Athlete of the issue: Ricky Neal

By BRIAN HOLMAN
Student contributor

While he may not get the at­tention that athletes in football or basketball do, junior Ricky Neal works just as hard. He spends two to three hours Wednesday through Sunday training for an equestrian event called show jumping, in which he and his horse must race to hurdle a course of several ob­stacles at a height of 1.4 meters (about 4.6 feet.)

Each time the horse clips an obstacle, devastat­ing penalty seconds are added to the rider’s time and can mean the difference between first and worst. Neal’s hard work paid off in the summer, where he placed first a highly prestigious event called Spruce Meadows in Alberta, Can­ada and collected a prize of $7000. He has entered numerous compe­titions since, usually participating in one or two horse shows a month all throughout California. Last weekend he competed in Burbank, and the week before he traveled to Sacramento. When asked about the sport, Neal replied, “The most interesting part [of show jump­ing] is its unpredictability. At any moment, you can screw up your whole round; you don’t get any second chances. It’s all kind of spur of the moment, and anything can happen.” Neal hopes to take his love of the sport to some de­gree of a career. Next year, Neal will begin competing in a few pro­fessional competitions.