|
||||||||
|
RIDERS FROM THREE DIFFERENT ZONES CAPTURE INDIVIDUAL ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIPS West Springfield, MA - Though considerable attention is often given to the IHSA Nationals hunter seat and western team competitions each year, the fact is that only about 17 hunter seat teams and, with the advent of Semifinals, only nine western teams are involved in their respective team competitions at the year-end show. As the IHSA turned 40 in 2007 there were over 300 equestrian teams made up of at least one rider if not many, and only 117 could claim an undergraduate competitor of theirs was entered at Nationals. It is an uphill battle to survive Regionals and either Zones or Semifinals to qualify individually for the National show, and in many cases limited shows - or extremely unlimited class sections in fewer cases - make it equally difficult to earn the points needed to go to Regionals in the first place. For those who survive to reach Nationals individually, this is essentially their Super Bowl. Many teams go years without ever advancing a rider to IHSA Nationals, and though no hunter seat program with a long gap between their last appearance with at least one rider at Nationals and the 2007 show claimed a blue ribbon there were a pair of schools with no known prior hunter seat qualifiers who won reserve champion awards while one other school claimed a reserve champion rider after scarcely qualifying anyone this decade. 2007 IHSA Nationals started with an individual hunter seat division, the intermediate fences. Entering the ring at 8:53AM, Jennifer Cumming of Virginia Intermont College was the first of 18 riders on course and the first of several hundred riders to compete for a National Championship ribbon of any kind. Hunter seat judges Linda Shahinian and Randy Mullins awarded Cumming a score of '72,' which turned out to be right in the middle of the pack. As the class continued it became apparent that the combined scores of the judges were slighly lower than at past Nationals for the intermediate. Though only three intermediate riders scored in the '80's, which was the same number as one year ago in Harrisburg, the number of riders scoring below 70 was up noticably, with eight riders at '69' or lower as opposed to only three in 2006. Once all 18 riders had completed their jumping rounds, the judges called back four of them. Sacred Heart senior Danielle Curcio, who led the scoring with an '83,' was asked to switch horses with Bryana McGillycuddy of Boston College, who had been third in the scoring with an '80.' Findlay senior Travis Womer, who would ride in both the english and western portions of 2007 Nationals, had earned an '81' and was asked to swap horses with Mount Holyoke senior Christine Gunn, who was probably thankful that though she was not in the eighties she was still invited to test. Each of the riders then rode the eight-fence course a second time, after which the riders in the division were asked to return to the ring for the presentation of the ribbons. Katherine Wichmann of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was the first of many riders over the four-day weekend to receive a ribbon above the participation level, with her '70' score over fences worthy of tenth place. Cumming was ninth while former University of Kentucky rider Carly Swatek earned eighth place. Now a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Swatek had received a score of '73.' Whitney Yoder of Ohio University was seventh with a '74' while Gloria Gonzalez earned the first of several ribbons in the individual classes for Savannah College of Art & Design, placing sixth. The Bees had a field day at Zone 5 Zones in early April, advancing five riders to Nationals on an individual basis. Gonzalez had received a '76' while University of Denver sophomore Nicole Stern received a '77' and the pink ribbon. Stern and teammates Jessica Stone and Whitney Stahl are the first hunter seat riders in University of Denver program history to qualify for Nationals, though their Head Coach Molly Rinedollar competed for Colorado State University at several IHSA National shows in the early 1990's, capturing the alumni fences championship in 1995. Though anyone writing down the judge's scores could generally guess the placings up to this point, the four remaining riders waited to hear if the testing helped or hurt their chances at a blue ribbon. Curcio fell out of favor slightly when tested, the Long Valley, New Jersey resident bumped down to fourth. BC sophomore McGillycuddy did not move up or down, as she was third overall headed into the testing a third overall when the class was pinned. Gunn gained the most from her test, as the senior from Grosse Pointe, Michigan placed second overall in spite of a '79' score initially. Womer, who had won the individual AQHA Trophy at 2006 Nationals and the individual novice western horsemanship division at 2005 Nationals, remained undefeated at the year-end show with his first IHSA Nationals hunter seat blue ribbon of any kind. Womer delivered Findlay the first blue ribbon of 2007 Nationals, moving up one placing thanks to a superior second ride.
