The Candy Lane Acres IEA Team. From left to right: Claire Rockacy (Pine-Richland),
Katie Finley (North Allegheny), Madelyn Trebilcock (Pine-Richland), Jacqueline
Chalifoux (North Allegheny), Chelsie Stair (Coach)
Riding High
BY NICOLE TAFE
The Candy Lane Acres IEA team places fifth in the
nation at this year’s Nationals competition.
T
he members of Franklin Park’s Candy Lane Acres
IEA team have a lot to be proud of. Four local middle
school students—two from North Allegheny and
two from Pine-Richland—recently competed in the
2018 Interscholastic Equestrian Association’s (IEA) Hunt
Seat Nationals, in Syracuse, New York, from April 20-22. They
represented Zone 11, which includes teams from Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and West Virginia, in the Nationals competition
featuring riders from across the nation.
The riders who qualified for this year’s Nationals bested
more than 13,700 youth equestrians. Nearly 400 of the nation’s
leading middle school and high school equestrians traveled
from across the country to compete for top honors in Hunt
Seat classes in the IEA National Finals. Of the 1,560 high
school and middle school teams from across the country, only
200 teams qualified for Nationals.
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The mission of the IEA is to introduce students in private
and public middle and secondary schools to equestrian
sports and to promote and improve the quality of equestrian
competition and instruction. A nonprofit organization, the
IEA has over 13,500 members in 42 states across North
America. Riders competed in Hunt Seat Equitation classes,
Over Fences and On the Flat, throughout the weekend.
The format required that riders compete in unfamiliar tack
on unfamiliar mounts, drawing their horses the day of
competition and entering the arena after a brief—if any—
warmup.
Jacqueline Chalifoux, 13, is the daughter of Thomas
Chalifoux and Sylvia Choi. She lives in Franklin Park and
attends North Allegheny’s Marshall Middle School where she
is a part of the orchestra, student newspaper and GOAL—
Gifted Opportunities for Advanced Learning.