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GOTTA FLY NOW: EAGLES FIRST, EAGLES SECOND, HORNETS THIRD AND BEES FOURTH AT PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENT Towson, MD - Prior to the 2009-10 season the Tournament of Champions series had been dominated for the better part of five seasons by both Virginia Intermont College and Mount Holyoke College. Not all that surprisingly, both of those schools won IHSA National Championships during that time. Both programs were so strong that each usually brought not one but two full teams to Tournament series shows. While Virginia Intermont nearly always named one of their teams "Gold" and the other "Black" Mount Holyoke would find some currently-relevant event to conjure up a few team names. When 'Jersey Shore' became a National Phenomenon Mount Holyoke brought "Team Snookie" and "Team the Situation." When there was a threat of a deadly airborn virus they brought "Team H1N1" and "Team Swine." When Goucher College hosted the 2010 Pre-Season Tournament of Champions on September 26th Mount Holyoke paid homeage to the Silly Bandz fad. These rubber bands inspired "Team Silly" and "Team Bandz." Virginia Intermont showed up with their usual "Gold" and "Black." Ohio University brought both "Team Bobcats" and "Team Rufus" while defending Tournament of Champions series winner Virginia Tech re-used the same two names from all three 2009-10 events. One set of Tech riders was "Team Hokie Nation" while the other was "Team Enter Sandman," which was the name of the 2009 Pre-Season high point team. Ten other schools brought only one team, including the University of Mary Washington from nearby Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mary Washington hosted the most recent Tournament show, the 2010 Winter Tournament of Champions event remembered for a blizzard which took place outside the Hazelwild Farm indoor. Mary Washington's Zone 4, Region 1 rival Goucher hosted today's event, and though there wasn't a blizzard their was a steady rain for nearly half the event. At Tournament Series events there are usually two sections of each division, with half the teams entered in each. One quirk in the way the schedule works is that a team might go several classes in a row without having a rider involved. At one point Mary Washington saw five consecutive team classes pass without any of their riders entered. Then five Mary Washington riders were entered in the final six classes! As a result tracking who is leading at any given time before the final four classes can be misleading, as one team may be way ahead but have few if any riders left to compete.
Bridgewater College, which finished second to Virginia Tech at the 2009 Tournament of Champions event at Hollins, got off to a hot start. Sarah Black, a junior from Richmond, Virginia won section A of intermediate flat to start the day. Teammate Shelby Goodman was third in the section of open fences which immediately followed, keeping the Eagles on top if only temporarily (Goodman is from Smithfield, Virginia, "The Ham Capitol of the World" in her words). The Eagles did not have another rider until five classes later, when freshman Kayla Deyarmin won section B of intermediate fences. From Owings, Maryland, Deyarmin was the final Bridgewater rider to win a class, though sophomore Juliana Peterson would finish second in section B of novice flat. From Westminster, Maryland, Peterson's red ribbon in the final team class of the day would lift Bridgewater to Reserve Champion status and a total of 30 points for the day. Finishing ahead of Goodman for the blue ribbon in open fences was Sharon Frankhouser of West Virginia University. A junior from Morgantown, West Virginia, Frankhouser (who normally is an intermediate rider) earned the Mountaineers' first-ever team points at a Tournament of Champions event (though 2009 Cacchione Cup qualifier Miranda Cain did not ride at today's event she is indeed still on the team and will be a fixture during the regular season - Editor). It was not until the second section of novice flat that another West Virginia rider would win a class. Morgan Squires, a junior from Ramsey, New Jersey finished one place ahead of Peterson to close out the Mountaineer's total at 19 points. With Squires' late heroics West Virginia leaped up to seventh place in their Tournament series debut. Lafayette College was briefly undefeated (but because their first ride was in the third class they were already trailing Bridgewater) as Linnea Carver won the third class of the day, the second section of intermediate flat. A freshman from Muscatine, Iowa, Carver was not making her IHSA debut. Lafayette had competed in a Zone 3, Region 4 show a day earlier, defeating Kutztown University 34-28 (and seven other teams) before heading down to the Baltimore area for the night. The Leopards were one of three teams to finish with 17 points.
