Meet the Officers 2024-2025

President

Katie Szpak is a Land Survey and Mapping major and competes in the Limit Division. She has been competing in IHSA since 2021 and transferred to the University of Akron team in 2023. She has been riding on and off in the Hunt Seat and Dressage Discipline for 15 years, but has been consistently competing in the Hunter/Jumper ring for 5 years.

Vice President/Social Media

Li Consbruck is an Accounting major with a minor in Finance. She had been riding on and off for a number of years, but recently got back into riding when she joined the team two years ago. Now she competes for the team in the Novice Division.

Secretary

Jordan Pasterchek has competed for our team in the Limit Division for two years and is a Business Administration major. In her spare time, she primarily shows in the Jumpers when she is not riding for the team.

Treasurer

Gwen Sterrett is an Emergency Management and Homeland Security Major and competes for our team in the Limit Division. She joined the team in 2021 and has become our dedicated "boot cleaner" at shows. Gwen currently leases a 12 year old OTTB, Honor, and competes at the starter level in Eventing when she is not showing with the team.

Fundraising

Chris Krupka is a Mechanical Engineering Major at Akron and competes for our team in the Introductory Division. He joined the team in 2023 and won his first ribbon that season. Chris is also a novice bull rider in his spare time.

Alumni

Alaina Stamler graduated Spring 2024 with a degree in Business Administration and a minor in Marketing. She had been on the team for 3 years and competed in the Limit Division. She plans on continuing to work as a vet tech at an equine vet practice and run their social media pages. In her spare time she shows her horse Willie in the Hunters.

Nicole Faulhaber graduated from Akron in 2024 with a Marketing major. She has been on the team for 3 years and showed in the Limit Division. She plans to work for a company doing social media marketing and continue growing her personal training business.

Matt Koss is a 2024 UA alumni with a major in Mechanical Engineering Technology with a minor in Business Administration. He joined the team for his senior year and showed in the Introductory Division. He has plans to move to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and work as a Application Engineer for Swagelok to serve the oil, gas, and petrochem markets. He also plans to continue riding to become a more experienced rider.

Erin Keller is another 2024 UA alumni who majored in Electrical Engineering at Akron. She had been on the team since 2019 and competed in the Limit and Intermediate Divisions. After graduation she will be working at Parker Aerospace as a controls engineer.

Karissa Chin recently graduated Spring 2024 and rode for the team for 2 years in the Introductory Division. She has plans to move to Tacoma, Washington in pursuit of a career in marketing Analytics.

Sami Butler graduated from Akron in Spring 2023 with a degree in Photography. She competed with the team for 3 years in the Novice division and now has a horse of her own named Card.

Cara Bunner graduated from Akron in 2022 with a degree in Biology. She primarily rode haflingers before joining our team and is now preparing for medical school.

Dana Brown is our former president and a 2022 Akron alumni. She graduated with a Bachelors in Speech Pathology. She plans to go to grad school and continue showing her personal horses.

Madison Lance is a 2022 UA alumni, graduating with a degree in Social Work. Maddie competed with our team for 4 years and showed in 4H prior to joining Akron's team.

Madison Varga is a 2021 UA Alumni from the Marketing Management Program who rode on the team for two years. She's a former IEA rider and has been riding for several years.

Danielle Spencer is a 2021 UA Alumni from the Nursing Program and rode on the team for all 4 years. She has been riding for many years, primarily as a Hunter/Equitation Rider.

Shiryl Stafford is a 2020 UA Alumni from the College of Business and has been riding on the team for 4 years. She primarily competes in Eventing.