In the past week, the St. Louis Equestrian team attended a banquet where it was announced that seniors Bethany Bowerman and Rebekah Ross placed in the top ten which is a true feat for two women riding their temperamental horses.
The Equestrian team goes mostly unknown to the school. When the girls’ achievements are announced, many are confused because they had no idea there even was an Equestrian team in this school. Despite this, the girls worked hard to get their places in the district placings. During the banquet Sunday Nov. 17 it was announced that Ross took 10th place and Bowerman took eighth place.
Having done this since eighth grade, Ross has been working hard to get her placement. When the placements were announced, Ross was thinking, “When Heidi, the chairperson of our district, called out that they were moving on to the Top 10, I just kinda shrunk down in my seat and turned away. Before this year, I just barely missed the Top 10. However, when my name was first announced, I was in so much shock I didn’t believe them. Walking up to receive my prize didn’t feel real. Once I opened my prize, and realized it would be the first-ever belt buckle I won, I just about started crying.” Ross continued about how this made her feel. “In my first year of MIHA in eighth grade, I wasn’t even able to finish the competition due to falling off my horse and having to go to the ER, so to be walking up to receive the honor and prize of Top 10 just made me realize that I am a better rider than I believe, and to be standing up there with Bethany for the last time felt like a full-circle moment, and it made it better to be standing there with our prizes. I will miss my days of being known as #307, but I am forever grateful for the lessons and hard work that it took to be here.” The time on the Equestrian team may be over, every senior knows the pain of leaving behind the team and sport they love, but the memories will stay forever in the team’s hearts and minds.
One person making it into the top ten is a feat, but having the whole team in the top 10 in the whole other level. Bowerman shared her thoughts on both her and Ross making it to top 10 saying, “When they first started announcing the top 10, I was nervous I wasn’t going to make the cut, and how devastated I was going to be if my senior year I didn’t make the top 10. Then when I heard Rebekah’s name I was like heck yeah! Then my name was announced and boom chicka lacka, we were the only team to be in the top ten. Both of us! I was very proud of myself and my team. No other team had every member make it into the top 10. Only the St. Louis’ team did that.”
The Equestrian team will be riding this high, no pun intended, for a while. It is a great way to close the St. Louis Equestrian season and final year for seniors Ross and Bowerman.
