FARGO, N.D. - South Dakota State's Britta Barta rode to her fourth straight first place finish in open horsemanship to start the season and four more Jackrabbit Western riders qualified for the regional show in March at an IHSA Western show over the weekend in Fargo, N.D.

"I'm very happy with the results from the entire weekend and I'm excited about our girls' chances in the postseason," SDSU interim head coach Joe Humphrey said. "I saw a lot of individual improvement this weekend that did not necessarily show in the placings, but our riders handled some adverse situations well and showed a lot of polish."

The four SDSU riders to qualify for the IHSA Regional Show in March include Barta, Amy Mandelke, Trisha Smeenk and Hannah Stone, who join Hillery Baysinger, who qualified earlier in the season.

Senior Angela Gebhart took home one of the Jackrabbits' seven first place finishes over the weekend, and added a second place finish on Saturday to earn high point rider honors.

Other first place finishes include Shelby Webb in open horsemanship, Laura Dunlavy and Gina Jespersen in their sections of novice horsemanship and Trisha Smeenk in advanced horsemanship.

The weekend show marked the end of the fall schedule for the Jackrabbit equestrian team. The SDSU riders now return to action in an IHSA show in River Falls, Wis., on Saturday Feb. 19-20, 2011.