Emily Kowalchik, a graduating senior at Loveland High School was awarded the National Champion in Team Open Fences at the National Championship Horse Show at Lake Erie College’s George Humphrey Equestrian Center in suburban Cleveland.
Kowalchik is a member of the Beckett Run Equestrian Team, based in Hamilton, Ohio. Her team also won the National Champion Varsity Team trophy. As such, they are the top-ranked High School Equestrian Team in the nation for the 2008-2009 season. The team had qualified to compete at the high school national finals by winning qualifying points at shows throughout the school year, then winning necessary qualification placings at the Regional Finals in March in Athens, Ohio; and the Zone Championships in April, in Albion, Michigan.
The Beckett Run team had qualified to compete at the high school national finals by winning qualifying points at shows throughout the school year, then winning necessary qualification placings at the Regional Finals in March in Athens, Ohio; and the Zone Championships in April, in Albion, Michigan. Another local team – Childress Rogers Stable, from Milford Ohio – captured the Middle School National Championship.
Kowalchik is a member of the Loveland National Honor Society and Link Crew. She is ranked 4th in her class at Loveland High School with a GPA of 4.37. She received a NCAA Division I athletic scholorship, and will continue to ride for Cornell University majoring in business with a minor in Spanish
For more information about Beckett Run riding, contact coaches Jim and Gwen Arrigon at 513/839-5619 or garrigon@hotmail.com.
