Seen here at the main entrance to the Eastern States Exposition (or Big E) in West Springfield, Massachusetts is Janislynn Isackson of Southern Nazarene University, who competed at 2007 IHSA Nationals in the individual AQHA Trophy division. Isackson is one of only three IHSA riders who can say she competed for the Trophy in West Springfield and will get to do so again in Burbank, California this May.

2007-08 IHSA INDIVIDUAL AQHA TROPHY DIVISION QUALIFIERS NOW SET

We have heard from several in Zone 9, Region 1 that Charlynn Turner of St. Mary of the Woods College is their AQHA Trophy rep, and with that we finally present the complete list of individual AQHA Trophy riders who will compete over two days in May for the right to be the number one IHSA Western Rider of the 2007-08 season.

We are weary of saying a certain school has never advanced a rider to IHSA Nationals, as we have been taken to task for misinformation over the past few weeks. However to our knowledge Sarah Welteroth of Susquehanna University is their first rider to get that far, as Welteroth finished 11 points ahead of West Virginia University's Renae Burks over a grueling weekend that saw Zone 3, Region 1/3/4 hold three shows and Western Regionals all in less than 36 hours. Welteroth is the only Susquehanna regional qualifier this season as well, having pointed out of both open western divisions.

Elsewhere it was the day to be a "Kelsey." Kelsey Moody of St. Andrews Presbyterian College may have led the country in open western points scored in 2007-08, picking up a few more to finish with 108 and a 17 point edge over Sarah Woody of Martin Community College in Zone 4, Region 3. We don't know the totals in Zone 9, Region 2 just yet but Kelsey Ragsdale of Missouri State University will represent that region in the AQHA Trophy division.

Most of the riders who qualified in the AQHA Trophy will be showing at an IHSA Nationals show for the first time. Save for the Zone 9, Region 1 mystery, only five of the qualifiers have competed at Nationals before, and only three are holdovers from last season's AQHA class. Stacey Mahlmeister, who competed for Georgia Tech last season, will compete for the trophy as a University of Louisville Cardinal this time around. Janislynn Isackson has survived in Zone 7, Region 2 for the second year in a row. Both Isackson and Mahlmeister will hope to finish in the top ten this time while Ohio State's Keith Ceddia will try to improve one placing on his Reserve National Championship in the division last season. Perry DiCiccio of Cazenovia College was eighth in the NRHA-sponsored individual open reining last season while Shannon Lee was second in individual advanced western horsemanship in '07. The rest of the field will see Nationals with wide-eyed innocence, or at least as much innocence as possible when you competed in the open western divisions all season.

And we would be remiss if we did not mention that we heard from the President College in Zone 5, Region 3. Through the President we learned that not only did Florida State finish with the top western team for the first time in program history, the Seminoles also claimed the Region 3 high point open western rider in Katie Douglass. Douglass thus qualifies from Mahlmeister's old region, becoming the fourth rider from a different Zone 5, Region 3 school in four seasons to earn the right to compete for the AQHA Trophy.

--Steve Maxwell

2008 IHSA Nationals Individual AQHA Qualifiers through March 16th, each of whom will compete for the AQHA Trophy May 8-11 in Burbank, California:

ZONE 2, REGION 1: Randi Cashman, Centenary College

ZONE 2, REGION 2: Perry DiCiccio, Cazenovia College

ZONE 2, REGION 3: Ashley Kelkenberg, Morrisville State College

ZONE 3, REGION 2: Nicole Sorgie, Delaware Valley College

ZONE 3, REGION 4: Sarah Welteroth, Susquehanna University

ZONE 4, REGION 3: Kelsey Moody, St. Andrews Presbyterian College

ZONE 5, REGION 1: Morgan Roberts, Murray State University

ZONE 5, REGION 2: Allie Jones, Berry College

ZONE 5, REGION 3: Katie Douglass, Florida State University

ZONE 6, REGION 1: Keith Ceddia, Ohio State University

ZONE 6, REGION 2: Stacey Mahlmeister, University of Louisville

ZONE 6, REGION 3: Katie Morehead, University of Findlay

ZONE 6, REGION 4: Melanie Galles, Grand Valley State University

ZONE 7, REGION 1: Shannon Lee, West Texas A & M University

ZONE 7, REGION 2: Janislynn Isackson, Southern Nazarene University

ZONE 8, REGION 1: Maggie Amundson, College of the Sequoias

ZONE 8, REGION 2: Katie Stricklin, Cal Poly - Pomona

ZONE 8, REGION 3: Blake Weiss, Rocky Mountain College

ZONE 8, REGION 4: Jason Peacock, Linn-Benton Community College

ZONE 9, REGION 1: Charlynn Turner, St. Mary of the Woods College

ZONE 9, REGION 2: Kelsey Ragsdale, Missouri State University

ZONE 9, REGION 3: Bailey Eisinger, St. Cloud State University