Hopes of a birth at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Championship ended last weekend as the NIU Equestrian team failed to finish in the top two at zones.

The journey began two weekends ago with the end of the regular season.

On March 13 and 14, NIU competed in its last two regular season shows. The Huskies headed into the final weekend with a 25-point lead in Zone 9 Region 2, and when the dust settled, they extended the lead to 36 points via wins. On the second day of the weekend, NIU grabbed six first-place finishes out of the eight classes.

“To win the region with a 36-point lead is huge,” said Michael Lenard, NIU Equestrian team president. “Thirty-six points is roughly how many points you can get at an individual horse show.”

Last Saturday, the Huskies hosted the Zone 9 Region 2 Championship. NIU was awarded with the Regional Championship, and rival Southern Illinois-Carbondale was awarded as the reserve high point team. This was the Huskies’ third straight Regional Championship and the third in the team’s existence.

Individual riders who earned enough points in their classes competed for the chance to qualify to zones. The Huskies sent seven riders total (Lenard, Heather Perelgut, Christy Yankaitis, Matt Davis, Kelly Johnson, Merisa Doonan and Omonike Ayorinde).

Last Sunday, Lenard, Perelgut and Davis competed in zones at Purdue. For the third year in a row, NIU finished in third at zones, coming one place short of advancing to nationals. Wisconsin took first place, and the host Boilermakers took second.

Although the team did not qualify, Lenard qualified in the open class, and Davis qualified in the walk-trot class.

Lenard and Davis will now travel to Memphis, Tenn. to compete at the IHSA Championship from April 23 to 26.

“As a team, we’re disappointed with how the season ended, but then again, I am really proud of the achievements that we did make,” Lenard said. “The progress we have made is unbelievable.”