Today, the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) announced the elected members of the 2019-2020 IEA Youth Board. The Youth Board was created by the IEA’s Education Committee in 2016 and is governed by Adult Advisors Shara Prieskorn (IEA Membership Office Coordinator), Simon Towns (Zone Captain), and Sue Wentzel (IEA National Steward), as well as two IEA Alumni – Hannah Bentz and Aubrey Braham.
The IEA Youth Board is structured with one student representative from each of the ten Hunt Seat Zones and four representatives from among the nine Western Regions.
Each of the following representatives submitted their application for candidacy with a resume and two letters of recommendation. After verifying each application, an election was held in each zone and the members of that zone elected their representative.
“The IEA Youth Board has become an invaluable addition to our organization”, stated IEA Co-Founder and Executive Director Roxane Durant. “This program gives adult IEA members and leadership an avenue to hear the youth voice and to offer an opportunity for mentorship, volunteerism, and leadership growth to IEA youth members. As in previous years, we have found the Youth Board to be fantastic advocates for IEA and equestrian sport in general and we look forward to another fun Youth Board year.”
The 2019-2020 IEA Youth Board Representatives are as follows:
- ZONE 1 – Anna Kelly, a Junior from Marshfield, MA who rides with Cranberry Acres
- ZONE 2 – Willow Vince, a Junior from New York, NW who rides with Empire State Equestrian Team
- ZONE 3 – Emily Grace Swinson, a Junior from Raleigh, NC who rides with Fox Run Equestrian NC
- ZONE 4 – Savannah Hutto, a Junior from Timmonsville, SC who rides with Tally Ho SC
- ZONE 5 – Andrea Seroczynski, a Senior from Granger, IN who rides with Heatherwood Equestrian Academy
- ZONE 7 – Morgan O’Donnell, a Senior from League City, TX who rides with Blue Fox Farms
- ZONE 8 – Kenzie Riddell, a Senior from Scottsdale, AZ who rides with Scottsdale Equestrian Team
- ZONE 9 – Tara Wall, a Freshman from Bellingham, WA who rides with Creidmount Saddle Club
- ZONE 10 – Samantha Zagha, a Senior from Belmount, CA who rides with Woodside Team
- ZONE 11 – Matt Tracy, a Sophomore from Pennington, NJ who rides with Briarwood Farm Equestrian Team
- WESTERN REGION 11 – Ryann Piperno, a Senior from Schwenksville, PA who rides with Saddlebrook Equestrian Team
- WESTERN REGION 11 – Mary Nell Tripp, a Sophomore from Birmingham, PA who rides with Grier School
- WESTERN REGION 7 – Natalie Dresdow, a Junior from Overland Park, KS who rides with Black Diamond Equestrians
- WESTERN REGION 7 – Kaleigh Bennett, a Freshman from Oklahoma City, OK who rides with Black Diamond Equestrians
- ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVE – Hannah Bentz from Boca Raton, Florida and a former member of Wall Street Farm Wellington IEA Team
- ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVE – Aubrey Braham from Grove City, Pennsylvania and former member of Grove City Area Equestrian Team