There wasn’t much hullabaloo at Hockinson High School about the championship, and that was OK with the girls who led the way for the Hawks equestrian team.
Brynn Larson and Tasha Grinde had multiple reasons to brag.
But the HHS students were more interested in explaining the fun they have riding for the Hockinson High equestrian team.
“I really do like it. It’s a lot of fun,” said Larson, a junior who competes year-round in regional and national horse shows.
The fun isn’t just about the winning — cool as that is. What makes the high school equestrian team worth it is hanging out with a diverse group of horse sports enthusiasts. The Washington High School Equestrian Teams program, which this school year involved teams from 42 schools including eight from Southwest Washington, includes both performance events that are judged and timed rodeo-style events.
“It’s a bunch of different people who would never meet each other” if not for the high school season, Larson noted.
Grinde and Larson tend to their horses in the morning before school, and spend time after school training for their own competitions or training others to earn a little money. They compete at regional horse shows and rodeos, so the high school season is just one more activity to cram into the schedule.
“I do it to meet people, and it gets me involved in something else at school,” Grinde explained.
Larson is a performer. At the state meet in Wenatchee, she and her horse named Bob won gold medals in three individual judged events — hunt seat, stock seat, and trail. On another horse, named Doc, Larson was one of four members of Hockinson’s victorious in-hand obstacle relay team.
All of that added up to the high-point award, a fact she learned while driving home from Wenatchee. Soon, she’ll be back on the road, heading to paint horse shows in Utah and Texas, the later the American Paint Horse Association World Show.
Grinde also earned a state-meet high-point prize. The freshman won the award for timed events. She placed first in steer daubing with a two-run time of 2.95 seconds. But it was her silver medal in break-away roping that was the highlight. She set a state-meet record of 2.54 seconds on her first run. She settled for silver when she did not record a time on her second run.
The Hockinson team had seven riders qualify for state. It was coached by Dale Waite and Debbie Grinde, Tasha’s mother. Waite said it is at least the fourth time Hockinson has won a team title for mid-sized programs, and credited the work ethic of riders who do much of the training on their own.
“I’ve got a bunch of kids who worked a lot of long hours preparing their horses,” Waite said. “I knew the quality of riders we had, and I knew we had quite a few who would be among the top three in their events.”
In addition to Larson and Grinde, Hockinson’s Katie Surritt won a gold medal in the working rancher event. Joining Larson on the in-hand obstacle relay team were Nadine Miller, Lindsey Morris, and Amanda Gaudet.
Ashley Melton of Camas won the driving competition at state. Battle Ground and Prairie also had athletes earn state medals. La Center, Ridgefield and Washougal also had state participants.
The mid-size team championship — and second place finish among programs regardless of size — was not the Hawks’ focus heading into the state meet.
“We didn’t talk about it at all” ahead of time, Larson said.
And, even if they aren’t the talk of the school after the fact, Hockinson’s equestrians are proud.
“To get the team high point (title) was really neat,” Larson said.
King’s Way eliminated in playoffs
In case you missed it, the King’s Way Christian boys lacrosse team was eliminated in the state quarterfinals on Friday.
This was the first season playing in the top division of the state league against long-established programs. King’s Way finished tied for first in its division, which included quite a few teams that made the jump to the top level of high school lacrosse in Washington state.
Summer runs start
Wondering when summer will arrive? Well, how about Wednesday?
For the Clark County Running Club, this week is the beginning of its summer-long series of Wednesday evening 5-kilometer runs. The runs start at 7 p.m. They are free for CCRC members and cost $2 for nonmembers.
The first course of the series is at David Douglas Park, just north of Mill Plain on Garrison Road. Runners are encouraged to show up 30 minutes early to register.
Miscellaneous notes
• Summer sports camps and activities are registering participants. For a list of camps that provided information to The Columbian, check out the Community Sports Calendar.
• Coaches for Senior Babe Ruth or American Legion baseball teams are encouraged to report their boxscores daily throughout the season by e-mail to sports@columbian.com.
Paul Danzer covers Community sports for The Columbian. Reach him at 360-735-4521 or by e-mail at paul.danzer@columbian.com.
