Seen at 2014 IHSA Nationals are from left to right Allison Erkman, Megan Carter and Kimberly King,
each of whom competed in the alumni reining division on May 3rd. Carter, a University of Kentucky graduate, won the
class while Erkman and King, both University of Tennessee at Knoxville graduates, finished seventh and sixth, respectively.
Both Carter and King are among the many IHSA alumni reps for the 2014-15 season.
ALUMNI CLASSES ARE OFFERED IN OVER 20 IHSA REGIONS THIS SEASON
If you are new to the IHSA this season or if you are not yet in college
it is worth noting that many geographic regions within the IHSA have what are
called the Alumni Divisions. In order to compete in an alumni division
you must first...
1. Enroll in college.
2. Join that school's IHSA team or start an IHSA team there if the school
doesn't already have one.
3. Compete in at least one IHSA show while an undergraduate.
As you probably guessed by the name the Alumni divisions were created for those
who competed within the IHSA as undergraduates to continue to show within the
organization after having received a degree. A rider named Hugh Cassidy, who
graduated from Stony Brook University in 1970, wanted to keep showing in the IHSA
and came up with the idea of the alumni divisions. As time went by and the IHSA
grew - from one single region which made up the entire IHSA in the very early
1970's - to 38 geographic regions from coast-to-coast today - the alumni divisions
evolved. By the end of the 1970's there were separate alumni flat and
alumni fences classes, and with Western being added to the IHSA alumni horsemanship
and alumni reining followed. A stipulation was made along the way that individuals
could only ride as undergraduates for eight semesters (or a traditional four years
in college) which resulted in many 'super seniors' signing up for alumni classes even though they
were still pursuing an undergraduate degree. Also individuals who went to college,
joined a team, competed, and then left school without getting a degree remained
eligible to return as entries in the alumni divisions. The only catch here is that
once you start showing as an alumni (even once) you cannot then show as an
undergraduate should you return to college to finish an undergraduate degree.
Also alumni could re-locate to another part of the country and still show in
the alumni divisions offered in their new surroundings. The only stipulation is
that alumni must stay within one specific region for a full season (though there
have been rare exceptions where an alumni re-located in mid-season and the IHSA
allowed the change). Today some IHSA regions hold alumni classes where nearly all
the alumni have undergraduate degrees from schools other than the ones which show
locally on a regular basis.
The alumni divisions were an immediate hit in the early 1970's, and as the IHSA
grew from one region as late as the spring of 1972 to seven regions by 1980 the
regions which were directly created from the original New York Metropolitan area
region continued to offer alumni classes.
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This photo dates back to when both riders were undergraduates. 2011 University of Delaware graduate
James Hobbie (on right) was a regular at both 2012 and 2013 IHSA Nationals, earning four top four ribbons in the western
alumni divisions. 2012 UDel graduate Alexa Hunter (on left) is now the Zone 2, Region 5 alumni rep. A complete list of
all the alumni reps for the 2014-15 season can be found at the end of this story.
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However in some parts of the country alumni was not offered and in a few
instances has yet to be offered. By the start of November 2014 at least 22 IHSA
Regions had held either one hunter seat or one western alumni class during the
2014-15 season with the possibility that others may do so by the end of the
month. It is safe to say that better than half the IHSA's regions are in fact
holding some sort of alumni classes this season.
The alumni divisions offered are alumni flat and fences for hunter seat riders
and alumni western horsemanship and alumni reining for western riders. The two
hunter seat alumni divisions are usually judged at the novice level, though in
some regions the alumni take a vote and set the fences at the intermediate level
(this happens when each of the entries competed at or above intermediate as
undergraduates or if a given rider has made significant progress riding outside
the IHSA to warrent raising the fences). Alumni Western Horsemanship is usually
judged at the novice level, while Alumni Reining should be judged at the open
level. If a rider never rode as high as the novice level in either hunter seat
or western as an undergraduate and wants to ride as an alumni she or he will
likely be evaluated to make certain they are safe to compete at what would be a
new high level for them. In some regions only alumni hunter seat flat and
alumni western horsemanship classes are held, as a few of the entries might not
have jumped or reined up to the present time.
Once someone decides to ride as an alumni and provided the region in their
area offers alumni classes for their discipline the next step is to contact that
region's alumni representative in order to be entered. The official IHSA web
site, IHSAinc.com (hopefully) lists these reps as does Campus Equestrian at the
end of this story. The alumni representative can explain how to register on the
IHSA web site (there are specific guidelines involving timeliness in getting
monies and paperwork to the IHSA prior to competing in a show. Alumni should be
able to indicate when they competed within the IHSA as an undergraduate to
confirm eligibility). Then when the show date arrives the alumni rider travels
to the event and competes. Like open riders an alumni rider needs to reach 28
points in one of the four divisions to qualify for Regionals in that division.
The earlier one signs up to compete the more opportunities to earn points
towards Regionals exist. It should be noted that some regions have limited
horse shows which affect the number of alumni who may enter at each show. Also
a small number of regions only offer alumni classes at specific shows, again due
to limiting issues related to a host school wanting to get as many undergraduate
entries into a show as possible. Nevertheless each season a great many riders
reach the 28 point plateau and compete at Regionals, Zones and, for a select few
the year-end IHSA National show.
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Fairfield University head coach Naomi Gauruder (on left) decided to show in the alumni western horsemanship division at the October 11th Sacred Heart show. It
is a good thing Gauruder did as the class would otherwise not have been legal due to a scratch. 2013 University of Connecticut graduate Jen Shields (center) won, 2010 Mount Holyoke
College graduate Kate Santella (on right) was second and Gauruder, a Sacred Heart grad, was third. Just like any other IHSA class, their must be three in an alumni class for the
points to count individually towards Regionals.