Following the individual intermediate fences was a team class, novice fences. Womer's teammate Becky Baumel received a score of '84' and remained the best after a three-way test to secure Findlay another blue ribbon. Though the Oilers had a rider in every individual western division not to mention the individual AQHA rider and a full western team in the competition, they did not have a rider in every individual hunter seat division. Zone 6 was represented by Hannah John-Conry of Ohio University and Amanda Patterson of Otterbein College in the third class of the day, the individual open over fences. This was one of only five instances (including the Cacchione Cup class) that a Findlay rider was not qualified to take part in a class all weekend. The third of four jumping classes held on May 3rd, the individual open fences was surprisingly made up of 18 riders who had not competed in the division at a previous IHSA Nationals show (Several riders, such as Dartmouths' Tim Malone and Mount Holyokes' Nathalie Cooper, had competed at a prior IHSA Nationals but not in this division). In contrast to the first two divisions, Shahinian and Mullins gave higher scores to the riders in this division, with five riders into the '80's and just as many at '69' or below. The rider with the highest score prior to testing was St. Lawrence University sophomore Dorrie Douglas, who received the highest score thus far with an '85' as many members of her family watched. The judges decided to test each of the five riders who scored '80' or higher. The test involved only four fences rather than a complete ride over the original course. When all the riders returned for the awarding of ribbons tenth place went to Malone with a '75' while ninth went to University of Delaware freshman Nicole Adams, who earned a '76' in her first Nationals appearance. Eighth went to Northern Illinois University sophomore Michael Lenard, who scored a '76.50' in his first IHSA Nationals ride. A score of '77' was awarded to yet another rider who was making her Nationals debut. Clemson University sophomore Charlotte Powers, who like Malone and Lenard would compete for the Cacchione Cup later on was seventh with that '77' score while sixth went to Cooper. The Mount Holyoke senior who would compete in the Cacchione had earned a '78' but would fair better in every single class she had yet to compete in as the weekend progressed. Andrew Olen of Franklin & Marshall College was only the second rider in team history to compete at IHSA Nationals when he received a score of '81' over the open jumps. The test actually dropped Olen one place to fifth, still an improvement over Amy Lloyds' seventh in individual open flat at 2002 Nationals for F&M. Olen traded places with University of Mary Washington freshman Jessica Van Brocklin, who had earned an '80' score but placed fourth overall. Unlike Olen and Van Brocklin, University of Southern California senior Braidee Foote would not be competing for the Cacchione Cup as the show progressed. Good news for Foote is that she is the first Trojan rider in at least eleven years to compete at an IHSA Nationals show. Even better for the senior from Laguna Hills, California was her placing. Foote was third overall, having scored an '84' prior to testing. Douglas had scored an '85,' but the sophomore from West Bridgewater, Massachusetts received the red ribbon. This meant that Skidmore College junior Jessica Schroff, who had finished one place ahead of Douglas at Zone 2 Zones on April 7th had done so again. From Buffalo, New York, Schroff became the fifth Thoroughbred rider in program history to win the division. This division has certainly been Skidmores' strong point, as the Thoroughbreds have five total championships in the other seven undergraduate divisions combined (Skidmore also has two Cacchione Cup Champions and five National Champion Teams since 1990). Schroff moved up in the testing phase, having scored an '82' initially.
