Women’s Polo team wins championship third time in a row

The Women’s Polo team won the national championship for the third time in a row this year, despite sickness among UConn’s horses which almost forced them to cancel the season.

Their coach, Matthew Syme, also missed much of the season because of shoulder surgery.

Riding borrowed mounts, the team – senior Meaghan Scanlon, and juniors Elizabeth Rockwell and Kelly Wisner – defeated the University of Virginia in the final on April 6 in Lexington, Ky.

After the UConn herd was quarantined in January because of an outbreak of equine herpes virus, a respiratory infection, the team traveled to Yale University several times a week to practice.

Home games were canceled, and during away games, the UConn players had to ride horses owned by their opponents.

Polo is a club sport at UConn. There are about 25 college teams in the nation, divided into four regions.