Queen’s University Belfast was the venue for last month’s National Tetrathlon Intervarsities, where DCU Equestrian Club had two teams competing. The tetrathlon consists of four phases of competition: shooting, swimming, riding and running.
Although many of the DCU competitors were first time shooters, the pre-competition training paid dividend as both teams performed well in the shooting portion of the competition. All DCU shooters managed to hit the target with Sara Rennick, Ross McBride and Captain Niamh Higgins finishing in the top 10 among the shooters.
In the ladies running discipline, final year sports scholarship student Alex Donohue ran an impressive 1.5k time to finish in fourth place, while Sara Rennick matched the seventh place she achieved in the shooting. Catherine Everitt was on pace for a good time, but the challenging terrain coupled with an old injury meant she had to withdraw with a dislocated knee.
Rennick’s strong DCU Equestrian Club debut continued in the swimming pool where she was able to get a second place finish. Another DCU fresher who impressed in the swimming phase was Megan Byrne who finished joint 12th.
Sara Rennick’s versatility across the different phases earned her a well-deserved overall finishing position of fifth place. The DCU Equestrian Club is now setting its sights on the National Equestrian Championships in February, where teams of Dressage, Showjumping and Prix Caprilli will be selected from a promising pool of DCU riders.
The club continues to hold many of its competitions and events at the Kilronan Equestrian Centre, where members can avail of affordable Equestrian lessons. The centre is located only fifteen minutes from campus making it particularly convenient for DCU students.
The DCU Equestrian club caters for all members from beginners to experts and supplies its own horses so there is no need to run off to the national stud auction. The facilities and lessons make the club an attractive outlet for Equestrian fans and if there are people out there interested in the club motto of “fancy a ride?” maybe this is the Equestrian club for you.
Niamh Higgins
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