The third of five individual hunter seat classes to take place on opening day, the individual novice fences, was the final jumping class until the next morning and featured the first known Nationals qualifiers from no less than five schools. The scores were not as good as those awarded to the open riders, with eight of eighteen riders in the 60's or lower. Two riders received scores of '80' or higher. One was Rachel Samuels of Centenary College, whose only previous appearance at IHSA Nationals was last season, when her score of '77' in team novice over fences was not enough to make the top six. While Samuels had led the way with an '82' Florida State senior Shannon Doherty was not far behind, having earned an '80' in what was the first ride in IHSA Nationals history for an FSU Seminole rider. Following testing for Samuels and Doherty the entire class was invited back for the awarding of ribbons. Tenth place received quite a hand, as Lindsey Woodburn of Virginia Tech walked forward to claim her ribbon. It had been only two and a half weeks since the tragic slayings on the Virginia Tech campus (which claimed the life of Emily Jane Hilscher, a freshman on the Hokie team who competed in two shows during the regular season), and the crowd gave Woodburn a standing ovation. Woodburn had just made the '70's at '70.' Ninth place went to Brittany Gragg of the University of Notre Dame/St. Mary's College of Indiana, one of only two IHSA programs nationwide where two schools rode as one in competitions during the 2006-07 season. Gragg's score was '70.50' while Erin Whitmore received a '71' to claim eighth place. Whitmore became the first rider from DePauw University ever to compete at IHSA Nationals let alone earn a ribbon. Marie Hilliard of Mount Holyoke may have graduated in December, and had even spent much of 2007 in Africa, but missing Nationals was not an option after qualifying in the fall. Hilliard finished seventh with a score of '72' while Lila Pemberton of Mount Ida was a green-ribbon winner with a score of '73.' Oakland University started competing in IHSA shows during the 2005-06 season, and after only two seasons the Golden Grizzlies can claim a top five rider in Cortney Glass. Oakland came in fourth behind Findlay, Otterbein and Michigan State within the 16-team Zone 6, Region 3 hunter seat standings this season, and with a new all-Michigan region planned for 2007-08 one wonders how many Grizzlies will qualify for Zone 6 Zones next Spring. Glass, who has one more year with the Grizzlies, earned a '74' to claim the pink ribbon. While Glass was the first rider in Oakland team history to qualify for Nationals, University of Ottawa fourth-year student Lindsay Weatherhead was perhaps the first rider from any Canadian school to qualify for the National show. Though we are still trying to confirm no Canadian school advanced a rider to Nationals in the late 1980's, Weatherhead is certainly the first rider from a Canadian school to compete at Nationals in over 15 years. Weatherhead was fourth with a judge's score of '76.' West Texas A & M sent a full hunter seat team to 2007 IHSA Nationals but scored only one point in the team competition. However Buffs junior Catherine Brown was more fortunate individually. From Grapevine, Texas, Brown finished third overall in the individual novice fences, earning a score of '78.' For once the testing portion of a division did not affect the top two. Doherty was reserve champion in what would be her only IHSA Nationals undergraduate ride, the senior from Anthony, Florida bringing the Seminoles the first of what would be two top five ribbons on this day. Samuels, a junior from Pennsville, New Jersey, was tops in the test providing Centenary College with their first individual blue ribbon of 2007 Nationals but not their last. While Doherty, Whitmore, Glass and (probably) Weatherhead all came up with ribbons while their respective schools were represented at Nationals for the first time, Caroline Beasley had finished out of the ribbons as the first-ever Lander University rider to compete at IHSA Nationals. However Beasley and division winner Samuels had a second ride that afternoon, as they were the only two riders qualified in both individual novice divisions. Held after the jumps were removed and in between the first and second flat phases of the Cacchione Cup Competition, the individual novice flat division was the eighth of eleven classes held at the Big E on opening day and the fourth of five hunter seat individual classes on May 3rd. As was the case with nearly every hunter seat equitation class at 2007 Nationals, riders were asked to walk, trot and canter in each direction, and then to line up. Though the process would later change so that all but ten riders would be excused at this stage of the individual hunter classes, the individual novice flat was split into two groups, with nine riders returning to the rail for more flat work. When Shahinian and Mullins had seen enough, the remaining nine riders went out on the rail while the initial nine lined up. Eventually all eighteen riders were in the middle of the ring again and the awards were given out. Though the University of Denver had never advanced a rider to IHSA Nationals prior to 2007 Whitney Stahl became the third member of the Pioneer equestrian team to compete on this day, earning tenth place. Molly Migliaccio, who is the first member of the St. Mary of the Woods hunter seat team since 1998 to compate at IHSA Nationals, earned the ninth place ribbon. Migliaccio would not be the only St. Mary of the Woods rider to ride hunter seat at 2007 Nationals. The rider who placed eighth had a shot at IHSA History. St. Lawrence University senior Jessica Campbell may still be in the record books anyway, but had she finished first