CHARLESTON, S.C. - Five riders will have the opportunity to qualify for the National horse show by placing well at the Zone Championships on Saturday at the Howell Riding Facility at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.

The Cougars have five riders qualified for six of the eight individual Zone Championship classes. In order to advance to the IHSA National Championship Horse Show a rider must place first or second in their class at Zones. The competitors in each class were either Regional Champions or Regional Reserve Champions so the level of competition is extremely high at this competition.

The IHSA also realigned all the Zones so there are now four regions in Zone five. The new region comes from North Carolina and Virginia and includes past IHSA National Champions Virginia Intermont.

CofC Head Coach Bob Story said he is excited to see what his riders can do at the Zone Championships and likes the addition of more schools to Zone Five.

"I like the addition of that region to our Zone," Story said. "It brings the level of competition up to our standards and my riders always want to compete head to head with the best. This should be a great horse show and I look forward to my riders advancing to Nationals".

The following riders will represent the College of Charleston program at the Zone Championships.

Alex Percival                 Walk - Trot                      Regional Champion

Jessica Latham              Walk - Trot - Canter        Regional Champion

Kenzie Russell               Walk - Trot - Canter        Regional Reserve Champion

McKenzie Armour         Intermediate Flat              Regional Champion

                                     Novice Fences                 Regional Champion

Crystal Threlfall             Open Flat                         Regional Reserve Champion