W.F. West High School’s equestrian team, made up of riders from schools across Lewis County, are used to riding in front of big crowds.
When the team rode on Wednesday and Thursday for attendees of the Southwest Washington Fair Rodeo at the Grandstands, it likely wasn’t their most packed performance this year.
In June, the 12-rider team took gold in a regional competition against teams from schools throughout Washington and Oregon after an undefeated season of district performances.
The rodeo-riding team wasn’t perfectly identical to the regional winners due to some turnover from high school seniors, but was still led by the veteran gold medalists.
Adna High School student Hailee Hellem is the drill team’s leader for the 2023-24 season, taking over for Centralia High School grad Jeznee Journee. The team is coached by Crusi Joblonski.
With Hellem’s whistles as their guide, the riders wave flags, weave across patterns and make synchronized turns as music plays. Parents and coaches sometimes call drill “the football” of equestrian events.
Though many events on horseback are completed by individual riders, the W.F. West drill team and equestrian collective overall encourages friendships between students across the county, including athletes from Mossyrock, Centralia, Winlock, Adna, Toledo, Napavine and Onalaska.
Events in the Grandstands arena are set to continue over the weekend, with 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monster Truck shows on Saturday and the demolition derby on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Tickets to both events are sold separately from fair admission.
For more information and a schedule of events, head to https://southwestwashingtonfair.org/events or call the Fair Office at 360-740-1495.