it would have marked the first time ever that a Mother and Daughter had won classes at IHSA Nationals. Campbells' mom is Suzie Horrigan Campbell, who won the individual open flat in 1977, the individual open over fences in 1975 and '77, and the Cacchione Cup in 1976. Unless someone can show otherwise, Campbell may be the first IHSA rider to place inside the top ten at Nationals whose mother won a previous Nationals class (We at Campus Equestrian hope they will ride alumni against each other - Editor). Though Beasley did not place in her first ride, her performance in novice flat earned her seventh place. Campus Equestrian owes an apology to the Randolph-Macon Woman's College equestrian team. We thought because the web site for the school had changed over to 'Randolph College' at the begining of the calendar year that the school name had changed as well. However the official name change would not take place until July 1st, so when Kristen Ackerson earned sixth place in novice flat the senior from Concord, New Hampshire became the final rider in program history to compete with 'Macon' and 'Woman's' in the school title (the name change came about as their already is a Randolph-Macon College while the Woman's College went co-ed). Macie Ayers was the first of two Kansas State riders to compete in the hunter seat divisions, placing fifth while Emily Gaffey became the second Florida State rider in program history after Doherty to make the top five, earning the fourth place ribbon. Lindsay Kohl may have finished out of the ribbons in the team intermediate fences division earlier in the day, but the University of Delaware junior from Newark, Delaware (the same town where her school is located) earned the yellow, third place ribbon in this division. As had been the case with Doherty in novice fences, a rider from a school which had never advanced a rider to Nationals before this day could claim a reserve National Champion. Though teammate Katie Garon had finished out of the ribbons in individual intermediate fences to start the day, Louisiana State senior Margaret Covert earned the Tigers their first IHSA Nationals ribbon of any kind. From Texarkana, Arkansas, Covert had captured the red ribbon, which would be the first of two occasions to celebrate a top ten placing by the Tigers at 2007 Nationals. Though she had finished out of the ribbons in team intermediate flat, the very-busy Samuels won for a second time on this day. The 2007 individual novice flat champion competed in back-to-back classes (individual novice fences and team intermediate flat) before a two-division rest leading up to novice flat. Though some might find it hard to believe Samuels entered the IHSA record books with her second blue ribbon. Heading into the day no undergraduate hunter seat rider below the open level had EVER won two separate individual english classes at the same IHSA National show! Many hunter seat riders had won an individual class and a team class at the same Nationals while many won more than one individual division over the course of two or more National shows, but save for three open riders (including Horrigan) and five alumni the difficult task of surviving Regionals and Zones in two separate divisions and then having to win out twice at Nationals was a mountain too steap to climb. Thanks to Samuels, other novices and intermediates will feel better about their chances should they win their first individual ride at Nationals and have yet another later on in the competition. Sixteen of the eighteen entries in the final individual division of the day would ride only once at 2007 Nationals. Individual walk-trot-canter, the fifth of eight individual alumni classes, started shortly before 4:00PM on what would be a fast Thursday session. Each of the riders walked, trotted and cantered before lining up and spliting into separate groups. When the dust settled, announcer Ken Marash read the placings in reverse order as is the practice at all IHSA National shows. Tenth place went to Maryville College sophomore Julie Pate, who was the only hunter seat rider from Zone 5, Region 1 other than their Cacchione qualifier to compete at 2007 Nationals. Ninth went to Penelope Essoyan of Wesleyan University, who is the first rider from the Middletown, Connecticut school to reach Nationals since former teammate Elizabeth Perry won novice fences in 2004. As had been the case with both Pate and Essoyan, Catherine Buller was the only rider from her school to compete at 2007 Nationals. Buller represented the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, placing eighth overall. Seventh place went to Kylie Bell, who would be one of two North Carolina State riders to compete over the long weekend. Though Penn State had a full team at 2007 Nationals, Lauren Klutchka was one of only two Nittany Lion riders to qualify individually. Counting the team classes, Klutchka was one of three Penn State riders to earn a sixth place ribbon. Laura Bredehorst earned the fifth place ribbon, but she would not be the only University of Connecticut rider over the course of three days to do so. While Migliaccio had placed ninth for St. Mary of the Woods her teammate Sarah Kniesly was fourth in walk-trot-canter. Third went to Lauren McGlory of Savannah College of Art & Design. A sophomore from Wellington, Florida majoring in Fibers according to the SCAD official web site, McGlory was the second of five Bee riders to compete individually over the weekend. Caitlin Hartman became the first Alfred University rider to compete at Nationals since 2001 when she entered the ring to start walk-trot-canter. The junior from Henrietta, New York would exit the ring with the reserve champion red ribbon, perhaps the highest ribbon Alfred has won at a National show to date. The rider