PLANK CO Taylor Olcott, Micaela Saracco, Dayelle Fargey, Kendall Plank
The 2021 USPA Women’s Pacific Coast Open Championship, played at the Eldorado Polo Club, was won by Kendal Plank and her Plank Co polo team.
Played in a round-robin format over two days – December 31 and January 2 – the tournament featured three teams;
PLANK CO 16 – Kendal Plank 4, Dayelle Fargey 7, Taylor Olcott 2, Micaela Saracco 3.
CHEVAL ATHLETICS 15 – Catlin Dix 5, Malia McCoy 4, Sierra Dunbar 3, Kaile Roos 3.
SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB 16 – Melanja Jones 3, Jennifer Alexy 4, Jessica Bailey 5, Cory Williams 4.
Starting on day one (Friday), Cheval, with a handicap award of ½, faced off against Santa Barbara. With the scoring even at three each, Cheval led by a count of 3 ½ – 3 going to day two.
Plank Co came onto the field for the middle set to face Santa Barbara and after the two chukkers, led by one goal at 3 – 2.
The Kendal Group stayed up as Cheval, with another handicap of ½, came back out for the final two periods, and Plank Co rode to a lead at 3 – 2 ½.
Once again, in front of a large Cantina crowd, the first Sunday action was the same as Friday’s with Cheval and Santa Barbara meeting. While the first-day scoring was even, Sunday’s was not as Cheval counted three to none for Santa Barbara, leading to a win by Cheval at 6 ½ to 3.
Goals were tough to find in the middle chukkers, with just one scored by Plank Co. The result was a Plank Co victory at 4 to 2 over Santa Barbara.
The final two periods of the round-robin format – and certainly the most exciting - saw Plank Co and Cheval play for the championship. With an early goal, Plank Co increased their lead at 4 – 2 ½, but Cheval came back with a pair to take the lead away at 4 ½ – 4. Plank scored another, and they now led again at 5 – 4 ½. Making it very interesting, Cheval counted another, and they now led 5 ½ – 5. With little time left, MVP Taylor Olcott converted a penalty three to secure the victory for Plank Co at 6 – 5 ½.
Plank Co 2 0 +2 ½
Cheval Athletics 1 1 +3
Santa Barbara 0 2 -5 ½
Olcott led scoring for the winners with five goals (one foul), Fargey had three (one foul), and Saracco scored two (one foul).
Dix led cheval, scoring with seven goals (three fouls), Dunbar with three (one foul), and Roos contributed one.
Alexy led Santa Barbara, scoring three goals (one foul), while Jones and Williams counted one each.
As mentioned earlier, Olcott was selected as the Most Valuable Player to her team, and Sorpresa, played by Saracco in her second chukker and owned by Luis Saracco, was chosen as the Best Playing Pony.
The Sunny Hale Memorial Horsemanship Award was presented to Malia McCoy.
Tony Gregg