Equestrian sports: Sequim team finishes season at state finals

May 22, 2019 1:30 am
The Sequim Equestrian Team includes (back row), from left drill team members Miranda Williams, Grace Niemeyer, Abbi Priest and Yana Hoesel, with (front row, from left) coaches Sydney Balkan and Bettina Hoesel, Lilly Thomas, Abby Garcia, head coach Katie Salmon-Newton and coach Haylie Newton. Submitted photo
The Sequim Equestrian Team includes (back row), from left drill team members Miranda Williams, Grace Niemeyer, Abbi Priest and Yana Hoesel, with (front row, from left) coaches Sydney Balkan and Bettina Hoesel, Lilly Thomas, Abby Garcia, head coach Katie Salmon-Newton and coach Haylie Newton. Submitted photo

Capping their season at the state finals last week, Sequim Equestrian Team members posted five top-25 finishes.

Grace Niemeyer’s fifth-place finish in Jumping earned the junior a qualifying spot at the Pacific North West Invitational Championship — a meet featuring the top five teams and individuals in Washington state and Oregon in mid-June.

Sequim’s Canadian Flags team of Niemeyer, Yana Hoesel, Abbi Priest and Miranda Williams placed 11th, while the same quartet of riders placed 17th in Sequim Drill Team Frestyle Fours.

Niemeyer took 23rd in Reining and Hoesel, a senior, took 24th in Individual Flags.

The state meet was held May 16- 19 in Moses Lake, with more than 60 schools represented.