Left, Morgan Moreno, Zachary Haydon, Lane Birkenfeld, Haley Birkenfeld, Rachel Sembera, Sierra Tabone, Shelby Hill, Taylor Godwin, Michelle Glover, Raul Valdez, Sarah Savage and Kyla Kalinowski.

By Olivia Norton ’16

Ardmore, Okla. – The Texas A&M Stock Horse Team was named the 2015 Reserve National Champion Collegiate Stock Horse Team at the American Stock Horse Association (ASHA) Intercollegiate Show in Ardmore, Okla. held April 24-25.

The Stock Horse Team consists of six members who ride individual horses and compete in four separate events: stock horse pleasure, trail, reining, and working cow horse. Students are divided into three separate divisions based on their previous show experience and years of riding: non-pro, limited non-pro and novice.

The Aggies earned numerous individual honors including a top three finish in each division. Morgan Moreno finished second overall in the novice division and Kyla Kalinowski took home third in limited non pro. The Aggies held a strong presence in the non pro division with Haley Birkenfeld earning top honors as the overall high point champion, Sarah Savage finishing third, and Zachary Haydon, fifth.

This year’s team consists of Morgan Moreno from Georgetown; Kyla Kalinowski from Sequin; Taylor Godwin from Port Arthur; Haley Birkenfeld from Nazareth; Lane Birkenfeld from Nazareth; Zachary Haydon from Marble Falls; Sarah Savage from Marble Falls; Shelby Hill from Hutto; Michelle Glover from Madisonville; Sierra Tabone from Brenham; and Rachel Sembera from Tomball.

The team is coached by Raul Valdez, animal science graduate assistant.

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For more information regarding news from the Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, contact Courtney Coufal at cacoufal@tamu.edu or (979) 845-1542.