who won the class was one of two who had competed in the team novice flat four classes earlier. Zoe Steele-Rand had earned a fourth for the Oilers at that time, but this time she had the top spot all to herself. The sophomore from San Diego, California gave Findlay their third blue ribbon of the day of any kind. Some interesting streaks were on the line headed into the sixth individual hunter seat division of 2007 Nationals. Though five individual english classes had been held on the first day of Nationals, only one would take place on Friday, May 4th. The individual walk-trot was the ninth of thirteen classes held on the second day of Nationals, and each of the previous five walk-trot champions competed for a Zone 1 school. Not since Zone 4 rider Maria Sinopoli of James Madison won the division at 2001 Nationals in Conyers, Georgia had a rider from another Zone prevailed. Three of the five winners since 2002 were Mount Holyoke riders. However the Lyons did not have a rider in this division at the Big E. Caroline Gottschalk had won the division for the University of Connecticut in 2005. The Huskies did have a rider in this division at the Big E on this day. The other streaks in question were if more than two Zones would be represented individually in the winner's circle, and if Zone 1 would be one of them. So far Zones 2 and 6 had all the winners, split amongst only three schools and four riders! Could any of the other six Zones produce a winner? While discussing Zone 1 (since it is their year hosting Nationals) and the subject of streaks (which comes up perhaps more often than some readers would like!) a streak of note went by the wayside during the 2006-07 regular season. Since Zone 1, Region 3 was formed in the late 1980's, the top three teams had always been Mount Holyoke, Smith and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (though not always in that order). In 2006-07 Becker College finally broke the stranglehold, finishing in third place ahead of Smith. Becker also advanced a rider to IHSA Nationals for the first time since Richard Reinhart qualified in 1987 (Reinhart then transfered to the University of Connecticut and won the individual open fences in 1988 - Editor). Freshman Carolyn Kane placed second at Zone 1 Zones on April 7th to advance to Nationals in walk-trot. According to Becker Head Coach Ed Paro, the Hawks will host an IHSA show for the first time in the program's history come October. Though Kane was the only Becker qualifier in '07, it would not surprise many if several of her teammates were to qualify for the journey out to Burbank come May of '08. Save for the fact that no one cantered, the class started out the same way as the previous two individual flat classes. However on this occasion the judges asked ten of the riders to remain in the ring while the other eight were excused prior to some additional flat work. When the placings were announced tenth went to Stanford senior Jarret Guajardo, who was one of two Cardinal riders qualified for the division. Ninth place went to Lauren Willoughby, who was Lauren Best when the season started. The Midway College junior (who is the first Eagle hunter seat rider to reach the top ten at Nationals since Stephanie Keily won individual intermediate fences in Murfreesboro, Tennessee three seasons ago) got married during the season. Eighth place went to North Dakota State senior Katherine Beaudine, who appears to be the first Bison hunter seat rider ever to compete an an IHSA National show. It was not all that long ago that Zone 4, Region 1 ran off a three-year streak where no more than two hunter seat riders each season survived Zone 4 Zones to compete at Nationals. This season Zone 4, Region 1 advanced five riders (and a full hunter seat team for a second consecutive season), including Maggie Woodward of the College of William & Mary, who placed seventh here. With Becker College President Dr. Ken Zirkle on hand (Zirkle was the President of the University of Findlay when that school rose to prominence within the IHSA), Kane earned the sixth-place ribbon. University of Connecticut senior Jasmine Brooks earned the Huskies their second fifth place ribbon in two days. With Brooks and Kane already having pinned, it was safe to assume that the Zone 1 winning streak in walk-trot was about to end. Bucks County Community College freshman Cassandra Borek earned the white, fourth place ribbon. 1974 Bucks County graduate Bunny Rinker, who was the first rider ever to win the advanced walk-trot-canter class, and who then founded the Kutztown University team in the fall of 1974, was on hand for one of the better individual ribbons earned by a Zone 3 rider this decade. Third place went to Kathryn Randall of Georgia Southern University, one of eleven hunter seat riders from Zone 5, Region 3 to survive Zone 5 Zones on an individual basis. While there was no chance a Zone 1 rider would win the division, there was still a chance that Zone 6 would earn yet another blue ribbon to bring their total to three. However when reserve was announced their number of blue ribbons did not change. Miami of Ohio junior Alexander Cox had claimed the red ribbon. From Cincinnati, Ohio, Cox was one of only two Red Hawk hunter seat riders competing at 2007 Nationals, as Miami did not win their region for only the third time in twenty seasons. With Cox receiving the red ribbon, the blue ribbon must have been headed west. With nine riders still standing in the ring - but only one who was part of the testing - it was obvious before the announcement that Stanford University junior Karen Lone had captured the 2007 individual walk-trot championship. Though she goes to school in California, Lone lists her home as Norway, making her one of very few IHSA riders with dual citizenship.
