For the third straight year, the Westmont Men’s Club Polo Team has won the U.S. Polo Association Western Regionals, and a berth in the USPA national intercollegiate championships in Charlottesville, Va., April 6-11. Westmont beat Stanford, 20-4, for the championship Saturday, after powering past Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, 33-6, on Friday.
[inset}This year’s team includes Collin White, a returning player and junior from Napa, and new players Bodie Bottoms, a senior from Santa Barbara, and Wiley Uretz, a freshman from La Quinta. Uretz and White were selected to the men’s all-star team and Bottoms received honorable mention for sportsmanship at the three-day tournament.
The team nearly succeeded in its unexpected quest for a national championship in 2007, losing 12-8 to Texas A&M in the finals at the Kentucky Horse Park.
John Westley, owner of the Santa Barbara Polo School, coaches the team.
Polo became a club sport on campus eight years ago, but students were unable to field a team until three years ago. The team practices with Westley at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club and plays games on Sundays, riding horses on loan from the Santa Barbara Youth Polo Association.
Scott Craig is media relations manager at Westmont College.
