By Carol Hodes for the SBOANJ
MANALAPAN, NJ – July 1, 2015 –
The daughters of three trainers were named 2015 recipients of $2,500
scholarships from the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New
Jersey.
The honorees are Caitlin
McDermott of Allentown, NJ, daughter of Kevin and Sheri McDermott; Leah
Mazer-Posner of Jackson, NJ, daughter of Colleen and Mike Posner, and Stephanie
Lauer of Highstown, NJ, daughter of Bruce and Marie Lauer.
Caitlin McDermott, 20, is
preparing to combine her “knowledge of horses and human therapeutic techniques
into an amazing career.”
McDermott expects to graduate
from Florida Southern College in May of 2016 with a degree in biological
sciences and athletic training. She was the recipient of an SBOANJ
scholarship in 2012 and was a past Standardbred Equestrian of the Year.
Posner “always knew I wanted
to have a career that involved horses” and now has the goal to be an equine
surgeon. The 18-year-old competitively shows horses and volunteers to
foster rescue dogs.
She is enrolled in Ocean
County Community College where she took two courses while a senior in high
school this past spring.
Lauer, a four-year honor roll
student in high school, spent her freshman year at Radford University and
transferred to the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, in 2014. She is a
competitive swimmer and owns a standardbred who raced in her father’s stable
and is now retired as her riding horse.
“I am majoring in special
education,” Lauer said. “I plan on continuing my dream with a riding
facility.”
She hopes to use standardbreds
to teach riding “to mentally and physically challenged people…and work with
wounded soldiers.”
McDermott, Posner and Lauer
will be presented with their scholarship checks and plaques in the Meadowlands
winner’s circle on July 25, 2015, the night of the Anthony Abbatiello New
Jersey Classic and the Thomas D’Altrui Miss New Jersey.
