April 14, 2010

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

For the fourth straight season Baylor and Waco will host the Varsity Equestrian National Championships (VENC) at the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo Complex. The ninth annual championships will begin on Thursday, April 15 and continue through Saturday, April 18. The event is open and admission is free to the public.

Baylor enters on the heels of its first ever Big 12 Championship, knocking off Oklahoma State and Texas A&M en route to the title. The Bears will be the No. 5 seed in hunter seat and take on TCU in the opening round. On the western side, they are the No. 8 seed and will face Fresno State.

"We are excited about hosting VENC again this year," head coach Ellen White said. "Our team is riding with so much confidence right now and we expect to perform very well this weekend."

Varsity equestrian is divided into two areas: hunter seat and western. The University of Georgia claimed the overall and hunter seat championship in 2009, while Texas A&M won the western championship.

This season's championship will mark the third season for individual competition. Haylie Jayne of Georgia claimed the Fences title and Ally Blais of Oklahoma State won Flat. On the western side, Caroline Gunn of Texas A&M won the Horsemanship title, while Carrie Von Uhlit of TCU took the Reining title.

Each of the two divisions has a 12-team seeded bracket similar to that of the NCAA basketball championships. Teams are seeded from one through 12 and placed accordingly into the bracket. Georgia is ranked No. 1 in the hunter seat bracket while Texas A&M is ranked at the top in the western bracket for the second-straight season.

The Varsity Equestrian National Championships will begin on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and continue through Saturday afternoon.