The final two individual english classes of 2006-07 were held in an 'Island,' in that there was a lengthy awards presentation on Saturday morning prior to these two divisions and the combination 'Parade of Teams/Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation/Welcome to USEF President David O'Connor' immediately afterward. For a short period of time in the early afternoon the final english classes took place, with the penultimate english class of the season being the individual intermediate flat. After the usual walk/trot/canter routine followed by the early dismissal for eight riders, the top ten found out their fate. In tenth place was Kelly Long of Ohio State, one of a select few riders who could claim to have competed at IHSA Nationals as a member of two different teams. Long was also one of a handful of riders who could claim to have competed at 2004 Nationals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at which time she placed eighth in individual novice flat for Miami of Ohio. Washington & Jefferson College has only fielded an IHSA team since 2002, and Erica Green not only is their first-ever Nationals qualifier she is the first to make the top ten, placing ninth. Two riders in this division had won an individual class at a prior IHSA National show. Savannah College of Art & Design sophomore Jaime Graham had won the individual intermediate over fences to start 2006 Nationals, but could only claim eighth in the intermediate flat this time around. Laura Acker of Cornell competed in individual novice fences at 2005 Nationals in Sunbury, Ohio, placing fourth. However the senior from Waverly, Pennsylvania was seventh in her final IHSA undergraduate ride. Sixth went to Kathryn Clapp of the University of Virginia, who was the only Cavalier rider to survive Regionals and Zones but not the only member of her team to compete at 2007 Nationals. Clapp's teammate Whitney Roper became the 36th rider in IHSA history to capture top english open rider honors for the year by virtue of her Cacchione Cup Championship earlier this day. West Coast schools produced two of the riders inside the intermediate flat top five, with Clara Turner of the University of California at San Diego placing fifth. Turner was one of three Tritons to qualify for '07 Nationals and the only one to reach the top ten. Fourth went to Graham's teammate Brittany Thaler. A sophomore from Glyndon, Maryland, Thaler was also a returnee from 2006 Nationals, having been reserve National Champion for the Bees in individual novice fences exactly a year to the day earlier. Though Christine Andry had placed out of the ribbons in intermediate fences on Thursday, the Santa Clara University junior was well into the ribbons this time. From Chatsworth, California, Andry is the first member of the Bronco equestrian team ever to qualify for IHSA Nationals, earning third place in intermediate flat. Both Zones 2 and 6 had riders remaining in the ring, thus assuring that no other Zone would earn their first individual hunter seat blue ribbon of '07 Nationals. Second was awarded to Skidmore sophomore Jennifer Wilkins. Hailing from Lincoln, Massachusetts, Wilkins was the second individual rider showing in her home state to earn the reserve National Championship award. The rider who won the division was not a stranger to the winner's circle at IHSA Nationals. Miami of Ohio's Lindsay Barton won the individual novice flat at Eden Park in 2005. Two years later to the day the senior from Evanston, Illinois earned a second individual championship while also delivering a third blue ribbon to Zone 6. Barton would be the only individual hunter seat rider from Zone 6 not from Findlay to win at the Big E over the course of three days.
