The last time she competed at IHSA Nationals was on May 9th, 2010 when she placed sixth in individual novice western horsemanship. Seen here between her parents at 2012 Semifinals (during which she won individual open reining), Shannon Leggett of St. Andrews University is one of 24 riders who will compete for the Individual AQHA Trophy May 4th through 6th at IHSA Nationals in Raleigh, North Carolina.

THE 2012 IHSA NATIONALS INDIVIDUAL AQHA TROPHY CLASS QUALIFIERS

Through the weekend of March 17th/18th all 24 entries in the individual AQHA Trophy class at IHSA Nationals had been secured. The top western open rider in each IHSA region (in some cases multiple hunter seat regions are combined to form one western region) automatically advances directly to the National show. The rider with the most combined open reining and rail points in each of these regions will compete in a rail phase at the Hunt Horse Complex in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday, May 4th and a reining phase likely on Sunday, May 6th (provided the schedule used at the past two IHSA Nationals is not changed). The winner will receive the trophy and knowledge that they are the top Open Western Rider within the IHSA for the current season.

At least six of the 24 riders entered will be familiar with competition. Five riders from the 2011 AQHA Trophy class have finished atop their respective regions once again. Of these five three made the top ten. Ohio State sophomore Austin Griffith, the son of Buckeye coaches Ollie and Debbie Griffith, was third overall in 2011. Oregon State University senior Elizabeth Whitman, who is one of two riders to be making her third consecutive appearance in the AQHA Trophy class, was fifth in 2011. And Morrisville State College senior Catherine Howland was tenth one year ago. Howland is the only rider this season who can claim to have qualified for the Trophy class as both a freshman (when Nationals were in Murfreesboro, Tennessee), a junior (the second of two years in Lexington, Kentucky) and a a senior. It will be the second consecutive appearance in the class for Kaycee Reimer of Redlands Community College and the third consecutive for Britta Jackson of the University of Louisville. Bloomsburg University senior Kayla Swartz competed for the Trophy at 2010 Nationals but did not qualify in the division last season. At least six other entries have competed at a prior IHSA Nationals event but not for the individual AQHA Trophy. Roughly half the field will be riding at an IHSA National event for the first time.

Shortly after this story was posted we leared there was a tie for high point in Zone 2, Region 1 between Alfred University teammates Kristin Eklin and Kalcy O'Keefe with 69 points each (another rider had 68 and yet another 67 in this region). However Eklin was in the process of doing a semester out of the country which allowed O'Keefe to not only catch up over several spring shows but to advance to IHSA Nationals without having to ride off for the honor at Regionals.

And the reason we were without the Zone 7, Region 1 AQHA entry for so long is that there was a tie there too. Doug Mohr of Ball State and Brooke Pence of Purdue University both finished with 72 points. There was over a month between the Region 1 western regular season finale (on January 28th) and Regionals (on March 2nd). At Regionals Pence won a ride-off with Mohr to represent the region at Nationals. Now that we know that Pence has qualified our list is complete.

--Steve Maxwell

2012 IHSA Nationals Individual AQHA Qualifiers through February 12th, each of whom will compete for the Individual AQHA Trophy May 3rd through 6th in Raleigh, North Carolina. An asterisk * denotes a rider who competed for the individual AQHA Trophy at 2011 Nationals. Two asterisks ** denotes a rider who competed for the Trophy at a prior IHSA Nationals show but not in 2011:

ZONE 1, REGION 3: Brooke Wodrig, Mount Holyoke College

ZONE 2, REGION 1: Kalcy O'Keefe, Alfred University

ZONE 2, REGION 2: Alekz Hutterman-Kall, State University of New York at Oswego

ZONE 2, REGION 3: Catherine Howland, Morrisville State College *

ZONE 3, REGION 2: Jen Debernard, University of Delaware

ZONE 3, REGION 3: Kayla Swartz, Bloomsburg University **

ZONE 4, REGION 3: Shannon Leggett, St. Andrews University

ZONE 5, REGION 1: Ethan Wilborn, Murray State University

ZONE 5, REGION 2: Andrea Smith, Berry College

ZONE 5, REGION 3: Ashley Clayton, University of South Florida

ZONE 6, REGION 1: Jarrod Bush, University of Findlay

ZONE 6, REGION 2: Austin Griffith, Ohio State University *

ZONE 6, REGION 3: Britta Jackson, University of Louisville *

ZONE 6, REGION 4: Caitlin Arthur, Saginaw Valley State University

ZONE 6, REGION 5: Kelsey Delaplaine, West Virginia University

ZONE 7, REGION 1: Brooke Pence, Purdue University

ZONE 7, REGION 2: Kaycee Reimer, Redlands Community College *

ZONE 7, REGION 3: Shannon Voges, North Dakota State University

ZONE 7, REGION 5: Carrie Sommerville, Black Hawk College

ZONE 8, REGION 1: Caitlin Fike, College of the Sequoias

ZONE 8, REGION 2: Krista McNaughton, Arizona State University

ZONE 8, REGION 3: Kelsey Wilson Romney, Utah State University

ZONE 8, REGION 4: Elizabeth Whitman, Oregon State University *

ZONE 8, REGION 5: Hali Jorgensen, University of Nebraska at Lincoln