The United States Polo Association Announces USPA Men’s and Women’s Intercollegiate Championship

LAKE WORTH, Fla. - April 3, 2015 - PRLog -- The United States Polo Association® (USPA) today announced that of the 35 Women Intercollegiate teams and 24 Men’s Intercollegiate teams competing in USPA sanctioned regular season play, the top six men’s and top five women’s teams have reached this season’s intercollegiate championship’s final rounds.

The finalists include the men’s and women’s teams that were the winners of the USPA Northeastern, Southeastern, Central and Western regions, as well as wild card selections.  The men’s field is Cornell University (Northeastern), University of Virginia (Southeastern), Colorado State University (Central),  Westmont College (Western), Texas A&M  (wild card) and Southern Methodist University (wild card).  The Women’s field is Cornell University (Northeastern), University of Virginia (Southeastern), Texas A&M (Central), Oregon State University (Western), and the University of Connecticut (wild card).

The women’s teams will compete for the National Intercollegiate Championship Katy Did Memorial Trophy, which has been played since 1976. The men’s teams will play for National Intercollegiate Championship Townsend Cup trophy, which has been played since 1922.

“We're incredibly excited to bring the NIC to the University of Connecticut for the first time in the nearly 100 year history of the event, said Duncan Huyler, Chairman of the United States Polo Association Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Committee.   “The best teams in the country have assembled on the best horses around in a wonderful facility, which should provide a fantastic venue to showcase the talents of these student-athletes. The I/I staff has done another marvelous job organizing and managing the dozens of tournaments leading up to this watershed event. Good luck to all the teams.”

The USPA Women’s Interscholastic Championship finalist team line-ups are:

Northeastern Regional Winner:  Cornell University

Devin Cox, age 21

Emma Eldredge, age 18

Claire Stieg, age 20

Elena Wicker, age 20

Anna Winslow, age 20

Southeastern Regional Winner: University of Virginia

Caroline Hardie, age 18

Katie Mitcham, age 19

Mary Collins, age 19

Julia Smith, age 20

Central Regional Winner: Texas A&M

Hollie Boggess, age 21

Celine Henke, age 20

Kendall Plank, age 19

Lara Straussfeld, age 20

Western Regional Winner: Oregon State University

Carina Deck, age 20

Nicole Johnson, age 21

Emily McGaffey, age 19

Mekayla Means-Brous, age 20

Mariah Mudget, age 20

Wild Card Selection: University of Connecticut

Julia Bedos, age 19

Roberta Bigelow, age 22

Audriana Finney, age 21

Kara Googins, age 21

Tessa Kell, age 19

Audry Persano, age 20

Carly Persano, age 19

Lauren Pfahler, age 19

Sara Tufts, age 19

Nora Young, age 21

The USPA Men’s Interscholastic Championship finalist team line-ups are:

Northeastern Regional Winner:  Cornell University

Hakan Karabey, age 21

Alex Langlois, age 21

Ignacio Masias, age 19

Kamran Pirasteh, age 19

Nicholas Stieg, age 22

Southeastern Regional Winner: University of Virginia

Aristide Faggionato, age 21

Devin Jones, age 21

Eduardo Lopez, age 22

Merrall Echezarreta, age 18

Santiago Marulanda, age 22

Central Regional Winner: Colorado State University

Jered Berg, age 20

James Dodge, age 20

Alden Kokesh, age 19

Alex Kokesh, age 21

Kareem Rosser, age 22

Andrew Wildermuth, age 18

Western Regional Winner:  Westmont College

Carey Osimo, age 19

Michael Esparza, age 20

Tony Uretz, age 21

Wild Card Selection: Texas A&M University

Daniel Galindo, age 21

Kyle Hamilton, age 21

Gideo Kotkowski, age 19

Connor Snow, age 20

Casey Woodfin, age 20

Dalton Woodfin, age 20

Jaun Zermeno, age 22

Wild Card Selection: Southern Methodist University

Michael Armour, age 19

Manuel Ituarte, age 20

Maxi Langlois, age 19

James T Shiverick, age 18

Tristan Smyth, age 20

Match Schedule and Venue:
The first men’s match will be played on Monday, April 6, with Southern Methodist vs University of Virginia at 7:00 PM EST.  The first women’s match will be played Tuesday, April 7, with Texas A&M vs Oregon State at 11:00 AM EST.  The Men’s Semi-Finals matches will be played on Wednesday, April 8, with Colorado State vs Game One Winner at 6:30 PM EST. and Cornell University vs Texas A&M at 8:30 PM EST. The Women’s Semi- Finals will be played on Thursday, April 9, with University of Virginia vs Game One Winner at 4:30PM EST. and University of Connecticut vsCornell University at 6:30 PM EST. The women’s and men’s championship games will be played on Saturday, April 11, at 10:00 AM EST. and 12:00 PM EST. respectively. All matches will be played at the University of Connecticut’s Horsebarn Hill Arena, Horsebarn Hill Road, Storrs, CT.

About the United States Polo Association ® Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Program
The United States Polo Association runs over 30 tournaments annually through its Intercollegiate/Interscholastic (I/I) program, whose mission is to promote and grow the sport of polo by providing maximum exposure to the sport, recruiting collegiate and scholastic institutions, coordinating activities of member schools and players, providing for organized competition including sponsoring and administering regional and national tournaments with an emphasis on sportsmanship, fairness and safety, and by effectively utilizing funding for the benefit of I/I activities.   More information about the USPA’s I/I program is available on its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/iipolo.

About the United States Polo Association ®
Founded in 1890, the United States Polo Association (USPA) is the national governing body for the sport of polo in North America and is one of the oldest sport governing bodies in the United States. With over 270 member clubs and 40 national tournaments, the USPA governs polo handicaps, tournament rules and safety regulations, to ensure the welfare and being of both pony and player. Funded by sales from the officially licensed consumer brand, U.S. Polo Assn., the USPA purposefully re-invests revenue by underwriting numerous development programs to expand and sustain the sport of polo. For more information please visit www.uspolo.org.