Cal U equestrian team rallies around coach
Amelia Lipkind of Bethel Park, a junior graphics design major at Cal U and a member of the Cal U Equestrian Team models one of the shirts she and the team sold to help raise money for coach Sue Malencia's treatments for breast cancer
Sue Malencia (front) brushes Crush, one of her horses on the farm while Amelia Lipkind (background), a member of the Cal U Equestian Team, brushes Pinball.
Sue Malencia of Finleyville brushes Crush, one of her horses on her farm
For 17 years, Susan Malencia was more than just a coach for the California University of Pennsylvania equestrian team. She was a mother figure and good friend to the women on the team.
So when Malencia was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, the team felt it was their time to be there for her.
Team member Amelia Lipkind, a graphic design major, designed the T-shirts and other the items sold for a fundraiser to help Malencia with her mounting medical bills. The team sold 98 items, including T-shirts, sweat pants, beanies, hooded jackets and embroidered jackets.
“She is 100 percent like a mother to us. She is always there for us, and that’s why I felt the need to be there for her. It’s the least we could do for her,” Lipkind said.
The items were sold online so alumni and the public could make purchases.
“We decided to get everyone in the community and alumni who have been on the team involved,” said Casadi Stainbrook, a junior, and a team captain.
Lipkind said a second sale is possible, but left that decision up to the incoming president of the club.
Riding has been a big part of Malencia’s life. A resident of Ginger Hill, she has been around horses since she was 8.
“I begged my dad like every little kid who wanted a horse,” said Malencia, who owned her first horse at age 11.
She went from competitions to coaching by the time she was 16.
Malencia, who will turn 60 next month, held practices at her facilities in Ginger Hill.
Diagnosed in August, she started treatment in September at Monongahela Valley Hospital.
“I’m doing very well with this, but I don’t have the energy to coach the team so I passed on the reins to Kaley Reil,” Malencia said.
She learned of the fundraiser through Lipkind, who she called, “the rock who holds the team together.”
“I’m very appreciative that the team is doing this for me,” Malencia said. “My health insurance is not covering a large bit of it.
“I’m appreciative that they care that much. Over the years, the kids graduate but I don’t lose track of them. I’m friends with them 16 or 17 years later.”
The team continues to support Malencia.
“I started riding one of her horses and I’d come out and spend four to five hours a day once a week,” Lipkind said. “She is such a fun person and you learn a lot from her. We obviously want to support her and it was time for us to do something for her because she has always done so much for us.”
“She is a strong person and avid about what she does,” Stainbrook added. “She looks at each person as an individual and tries to help each person. She does so much for us that we decided to do something for her.”
Stainbrook said Malencia was always there for the team members during and after competitions.
“She is definitely a mentor in a lot of our lives,” Stainbrook said. “We all idolize her as a person.”