Equestrian sports: Sequim team finishes strong at state meet

By Sequim Gazette Staff • May 29, 2024 1:30 am
Photo courtesy of Sequim Equestrian Team Sequim Equestrian’s Drill Team, with (back row, from left) Katelynn Middleton-Sharpe, Lily Meyer, Joanna Seelye and Taylor Lewis, with (in front) Sydney Hutton, place 11th at the Washington High School Equestrian Team state meet in Moses Lake in mid-May.
Photo courtesy of Sequim Equestrian Team Sequim Equestrian’s Drill Team, with (back row, from left) Katelynn Middleton-Sharpe, Lily Meyer, Joanna Seelye and Taylor Lewis, with (in front) Sydney Hutton, place 11th at the Washington High School Equestrian Team state meet in Moses Lake in mid-May.

The season ends here, but not now.

Sequim equestrians earned nine top-10 finishes at the 2024 Washington High School Equestrian Team (WAHSET) state meet, held May 16-19 in Moses Lake.

Seven of those state finishes earned Sequim athletes a return trip to Moses Lake in June after earning berths at the Pacific Northwest Invitational Championship (PNWIC).

The PNWIC is a regional meet set for June 13-16 that takes many of the top teams and individuals from each event at Washington and Oregon’s state meets.

At the WAHSET state meet, Sequim’s Libby Swanberg earned a pair of individual PNWIC qualifying finishes, taking second place and a silver medal in steer daubing, and fifth in breakaway roping. She also won the State Versatility All Around Champion title.

Sydney Hutton also earned silver for her second place finish in hunt seat over fences, a PNWIC qualifier, and she placed eighth in dressage.

Taylor Lewis added a seventh place in reigning, a PNWIC qualifier. Katelynn Middleton-Sharpe was 10that the state finals in dressage, while Libby and Asha Swanberg were 11th and 12th in individual flags, respectively.

Three of Sequim’s four teams earned PNWIC berths after strong finishes at state: Kennady Gilbertson and Paige Reed, a fourth place finish in two-man birangle; the Canadian flags team (Gilbertson, Reed, Asha and Libby Swanberg), a fourth place finish; and the Swanbergs in team sorting, a fifth place finish.

Sequim’s drill team of Hutton, Lewis, Middleton-Sharpe, Lily Meyer and Joanna Seelye placed 11th at the state meet.

For more about the Pacific Northwest Invitational Championship, see pnwic.com.