Virginia Tech's Enter Sandman team was not as fortunate as at two of last season's shows (first at the '09 Pre-Season, Reserve Champion at the Winter event) but still their score of 24 points was good enough for fifth place. Between Enter Sandman and Hokie Nation Virginia Tech earned only two blue ribbons, but to their credit they were back-to-back. Alicia Shankle, a junior from Abbington, Virginia won the first section of intermediate fences while Sarah Williams followed with a win in section A of walk-trot-canter. A sophomore from Glen Burnie, Maryland, Williams was competing against IHSA competition for only the second time. Paige Messick (from Bear, Delaware, who trained under University of Delaware Head Coach Bryan Bradley before going to college) was second for Enter Sandman in open flat. Jessica Ropelewski (in novice fences) and Jennifer Osterman (in open flat) were red ribbon winners for Team Hokie Nation. For the fourth time in four events Hokie Nation was outscored by Enter Sandman, this time by a 24-14 score. The team to travel the furthest to compete at the Pre-Season Tourney will also host the next Tournament of Champions event. Savannah College of Art & Design will host the Holiday Tournament of Champions show on Saturday, December 4th at the Ronald C. Waranch Equestrian Center in Jasper County, South Carolina (less than 15 minutes from the Georgia/South Carolina border). If today's results mean anything toward the future the Bees should be hard to beat on their own turf. Taylor Brown, a sophomore from Raleigh, North Carolina won the first section of novice flat while Kristen Ridge (sophomore, Lake Worth, Florida) and Kelse Bonham (junior, Eolia, Maryland) were Reserve Champions in Walk-Trot and open fences, respectively. Because Assistant Program Director and former Centenary College Head Coach Andrea Wells was at an event in Canada on this day, former Centenary Captain and current SCAD employee Jessica Anselmo was on hand to assist Coach Ashley Kelly. Kelly saw SCAD riders earn points in seven of the eight divisions while her Bees finished fourth overall with 26 points.
Creatures with wings faired well at the Pre-Season Tournament, as the Lynchburg College Hornets finished third with 29 points. Lynchburg earned 16 of their 29 points over three consecutive classes. Jordan Rooney's fifth in open flat came right after Drew Nichols had won his walk-trot and right before Kelli Greenslade won her walk-trot-canter. It was sort of a homecoming for both blue ribbon winners as Nichols is a senior from Frederick, Maryland while Greenslade is a sophomore from Bowie, Maryland, Earlier in the day Kelly Gerland placed second in in open fences. Seven of eight Hornet team rides resulted in team points. The Hornets keep increasing their point total at tournament events, going from 10 at the 2009 Pre-Season to 22 at the December '09 Holiday show to 24 at the January 2010 Winter gathering to 29 today. Earning a blue ribbon in between Nichols and Greenslade was Amory Brandt of Goucher College. A junior from Saratoga, California, Brandt won section A of open flat for the host school. Though Brandt was the only member of the Gopher team to place above third (sophomore Addie Jabin from nearby Annapolis, Maryland was third in novice fences) Goucher managed to earn at least one team point in all eight divisions and eventually tied two other schools with 19 points. Head Coach Patte Zumbrun was surprised to find she needed to round up her Goucher team for the awarding of team ribbons at the end of the day as she was unaware that her Gophers were not only in the top eight they were sixth via the tiebreaker. Like Virginia Tech, Ohio University saw one of their two teams earn exactly two blue ribbons and win them back-to-back. Carly Klose, a sophomore from Centerville, Ohio won section A of novice fences while teammate Alyssa Bower (freshman, Parma, Ohio) followed with a win in section B of walk-trot. Both rode for Team Bobcats, which won a three-way tiebreaker for eleventh place at 17 points over both Lafayette and Virginia Intermont Team Black. The Ohio University Team Rufus squad scored only eight points for 18th place, though Emily Neely earned five of these eight points with a Reserve Championship in section A of individual novice flat.
