USD Magazine, Summer 1997

~.,i~ ALCALA ... ~(...,j

BENCHMARKS

The 19 women and one man, whether novice, intermediate or advanced, proved themselves gifted riders the first weekend and haven't looked back since. Lee earned the highest total points throughout the season for the region and represented USD at the Cacchione Cup national finals in Massachusetts. Jennifer Rall, Sarah Coleman and Heather Parker placed in the top two of their respective classes and traveled to Stanford for zone finals against riders from Northern and Southern California, Oregon and Nevada. All three Torero riders ran away with first in their class at zones and joined Lee in Massachusetts for nationals. So how does a school with no equipment or facilities compete at the national level? The team drove once a week to Blue Fox Farm in Escondido, where the students joined

m m .. ~ .,, .5 .. -=- a -; f

NOT JUST HORSING AROUND T he university doesn't own horses or boast riding stables, yet USD's eques– trian team is one of the most successful in Southern California. In this spring's regional finals, USD was reserve champion, trailing Cal Poly Pomona by only three points out of a possible 250. The 20-member USD team combined efforts to beat out schools like UCSD and USC. What other Torero athlete can brag about beating a Trojan from the power– house school to the north? And in the first year of competing, no less. Senior Dana Lee began a year ago to advertise for interested riders and applied to the university to be a sanctioned club team. By October 1996, members were arranging car pools, borrowing each other's riding gear and spending weekends at shows in Los Angeles and Riverside.

Dana Lea in competition [photo above and below).

a training program and convinced one of the trainers to be their coach for the shows. Many of the riders had experience, but some were beginners. With just enough money from the school to pick up travel expenses for the coach, pure love for the sport kept the team motivated. Designed to allow all types of riders to compete, the shows include classes for begin– ning to advanced riders. The schools that host the events provide the horses, and riders are paired with the animals by drawing lots. Without any previous experience with the horses, "it is a true test of the rider's ability to handle an animal," explains Jane Weininger, the team's faculty adviser and director of undergraduate programs for the School of Business Administration. And handle they did.

HONOR ROLL T he third annual Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Awards were presented to six alumni on April 26 at the San Diego Princess Resort on Mission Bay. The awards, named for USD President Emeritus Author E. Hughes, honor alumni who have achieved outstanding success in their career fields. The evening included entertainment unique to each award recipient's background. Pictured are (left to right): President Alice B. Hayes; Jackie Freiberg '94 (Ed.D.) and Kevin Freiberg '87 (Ed.D.), School of Education; The Honorable Federico "Fred" Castro '71 (J.D.), School of Law; President Emeritus Hughes; Betsy Myers '82, School of Business Administration; Gay Martha Guzinski, M.D., '65, College of Arts and Sciences; and Felicitas A. dela Cruz, R.N., '91 (D.N.Sc.), Philip Y. Hahn School of Nursing.

N E

M A 6 A Z

U S D