The Mercy Varsity Equestrian (MVE) team celebrated their season on Wednesday Nov. 12 at Walnut Creek Country Club.  The banquet was a detailed journey of the team’s success.

This season was one of many historic firsts for MVE.  This year, the team had enough numbers to compete in two separate divisions.  The divisions at Districts were based solely on numbers. A Division may have numbers of 10 riders plus.  B Division riders can have five to 10 riders.  The C Division can have three to five riders.  Lastly, the D Division will either have one or two riders.  MVE had both A and C Division teams.  In addition to having two teams, Mercy won its first District Reserve Championship, Regional Championship, and made an appearance at the state finals.

“I think the season went really well for having so many new riders,” said freshman Alicia Vassallo.  “My plans for next season are to work as hard as possible on speed so I can lead that part of the team.”

MVE competes in District 1.  These shows are the first three Saturdays of September and are held at the Milford High School grounds.  Both teams had an impressive three weeks of showing and placed in almost every class.  The C team earned a Reserve District Championship just trailing Holly High School by a few points.  This Reserve District Championship team was led by senior captain Peyton Pawlusiak, senior co-captain Mira Mansuetti, junior Carly Camp, and sophomore Maria Pizzo.

The team was created by alumna Rachel Kurcz eight years ago.  This is the first season that the team has emerged from Districts in the top two spots and qualified for regionals.

Regionals were held in Owosso, Michigan.  In District 1, Mercy competed against eight other teams in the C Division.  The regional show spanned two days.  After the completion of speed on Sunday night, the closing ceremony began.  In Division C, Mercy took first place and Eisenhower was in second place.  The top two region champions qualified for state competition.

The state competition was held two weeks after regionals in Saginaw.  This show spanned over four days.  Mercy placed seventh in the C Division.