The show moved right along with the individual open flat riders entering the ring only moments after Barton had been photographed in the winner's circle (The winner's circle is the location where ribbons are handed out and the official photographs are taken. For the first time in recent memory the winner's circle was within the ring as opposed to being close by, though a similar set-up with shavings on the ground, a blue backdrop and an official IHSA banner could be found in an adjacent barn for additional photo opportunities - Editor). Following the usual flat work eight riders were excused. One of them was Skidmore senior Ashley Woodhouse, who won the Cacchione Cup in 2005 and was eighth in the 2007 Cacchione competition. Zone 2, Region 3 and IHSA Nationals in general will seem very different next season without Woodhouse, who competed in three straight Cacchione classes not to mention winning individual open fences in 2005 and placing second in team open fences earlier this day with a judge's score of '86.' Also excused was University of Wisconsin at Madison senior Lindsey Willard, who actually competed in more combined team, individual and Cacchione classes than Woodhouse dating back to 2004 Nationals, winning the individual intermediate flat in Harrisburg last season. Following some additional flat work without stirrups judges Shahinian and Mullins were ready to pin the final IHSA hunter seat class of 2006-07. Tenth place was awarded to Hollins freshman Katie Furches, who would be conveniently near the ring less than an hour later for the Lifetime Achievement Award presentation to her Head Coach, Nancy Peterson. Ninth place went to Megan Burgess of Louisiana State. Listed in the Nationals program as Carla Burgess, the Tiger sophomore who also competed for the Cacchione Cup goes by her middle name Megan. Though two appearances in the Cacchione Cup and a ride at 2005 Nationals in team open flat had not put her into the ribbons, St. Lawrence junior Brittan White broke that string with an eighth place ribbon here. UCLA senior Michelle Brownstein had competed in individual open flat two seasons ago without placing. The Bruin rider who calls Los Angeles home was also into the ribbons at Nationals for the first time, placing seventh. Kristina Christiansen of the University of Delaware was the final rider to draw the highly-praised Lemon Park for her ride (Lemon Park, who was used for testing in several classes including the Cacchione, belongs to former Yale Head Coach and graduate Margot Sanger-Katz). Christiansen concluded what had been a 'Return to Glory' season for Delaware with a sixth. The Fightin' Hens won Zone 3, Region 2 for the first time since 2002-03 and even fielded a full team at Nationals on the tenth anniversary of their IHSA National Championship, won on the Mount Holyoke campus only a few miles from the Big E. Ohio University Sophomore Kati Cibon was fifth, earning her first Nationals ribbon and the first for the Bobcats since Yoders' seventh at the beginning of the show two days earlier. Purdue junior Laura Lemanski was yet another rider who entered the division looking for her first Nationals ribbon of any kind. Though 2007 marked her first Nationals, Lemanski had been out of the ribbons in individual open fences, two open team classes and the Cacchione Cup before impressing with a fourth here. With Lemanski's placing another streak appeared to be headed down to the wire. At every IHSA Nationals show since 1999 at least one rider from Zone 1 had claimed a first place ribbon in at least one of the eight individual hunter seat undergraduate divisions. In many cases the individual walk-trot was the assurance, but with a Zone 8 rider already having won that division it was do-or-die. However two of the remaining three riders were from Zone 1. To make matters more interesting the third rider was from Zone 6, already with three winners. Though Mount Holyoke's Cooper had won the team open flat on Friday, the team open fences to start Saturday and had placed third in the nation for the Cacchione Cup the senior from Newport, Rhode Island was judged to be third yet again. Adding in her sixth in individual open fences on Thursday, Cooper was the only hunter seat rider at 2007 Nationals to earn five separate ribbons. Though they were the hosts, and though many horses from New England were used in the competition, Zone 1 was not able to keep the winning streak going, as Brown University junior Whitney Keefe captured the reserve National Championship. From Wellesley, Massachusetts, Keefes' red ribbon was her highest placing at Nationals to date. Not only was the individual open champion from Zone 6 she was yet another of the Findlay entourage. From Vail, Colorado, senior Kathryn "Katie" Johnston of the Oilers finished her IHSA undergraduate era with her only Nationals blue ribbon. Johnston's first gave Findlay three separate riders with individual hunter seat wins over the course of three days at the Big E. This was the first time since