Hailey Quirk of Cal Poly - Pomona won the first two classes at Zone 8 Zones on April 12th. Quirk won individual open over fences to start the day, then won team open over fences shortly thereafter. Quirk also finished second in both the individual and team open flat classes (photo courtesy Jen Earles and Jing Li/Cal Poly - Pomona Equestrian Team).

IHSA NATIONALS FIELD NOW SET

The final official weekend of IHSA competition took place April 12th and 13th, with three Zones shows each day. While we are preparing stories on each of the six shows we present a brief (?) recap of the contests as several were worth every penny to be a part of.

Zone 2: The only Zones show nationwide where the top three teams advance (due to the Zone containing over 1,000 registered hunter seat riders) was won handley by host Skidmore College. The well-named Thoroughbreds won five of the eight team classes to score 48 points, eleven more than both Centenary College and St. Lawrence University. Skidmore riders accounted for six top-two placings over eight undergraduate classes, with senior Vicky Wright first in individual intermediate flat and individual novice fences to earn two rides at Nationals. Zone 2, Region 3 riders will account for nine of Zone 2's 16 individual undergraduate rides at Nationals, as Cornells' Zoe Samuel (champion in individual novice flat) and Hartwicks' Aileen McCarthy (second in individual intermediate flat) and Ariana Bray (champion in individual walk-trot) also emerged from Skidmore's region. McCarthy and Bray are the first riders in Hartwick team history to qualify for IHSA Nationals. 2006 Drew University graduate Kristine Kennedy won the alumni flat, giving her the chance to win the division at Nationals two consecutive seasons.

Zone 3: Those who travel to Burbank May 8th through 11th will see three schools make their IHSA Nationals debut with a full hunter seat team. One of the three is West Virginia University, which claimed second by outscoring the University of Delaware 37-33. These two schools were tied through four divisions before West Virginia earned a pair of seconds while UDel fell out of it with three consecutive fourths. The runaway winner however was Penn State. The Nittany Lions won Zone 3 Zones for the sixth year in a row, bolstered by wins in all five team flat classes. Penn State scored 51 points, the second highest total of any Zone Champion this season. The University of Delaware may have missed out on taking a full team to Nationals yet the Fightin' Hens will have a large group going nevertheless. Four University of Delaware riders qualified individually, all four of which won classes at Zones outright. Three Delaware Valley College riders also qualified individually, giving Region 2 seven of the 16 rides awarded Zone 3 at Nationals. Virginia Intermont College alumni rider Ashton Phillips advanced only once for the first time since 2003, winning alumni flat but placing fifth in alumni fences.

IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione (right) presents first place in individual open over fences to New York University's Hanna Gelfand at Zone 2 Zones in Greenfield, New York on Saturday, April 12th...

Zone 4: The defending National Champions will be back with a full team. Virginia Intermont College not only survived they thrived, winning five of the eight team classes while scoring 49 points. Jessica May's first in intermediate fences in the second team class of the day put VI ahead for good. The Intermont riders with "J" at the front of their names (Jessica May, Julianne Wilson, Jennifer Kelly and Jamie King) each won an individual class. It was 25-all for Hollins and Mary Washington through five team classes. Hannah Woll's second in individual novice flat gave Mary Washington a one point lead at 30-29 before Shannon Brown's first in team walk-trot-canter gave the Eagles a four-point edge with only one class to go (and three teams entered). Thus Mary Washington will take a full team to IHSA Nationals for the first time since 1994. Hollins may have been on the short end of a 41-38 race for second but they will still take three individuals to Nationals plus Region 2 Cacchione rider Katie Furches.

Zone 6: It would be hard to imagine the University of Findlay not winning Zones inside their own facility. But through four divisions the University of Kentucky had the lead. 2007 Reserve National Champion Cacchione rider Callie Schott won individual open fences to start the proceedings, then gave the Wildcats the early lead with a first in team open fences. Ali Cibon won team intermediate fences a short time later to give Kentucky 14 points.

