July 18, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - We take a look back at the 2008 Varsity Equestrian National Championship with Head Coach
Gary Reynolds and discuss what the future holds for TCU Equestrian.
On how it felt to win the 2008 Western National Championship:
"It was so incredible and took awhile for it to actually sink in. We had a fantastic group of girls on the team and it was just a lot of fun."
On his expectations going into this next season:
"I'm wanting us to be better in the Reining than we have been in the past. I also am expecting the Hunt Seat team to become more competitive."
On what his team is doing over the summer:
"The majority of them are riding and showing and others are taking summer school. Some are with their families and enjoying their time off until next season kicks into gear."
On how the program has progressed over the past three years:
"Nobody could have ever predicted that we would have as much success as we've had, so from that standpoint we're just trying to manage the growth."
On what the 2008 Championship win did for such a young program:
"It brings a great deal of excitement and justifies all the work hard the team has done. Being such a young program and not having uniforms, or enough horses to ride and not having a lot of things that other teams have makes the win that much better. The strength and dedication of the team just pays off in the end."
On who surprised him this season:
"Ashton Mickunas, transfer from North Texas, came with little experience and competed for us at Nationals and came so far this year. Ashley Aikman also stepped it up her first year and was really focused. Seniors Jessica Bailey and Kindel Huffman were great competitors and we're really going to miss them and their abilities."
On who he thinks will do well this next year:
"Carrie von Uhlit, our team captain, is one of the greatest young horseman in the sport and we're also expecting a lot out of Chloe Baker, who's entering her third year. We're also expecting Kelsey Huffman to bring the Reining team up to the level of the Horsemanship team. We've got some outstanding freshmen on the way, including Courtney Chown who is looking to win a World Championship here soon."
