president of St. Andrews, was proud of the event and how it showcased the equestrian program. He said it was one of many events that draw people to the community.
"We estimate that we attract around 15,000 people to Scotland County each year," Baldasare said. He added that these people eat in local restaurants and stay in local hotels.
He described ANRC as the "top intercollegiate horse event in the nation" and said that hosting the competition is an "honor and tremendous opportunity" for the college.
The Savannah College of Art and Design won the 2009 team competition while its leading rider, Kelse Bonham, won the overall individual title.
Caroline Taylor of St. Andrews Presbyterian College scored the highest on the written phase, helping her team to a fourth-place overall finish.
A senior psychology major from Colorado Springs, Colo., Kelsi Peterson led St. Andrews' riders by finishing eighth in the individual competition.
In the awards ceremony following the competition, St. Andrews Equestrian Center Director Peggy McElveen received the prestigious Professional Service Award from the ANRC while Liz Harris, the St. Andrews assistant director of therapeutic horsemanship, received the ANRC Sportsmanship Award.
Kira Gainey and Lindsey Crowther, the coaches for the St. Andrews ANRC team, lauded their team’s efforts.
“This event was the culmination of all of their hard work,” said Crowther. “They were not just showing horses, but they also helped in every possible way in setting up this show. They painted and decorated every jump for the competition.”
Gainey added, “I was very pleased with how hard they all worked. They all supported each other and helped each other as a team.”
Three of the St. Andrews riders – Taylor, Peterson and Morgan Worthington – finished in the top eight for the written phase.
“We spent months of preparation and study for the written test,” said Taylor, a junior business equine major from Vanceboro. “We really need to know the information on this test to know how the horse world works, preparing us for our years after college.”
Peterson led St. Andrews riders with an eight-place finish in the dressage phase. She also finished seventh in the hunter trials and sixth in the hunter seat.
“I’m really proud of my team,” she said. “Everyone really rode well and rode their hearts out.”
Others competing for the St. Andrews team were 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., and Alexis Stevenson, a senior psychology and business equine major from Jacksonville.
Paddy Downing Nygard and Dacia Johnson judged the national championship.
In addition to being a judge, Johnson is an accomplished rider including a world champion at amateur/owner hunter rider in 1996. This was her fourth stint as a national judge for the ANRC, having judged the competitions in 1995, 2000, and 2004.
Nygard has judged at prestigious shows such as Devon, the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, the West Coast Equitation and Pony Finals, Pebble Beach, HITS, and the Middleburg Classic. She is past chair of the USEF Pony Hunter Committee and the Central Florida Hunter Jumper Committee. She has also served as president of the Florida Hunter and Jumper Association and the Pinellas County Hunter Jumper Association.
Savannah College won the team title for the second consecutive year. Overall, the college has won the Betty Belser Memorial Trophy five times.
St. Andrews has won the title six times. The University of Virginia has won the title more than any other college or university with 10 to its credit. Sweet Briar College has won the title nine times.
The event was dedicated to the memory of St. Andrews graduate Jon Conyers, who passed away on Nov. 5, 2008. During his 26-year equestrian career, he served ANRC as a rated rider, judge, coach, intercollegiate chair, member of the Board of Directors, and national championship manager. He coached at St. Andrews, The Barracks – University of Virginia, Wesleyan College, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Sweet Briar College.
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