Maryland Polo Club wins Girls’ National Interscholastic Championship
Three of the five teams competing made tournament debut
Representing the Southeastern region, the Maryland Polo Club, won the 2014 USPA Girls’ National Interscholastic Championship, held March 6-9, 2014, this past Thursday through Sunday, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT.
Central Coast Polo Club and Maryland Polo Club played each other in the final on Sunday. Maryland was first to score, with an incredible lead of 7 to 1 in the first chukker. They continued that domination by finishing the first half at 18 to Central Coast’s 4. The game ended with a score of 34 to 8.
There were four All-Stars of the championship – Marissa Wells and Maddie Grant from the Maryland Polo Club, Kendall Plank from the Houston Polo Club and Jillian Tietje from the Central Coast Polo Club. Kasandra Wohlschlegel from Western New York Polo Club was honored for her Sportsmanship, while Marissa Wells’ pony, Napolean, won for Best Playing Pony.
Teams:
Central Regional Winner (Houston Polo Club, Houston, TX)
Kendall Plank (Houston, TX, Episcopal High School)
Courtney Price (Richmond, TX, Foster High School)
Nora O’Neill (Houston, TX, St. Agnes Academy)
Lauren Rae (Houston, TX, The Kinkaid School)
Northeastern Regional Winner (Western New York Polo Club, Piffard, NY)
Kasandra Wohlschlegel (Honeoye, NY, Honeoye Central School)
Hanna Blain (Honeoye, NY, Honeoye Central School)
Molly Hickey (Caledonia, NY, Caledonia Mumford School)
Southeastern Regional Winner (Maryland Polo Club, Freeland, MD)
Abbie and Maddie Grant, Phoenix, MD (Bryn Mawr School)
Marissa Wells (Freeland, MD, Hereford High School)
Stephanie Schultz (Freeland, MD, home-schooled)
Western Regional Winner (Central Coast Polo Club, San Luis Obispo, CA)
Jillian Tietje (Morro Bay, CA, San Luis Obispo High School)
Trista Noland (Atascadero, CA, North County Christian High School)
Emily Thomas (Santa Margarita, CA, Atascadero High School)
Athena Malin (Los Osos, CA, Mission Prep Junior High)
Wild Card Selection (Toronto Polo Club, Toronto, Canada)
Clare Hearn (Caledon, Ontario, Ridley College)
Molly Houlton (King City, Ontario, Cardinal Carter High School)
Jessica Friedberg (Aurora, Ontario, Aurora High School)
The annual event features top high school teams that have made their way to nationals through various preliminary and regional tournaments, going up against the best up-and-coming talents in U.S. polo. A wild card team from Toronto, Canada joined the champion high school girls’ teams from the Central, Northeastern, Southeastern and Western regions. Houston, Western New York and Central Coast Polo Clubs were all first-timers at the USPA National event.
The USPA Girls’ National Interscholastic Championship tournament is one of the centerpieces of the USPA Intercollegiate/Interscholastic (I/I) polo program. See more information on the I/I polo program here on the U.S. Polo Association’s website, and follow updates by “Liking” their Facebook Page.
Upcoming USPA National I/I Events:
Open National Interscholastic Championship, March 12-16, at Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA
Men’s & Women’s National Intercollegiate Championship, April 7-12, at ERG Arena in Brookshire, TX