Interscholastic Equestrian Association Announces New Youth Board Leaders

Columbus, Ohio – November 11, 2016 – The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) is pleased to announce the 2016-2017 Youth Board Members. This is the second year for the youth board. “The intention of the Youth Board is to provide adult IEA members and leadership an avenue to hear the youth voice and to offer an opportunity for leadership to IEA youth members,” said IEA Education Committee Chair, Amanda Garner. The Youth Board was created by IEA’s Education Committee and has a seat for a Hunt Seat and Western representative for each zone. After an extensive application and election process, the new Youth Board members for IEA’s 15th Anniversary season are:

Zone 1 (New England):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Shannon Gorsky – a senior from Tolland, Connecticut and
member of Full Circle Farm team
- Western Representative: Grace Markowski – a junior from Grafton, Massachusetts and
member of Hillside Meadows team
Zone 2 (Mid-East):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Kimberly Pokstis – a senior from Warwick, New York and
member of Greystone Stables team
- Western Representative: Anna Lia Sullivan – a senior from Southampton, New Jersey and
member of Saddlebrook Equestrian Center team
Zone 3 (Upper Southeast):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Elizabeth Trexler – a senior from Chatham, Virginia and
member of Chatham Hall
Zone 4 (Lower Southeast):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Abbe Humphries – a junior from Dunwoody, Georgia and
member of Fortitude Farm team
Zone 5 (Great Lakes):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Hayley Carsonie – a senior from Hilliard, Ohio and member of
Sid Griffith’s Equestrian Team
- Western Representative: Keegan Lammers – a junior from Delaware, Ohio and member of
Team JGPH
Zone 7 (Central South/Lower Plains):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Alexandra Prymek – a senior from Shreveport, Louisiana and
member of Hidden Acres Equestrian team
- Western Representative: Madison Vance – a junior from Pawnee, Oklahoma and member
of Diamond V Ranch Equestrians team
Zone 8 (South West/Rocky Mountains):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Fallon O’Connell – a junior from Scottsdale, Arizona and
member of Scottsdale Equestrian Team
Zone 10 (West Coast):
- Hunt Seat Representative: Alex Bischoff – a sophomore from Simi Valley, California and
member of Elvenstar UH team

Each of these 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 will board will be counseled by two IEA Alumni and two IEA advisors:

Alumni Representative – Hannah Bentz from Boca Raton, Florida and 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
Adult Advisor – Sharalyn Prieskorn, IEA Membership Office Coordinator and Advisor
Adult Advisor – Sue Wentzel, IEA National Steward

Celebrating its 15th season, the IEA has more than 13,000 middle and high school student-riders across the United States. The IEA was organized to promote and improve the quality of equestrian competition and instruction available to middle and secondary school students and is open to public and private schools and barn teams. Its purpose is to set minimum standards for competition, provide information concerning the creation and development of school associated equestrian sport programs, to generally promote the common interests of safe riding instruction and competition and education on matters related to equestrian competition at the middle and secondary school levels. For more information, please view the IEA website at: www.rideiea.org.