Dover, DE – After almost a year of planning and preparation, the Delaware State University Women Equestrian Team will commence its first competitive season with seven meets scheduled for the 2006-2007 season.

Led by Head Coach Leigh Nichol and Assistant Head Coach Amy Walls and Western Assistant Coach Bill Brown, the inaugural Lady Hornets equestrian team begins its first season with six team members – Kayleigh Karnbach, Kamerra Brown, Christina Smith, Kera Russum, Jenna Warren and Morgan Scuse.

Coach Nichol will have a Lady Hornets’ nucleus for several years; Karnbach, Brown, Smith and Scuse are all freshmen riders. Warren is a sophomore, and Russum is a junior.

The current home of DSU women’s equestrian team is the Magical Acres Farm, a horse stable and practice areas located west of Cheswold, DE. It is at that location where the equestrian team maintains a stable of 14 horses, which it uses for training and practice purposes.

Under the rules of NCAA-sanctioned equestrian sport, riders compete on unfamiliar horses in either the English or Western riding categories. Of the six founding DSU women’s equestrian team members, only Morgan Scuse will compete in the Western category, with the rest competing as English riders.

Also working with the DSU women’s equestrian team is Sheldon Powell, barn manager.

“We have a beautiful facility, an amazing staff, and we gare etting great horses; now we need to get more riders,” Coach Nichol said. “The way we are set up, we should be pretty successful.”

The 2006-2007 season will take the DSU women’s equestrian team to the far north, south and western reaches of the United States. All of the meets for the DSU Lady Hornets will be away during their inaugural season. The team will compete against the following opponents:

Oct. 13 - Southern Methodist at Dallas, Texas
Oct. 14 - Stephen F. Austin State at Nacogdoches, Texas
Oct. 15 - Texas A&M at College Station, Texas
Nov. 11 - South Dakota State at Brookings, South Dakota
Feb. 17 - Tennessee at Martin, Tennessee
March 2 - New Mexico State at Las Cruces, New Mexico
March 3 - California State University at Fresno, California
March 17 - Auburn University at Auburn, Alabama
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