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If anyone should compete at least once in an alumni class during the
2014-15 season they are then eligible to compete in the Alumni Tournament
of Champions events held following the season. For the past three seasons
there has been a hunter seat Alumni Tournament of Champions and in July of
2014 the first western Alumni Tournament took place. At an Alumni
Tournament event classes are offerred for riders who are comfortable at
either the novice and intermediate levels for hunter seat or the novice and
advanced level for western. There is also an alumni cup class which is made
up of two phases, not unlike the Cacchione Cup and Individual AQHA High
Point Rider classes held at IHSA Nationals. The winner of these classes is
essentially the grand champion rider at these Alumni Tournament of Champions
events.
With the Alumni Tournament of Champions series now covering both the
hunter seat and western divisions there will be a new award given out at the
2015 Alumni Tournament of Champions show (date and location still being
confirmed, though there is a chance the 2015 event may be a rare case of
hunter seat and western taking place at the same location on the same day -
editor). "The Alumni High Score Award" will be awarded to the rider (be it
western or hunter seat) with the most points across their top seven regular
season IHSA shows. The recipient must also be entered in at least one
Alumni Tournament of Champions class and by physically present at the
Tournament event to be eligible to receive the award. According to Lena
Andrews, the Zone 3, Region 4 Alumni Rep, seven shows were choosen as not
all regions are able to host the maximum number of ten regular season shows.
Also a number of alumni ride part-time and cannot get to all the shows.
These measures were taken in an effort to be as fair as possible.
We would be remiss if we did not mention that in some IHSA regions the
Alumni are so important they band together as a group to host or co-host an
IHSA show. This should make those alumni feel like they are part of a team,
not unlike when they were part of a team as undergraduates. And last but
not least there are no age limits so alumni from 18 to 80 can sign up and
mount up if they are so inclined.
--Steve Maxwell
The following is a list of the current IHSA Alumni Reps by Region (only Regions
known to offer alumni classes are listed; An asterisk * indicates the region is
hunter seat only at this time. During the 2014-15 season some regions which normally
offer English and Western to undergraduates may not offer both to alumni. Please
check with the rep in your area for more information). In most cases Alumni Reps
have been elected to the position in each IHSA region (a very small number are
appointed the position when less than two candidates for the honor exist). A few
regions, such as Zone 8, Region 5, have an alumni rep but may not hold alumni classes
unless the minimum number of three riders sign up to make an IHSA class legal:
ZONE 1, REGION 1*: Nikki Layne - nicole.layne@becker.edu
ZONE 1, REGION 3: Laura Clampitt - lauracclampitt@gmail.com
ZONE 1, REGION 4*: Brittany McLaughlin - brittmclaughlin2@gmail.com
ZONE 1, REGION 5: Amy Kriwitsky - amy.kriwitsky@gmail.com
ZONE 2, REGION 1: Kristin Stiner - kristinpstiner@gmail.com
ZONE 2, REGION 3: David Sookey - sookeyii@oswego.edu
ZONE 2, REGION 4*: Rachel Heisler - bronster620@msn.com
ZONE 2, REGION 5: Alexa Hunter - ajh116@pitt.edu
ZONE 3, REGION 1: Kate Baer - ekwbaer@gmail.com
ZONE 3, REGION 2: Samantha Cronce - samanthacronce@gmail.com
ZONE 3, REGION 3: Rachel Denning - rachelad89@gmail.com
ZONE 3, REGION 4: Lena Andrews-Licata - Lenamandrews@yahoo.com
ZONE 3, REGION 5: Jamie Windle - ihsaz3r5alumni@gmail.com
ZONE 4, REGION 1*: Kristen Marley - z4r1.IHSA.alumni@gmail.com
ZONE 4, REGION 5: Katie Gerht - katieyogurt@gmail.com
ZONE 5, REGION 1: Marianne England (Hunter Seat Contact) - wubbie3me@yahoo.com
ZONE 5, REGION 1: Kimberly King (Western Contact) - kimberly.r.king27@gmail.com
ZONE 5, REGION 2: Margaret Long - margaret.g.long@gmail.com
ZONE 5, REGION 5: Marvin Davila - marvin.davila@ufl.edu
ZONE 6, REGION 1: Alexandra Kemp-Thompson - kempthompsona@tiffin.edu
ZONE 6, REGION 2: Caitlin Sanders - caitlintsanders@gmail.com
ZONE 6, REGION 3: Megan Carter - mecarter3@gmail.com
ZONE 6, REGION 4: Michelle Ivan - mnivan@svsu.edu
ZONE 7, REGION 1: Deborah Shahadey - deb@firstlovefarms.com
ZONE 7, REGION 2: Stephanie Cook (Hunter Seat Contact) - cook.family.tx@earthlink.net
ZONE 7, REGION 2: Misty Hobbs (Western Contact) - zone7region2alumni@yahoo.com
ZONE 7, REGION 4: Tamara Johnsen - tamarajohnsen@gmail.com
ZONE 7, REGION 5: Emily Costello - ecostello@truman.edu
ZONE 8, REGION 2: Hailey Quirk - haileyquirk@gmail.com
ZONE 8, REGION 4: Carrie Hertel - hertelmc@gmail.com
ZONE 8, REGION 5: Kristina Harkin - harkin@colorado.edu
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