MIDWAY, Ky. - After three-consecutive runner-up finishes, Midway hunt seat returns to action this weekend believing it has the pieces and strategy needed to capture an elusive region title.

Heath Gunnison, whose ninth season as Midway head coach begins at the University of Louisville Shows on Saturday and Sunday, expects a strong start out of the gate after a productive offseason preparing his horses for competition.

"The horses did very well throughout the summer," said Gunnison, adding that his team only had five weeks to prepare from the start of school to the first competition so "it plays a big role with the horses being ready."

Even more exciting is that for the first time in over 20 years, the Eagles will have a returning national champion on their roster. Fresh off a first-place finish in limit flat at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships, junior Reese Dorsey returns with hopes of elevating into the open division.

Of Dorsey, who also won limit flat and limit over fences titles at IHSA Zones, Gunnison said "She's ready for that move up (to open) and looking forward to it."

Midway also brings back a defending regional winner in Emily Sue Watts, an introductory champion in 2025.

Other returning upper-level riders include Riley Whelan and Zoe Macbeth, while Gunnison says freshmen Finley Scheffel and Kathryne Hammond are both "going to start off really strong in the intermediate."

In an attempt to overtake defending champion Miami (Ohio) in the region, Gunnison plans to implement what he calls a risky strategy. 

While Dorsey will eventually compete in the division after she levels up, the Eagles aren't planning to have any riders in open fences early, instead loading up at other levels of competition, on which Gunnison says the IHSA puts just as much emphasis.

"It is really going to be a strategy this year," he said. "It's going to have to be really, really thought out and (looked at) daily just to keep tabs on everything to see where we're going. But I think we an still pull it off. We will be well-represented at all other levels."

He's optimistic this new approach will get his squad over the hump in the region.

"We keep getting closer every year," Gunnison said. "I think this is the year."