April 18, 2008

Stillwater, OK (UWIRE) -- Oklahoma State University sophomore reining rider Leah Kuehn is trying to block out the pressure of competition.

"I haven't even given it any thought," Kuehn said. "I'm just so excited to go ride and have fun. I don't want to know who I ride against, I just want to go do my thing."

Kuehn will get her chance this weekend as the Cowgirls go to the Varsity Equestrian National Championships in Waco, Texas.

The show consists of two 12-team tournaments, the western side and the hunt seat side, with the top four teams in each bracket receiving a bye.

Oklahoma State (11-4) earned a bye in both tournaments. The hunt seat team is the No. 1 seed, and the western team is the No. 3 seed.

There will be a western champion, a hunt seat champion and an overall champion, in addition to individual champions in each of the four riding disciplines.

Coach Larry Sanchez said the team is ready to perform well.

"Our entire season has been leading up to this," Sanchez said. "That's it in a nutshell. It's exciting to see that the girls have performed every time we've asked them to at a very high level.

"They're truly excited about going down and finishing what they started throughout this season."

The Cowgirls head into Nationals after winning the Central Championship on March 30, beating Kansas State and Baylor in a tournament of Big 12 schools.

Sanchez said the Cowgirls took a small break after the Central Championship, getting a chance to relax.

"Here in the last week, they've been building right back up again," Sanchez said. "With that couple days of taking it easy, they don't lose anything. At this point in the game, it's so mental that I think that break did them some good.

"I think we're ready. They're fresh and ready to go."

Kuehn said the Cowgirls' energy level has been building all year in anticipation of Nationals.

"It seems like we have the longest season ever," she said. "Now that it's finally here, you can just feel it in the air here at the barn. We know that we have the team this year that can take it home for OSU."

OSU has never won the overall championship at Nationals.

If the team achieves that this weekend, the victory will not count toward the university's total national championships because varsity equestrian does not have enough programs to be an official NCAA sanctioned championship.

This is the first year Nationals will give out individual championships, with a committee selecting four riders from each discipline.

Three Cowgirls were selected to participate in the individual championships: Kuehn in reining, Bailey Mahoney in equitation on the flat and Ally Blais in equitation over fences.

Kuehn said she is excited to get the chance to win a championship.

"That would just be amazing," Kuehn said. "It would cap off the year. I couldn't even explain how much that would mean to win an individual national championship."

Another Cowgirl, sophomore Rachell Shobe, missed being selected to compete in the reining individual championship by one vote.

"She's the first alternate," Sanchez said. "Hopefully Rachell at Nationals will remove all doubt from the selection committee and show them what I see her as capable of doing."

Sanchez said the Cowgirls can be successful this weekend not only because of how hard they've trained, but also because of how close they are as a team.

"The harmony of the team is where it needs to be," Sanchez said. "They're really performing at a very high level. They're having fun with it; nobody's stressed.

"It seems to be right on track with what, as coaches, we would hope they would be."

(C) 2008 Daily O'Collegian via UWIRE