Evans, Gagnon capture blue ribbons in Western show at Virginia Tech

Lexi Evans (left) and Sarah Gagnon earned blue ribbons for first place finishes in their respective events at Sunday's second Region 4 show at Virginia Tech.

Evans, Gagnon capture blue ribbons in Western show at Virginia Tech

11/17/2023 8:15:00 PM | Equestrian

The Lady Flames landed in fifth place as a team in both Region 4 shows and are gearing up to host the next two on Jan.27-28 at the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center.

Liberty University's Western equestrian team finished fifth in both Saturday's and Sunday's Region 4 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) events hosted by the Campbell and Smithfield Horse Centers & the Equitation Barn in Blacksburg, Va.

On Saturday, North Carolina State University earned Team Champion honors followed by St. Andrews University (the Reserve Champion), Clemson, and Virginia Tech. The Lady Flames landed ahead of sixth-place Appalachian State in both shows.

St. Andrews was the overall Team Champion on Sunday, followed by Reserve Champion Clemson, NC State, and the host Hokies.

The Lady Flames had three runner-up showings on Saturday — from senior Payton Ruwet in Rookie A Horsemanship, freshman Makenzie Cox in Rookie B Horsemanship, and junior Lexi Evans in Beginner Horsemanship — and three third-place showings from junior Abby Rice in Level I Horsemanship, freshman Alex Dixon in Ranch Riding, and sophomore Ellie Ward in Level I Horsemanship.

Senior Shelby Coble finished fourth in Level I Horsemanship and senior Sarah Gagnon finished fifth in Ranch Riding.

On Sunday, the Lady Flames earned two blue ribbons, by Evans in Beginner Horsemanship and Gagnon in Ranch Riding, while Ruwet and Cox repeated their second-place performances in Rookie A and B Horsemanship, respectively, and Coble and Rice tied for third in Level I Horsemanship while Dixon came in third in Level II Horsemanship. Meanwhile, junior Caylan Barton came in fourth in Rookie B Horsemanship and Ward placed fifth in Level I Horsemanship.

The Lady Flames will host the next two Region 4 shows at the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center on Jan. 27-28 before traveling to St. Andrews in Laurinburg, N.C., for the Feb. 17 Region 4 Championships.