From then on things swung the other way. Findlay got hot, as Raffi Kechijian won team novice fences while Stephanie Springer was second to Ohio University's Kari Beslar in team walk-trot-canter. Becky Baumel's first in team open flat put the Oilers into the lead for the first time, a lead they would not surrender. In the meantime Ohio University dug out of a big hole but could not get into second place. Colleen Boyle's first in team intermediate flat for the Bobcats made it 31-29 in favor of Kentucky for second place with two team classes to go. Though Sarah Bybee would give give Kentucky five points to Ohio University's four in team walk-trot the Bobcats still had a chance to survive going into the final class. Kentucky was up 36-33 but if Ohio won the division while the Wildcats took fourth the comeback would be complete. However Lindsay Baker of Findlay won team novice flat, giving Findlay four blue ribbons in the team competition and a 48-40 win over Kentucky. Ohio University was close with 38 while the University of Michigan, which was making their Zones debut with a full team, was fourth with 26. Region 3 riders dominated the individual classes, with nine of the 16 rides at Nationals coming from Findlay (six), Miami of Ohio (two) and Bowling Green State (one).

...and the next day Cacchione was at Zone 3 Zones in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where Lafayette College senior Emily Mallory (left) received the same ribbon. Gelfand and Mallory both rode at Elvenstar Show Stable in Moorpark, California while growing up, and both will get to go home to compete in the same division at Nationals on May 8th.

Zone 8: The show of the weekend took place on Saturday, April 12th, when the College of Southern Idaho hosted Zone 8 Zones in their gold-colored Expo Center. The nine-hour event saw considerable re-rides, horses pulled and one of the great IHSA team competitions of all time. Three teams had first place all to themselves at some point, and three teams had last place all to themselves at some point! Going into the final class Oregon State led the other three teams 34-33. However Sarah Scharf's win for Stanford in open flat to close out the scoring not only gave Stanford the win but also their only lead of the day! Cal Poly - Pomona led or was tied for the lead at every juncture through the sixth team class and eventually finished in a tie with Oregon State for second with 38 points each. The Broncos won the tie-breaker over the Beavers based on the IHSA's third tiebreaker, which is the number of points over fences. For only the second time in Zone 8 Zones history the runner-up in the team competition will send a full team to Nationals, which means Cal Poly - Pomona will have a chance to win the National Championship in their own backyard. Riders from Region 2 faired the best individually, with five undergraduate riders from three different Southern California schools earning six rides at the National show. Hailey Quirk of Cal Poly - Pomona will ride twice individually, having won individual open fences while placing second in individual open flat. Two of the four alumni who survived Zones also competed in Region 2 during the regular season. Kacie Crooks is the first rider from the University of British Columbia ever to qualify for Nationals. Crooks won individual intermediate over fences to become the only rider from a Canadian school this season to qualify for Nationals.

Zone 9: Though the race for high point team was a romp for host University of Wisconsin at Madison, the race for second place turned into a dandy. Through five classes St. Mary of the Woods looked well on their way to their first appearance ever with a full hunter seat team at IHSA Nationals. However with Northern Illinois trailing 26-21 Christy Yankaitis won the Huskies' first blue ribbon of the day in team novice flat. Then intermediate flat gave another point back to NIU. The Huskies needed a win the final class, as second would only create a tie at 38-all. However Wisconsin won for the sixth time in eight tries, as Lauren Zappitelli was the team open flat champion for the Badgers. St. Mary of the Woods won the tiebreaker, thanks to Aubrey Fait's win in team open fences early in the day, which gave SMTW more points over fences that NIU. Still the Badgers dominated the contest, scoring 52 points, the most of any hunter seat team at a Zones show this season (Wisconsin was one of few schools nationwide to use eight different riders in the eight team classes). The Badgers also saw five individual riders advance, including Joyce Williams (in individual novice flat) and Lydia Sorenson (in individual walk-trot), each of whom also won a team class. Jane Papke may be the first rider in Illiois Wesleyan program history to advance to IHSA Nationals, having won the individual novice fences. Emily Harvey Serfleck (or Serflek) is likely the first University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse rider to got to Nationals. Harvey Serfleck was second in individual intermediate over fences. Indiana University graduate Jeannine Bullion won both the alumni flat and fences, making her the only rider nationwide to accomplish this feat at any of the nine Zones shows this season. St. Mary of the Woods joins West Virginia University and Louisiana State University as schools who will make the IHSA Nationals debut with a full hunter seat team in 2007-08.

And who will join the new kids? The rest of the field is now set, with Berry College, Brown University, Cal Poly - Pomona, Centenary College, College of Charleston, Penn State University, Skidmore College, Stanford University, St. Lawrence University, University of Findlay, University of Kentucky, University of Mary Washington, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Wisconsin at Madison and defending National Champion Virginia Intermont College joining the newcomers to complete the 18-team field that will compete May 8th through 11th at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, California to be called the best IHSA team in the nation this season.

--Steve Maxwell