three Hollins riders captured three separate individual undergraduate hunter seat blue ribbons at 1993 Nationals in Concord, Ohio that this had happenned. Findlay would continue their momentum through the western divisions, as Womer won both a team class and an individual class, and the Oilers would eventually claim a total of eleven combined english and western blue ribbons, which appears for now to be yet another of a record-breaking number of records broken at an IHSA Nationals show. ---Steve Maxwell The following is a list of the Individual hunter seat Class-by-Class Results from 2007 IHSA Nationals, held in the Big E Coliseum at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The first five classes listed were held Thursday, May 3rd, the sixth class was held Friday, May 4th and the final two were held Saturday, May 5th. The judges for all hunter seat classes were Linda Shahinian and Randy Mullins: Individual intermediate equitation over fences: 1. Travis Womer, University of Findlay. 2. Christine Gunn, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Bryana McGillycuddy, Boston College. 4. Danielle Curcio, Sacred Heart University. 5. Nicole Stern, University of Denver. 6. Gloria Gonzalez, Savannah College of Art & Design. 7. Whitney Yoder, Ohio University. 8. Carly Swatek, University of Wisconsin at Madison. 9. Jennifer Cumming, Virginia Intermont College. 10. Kate Wichman, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). Individual open equitation over fences: 1. Jessica Schroff, Skidmore College. 2. Dorrie Douglas, Saint Lawrence University. 3. Braidee Foote, University of Southern California. 4. Jessica Van Brocklin, University of Mary Washington. 5. Andrew Olen, Franklin & Marshall College. 6. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College. 7. Charlotte Powers, Clemson University. 8. Michael Lenard, Northern Illinois University. 9. Nicole Adams, University of Delaware. 10. Tim Malone, Dartmouth College. Individual novice equitation over fences: 1. Rachel Samuels, Centenary College. 2. Shannon Doherty, Florida State University. 3. Catherine Brown, West Texas A & M University. 4. Lindsey Weatherhead, University of Ottawa. 5. Cortney Glass, Oakland University. 6. Lila Pemberton, Mount Ida College. 7. Marie Hilliard, Mount Holyoke College. 8. Erin Whitmore, DePauw University. 9. Brittany Gragg, University of Notre Dame/St. Mary's College (IN). 10. Lindsey Woodburn, Virginia Tech. Individual novice equitation on the flat: 1. Rachel Samuels, Centenary College. 2. Margaret Covert, Louisiana State University. 3. Lindsay Kohl, University of Delaware. 4. Emily Gaffey, Florida State University. 5. Macie Ayers, Kansas State University. 6. Kristen Ackerson, Randolph-Macon Woman's College. 7. Caroline Beasley, Lander University. 8. Jessica Campbell, Saint Lawrence University. 9. Molly Migliaccio, St. Mary of the Woods College. 10. Whitney Stahl, University of Denver. Individual walk-trot-canter equitation: 1. Zoe Steele-Rand, University of Findlay. 2. Caitlin Hartman, Alfred University. 3. Lauren McGlory, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Sarah Kniesly, St. Mary of the Woods College. 5. Laura Bredehorst, University of Connecticut. 6. Lauren Klutchka, Penn State University (State College). 7. Kylie Bell, North Carolina State University. 8. Catherine Buller, University of Wisconsin at River Falls. 9. Penelope Essoyan, Wesleyan University. 10. Julie Pate, Maryville College. Individual walk-trot equitation: 1. Karen Lone, Stanford University. 2. Alexander Cox, Miami University of Ohio. 3. Kathryn Randall, Georgia Southern University. 4. Cassandra Borek, Bucks County Community College. 5. Jasmine Brooks, University of Connecticut. 6. Carolyn Kane, Becker College. 7. Maggie Woodward, College of William & Mary. 8. Katherine Beaudine, North Dakota State University. 9. Lauren Willoughby, Midway College. 10. Jarret Guajardo, Stanford University. Individual intermediate equitation on the flat: 1. Lindsay Barton, Miami University of Ohio. 2. Jennifer Wilkins, Skidmore College. 3. Christine Andry, Santa Clara University. 4. Brittany Thaler, Savannah College of Art & Design. 5. Clara Turner, University of California at San Diego. 6. Kathryn Clapp, University of Virginia. 7. Laura Acker, Cornell University. 8. Jaime Graham, Savannah College of Art & Design. 9. Erica Green, Washington & Jefferson College. 10. Kelly Long, Ohio State University. Individual open equitation on the flat: 1. Katie Johnston, University of Findlay. 2. Whitney Keefe, Brown University. 3. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College. 4. Laura Lemanski, Purdue University. 5. Kati Cibon, Ohio University. 6. Kristina Christiansen, University of Delaware. 7. Michelle Brownstein, University of California at Los Angeles. 8. Brittan White, Saint Lawrence University. 9. Megan Burgess, Louisiana State University. 10. Katie Furches, Hollins University.
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
HOME
| CONTACT US |
||||||||