It was not until the sixteenth class of the day that Cornell University joined the list of blue ribbon winners. Emily Kowalchik, a sophomore from Loveland, Ohio who rode for Tournament of Champions series creators Jim and Gwen Arrigon's Beckett Run IEA National Champion team two seasons ago, won the second section of novice fences. Prior to Kowalchik's first in Cornell's final ride of the day Kelsey Craig had the Big Red's best ribbon, a third behind Brandt and Osterman in open fences. Cornell scored 18 points to finish in tenth place. Cornell was not the only Ivy League school entered in today's Tournament event. The Dartmouth College Big Green scored 12 points, with sophomore Helena Witte earning five in section A of novice fences. Another Dartmouth sophomore, Kelly Tropin, was third in the second section of open fences. The University of Delaware scored one more point than Dartmouth. The Fighting Blue Hens were lead by Shilpa Deshpande, who was second in the first section of walk-trot-canter. A senior from Hillsborough, New Jersey, Deshpande has been a western rider for the most part throughout her first three seasons with the Delaware team. Dartmouth and Delaware may not have earned any blue ribbons at today's event, but this puts them in select company. The only other schools with teams in the tourney to peak no higher than red in the team classes were Mount Holyoke and Virginia Intermont! Margaret Swanson of Mount Holyoke's Team Silly started the day with a second behind Black in intermediate flat while Pauline Erni also earned a red ribbon riding for Team Bandz in section B of walk-trot (Erni was a Walk-Trot class winner at the 2009 Holiday Tournament in Long Valley, New Jersey). Very surprisingly these were the only two ribbons above yellow earned by either Mount Holyoke team prior to the completion of the Medal division. Team Silly finished eighth with 19 points while team Bandz finished 14th (but relatively close) with 15 points.
Virginia Intermont College teams scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, yet finished ranked far apart, at 9th and 13th for the day. This had to do with tiebreakers. VI's Team Gold scored as many points as Mount Holyoke Team Silly and West Virginia yet those teams finished ahead. Team Black was also involved in a three-way tie, and again the VI team was third behind Ohio University Team Bobcats and Lafayette. Freshman certainly helped Team Black, as Danielle Clark (from Mount Laurel, New Jersey) won section B of intermediate flat while Ashley Ramey (from Culpepper, Virginia) won section B of intermediate fences. Team Gold did not receive a ribbon above third place (Amanda Shamer received a yellow ribbon in intermediate fences to lead the way) yet Gold's ability to score points in six of eight divisions helped them finish ninth overall. While the Bridgewater College Eagles were the Reserve Champions it was the University of Mary Washington Eagles who prevailed as 2010 Pre-Season Tournament winners (we are still checking to see if the same mascot/animal has ever finished first and second at a Tournament event prior to today). Somewhat ironically, Bridgewater College Assistant Coach Beth Boteler (who was acting as Coach in place of Sarah Irvine) had previously been a Coach with the Mary Washington program for at least three seasons. Brittany Hill, a senior who was a freshman the last season Boteler was involved at Mary Washington, won both of her open classes for the Eagles (More irony: Hill resides in Frederick, Maryland but goes to school in Fredericksburg, Virginia!). Corinne Fredrickson (how coincidental!), a Mary Washington freshman from Long Island was second in the first section of intermediate fences to give the Eagles 15 points through three divisions. It was not until six team classes later that a Mary Washington rider competed again, and when Clair Maher (a sophomore from Alexandria, Virginia) was second in section B of walk-trot-canter the Eagles had 20 points and were clearly the team to chase down. Hill's section B open flat win put Mary Washington ahead for good. According to Mary Washington Head Coach Teresa Seay the Eagles had never won a Tournament of Champions event prior to today's show. Seay should know, as she has been involved with the IHSA and Mary Washington for over 15 years now, only three fewer seasons than the Tournament has been around. As Teresa Bettis she rode for Carol Hall, Becky Dye and Kathy Danielson over four seasons as a Mary Washington College undergraduate. After graduating in 1999 Seay was involved in the Eagles program with Danielson through 2005 and Boteler through 2009 (Mary Washington became a University in mid-2004 - Editor). The Eagles have won six Zone 4, Region 1 Region Championships since Seay graduated and if today's effort is an indication of things to come Goucher will have its hands full during the 2010-11 race for a Zone 4, Region 1 title.
While Hill won twice for the (Mary Washington) Eagles she did not receive the High Point Rider award nor was she involved in a ride-off. This is because Tournament of Champions series shows do not have a ride-off. In place of a ride-off they hold a Medal class. The medal division was made up of 20 riders today, each of which signed up to compete in a class that is run in similar fashion to an IHSA Nationals Cacchione Cup Competition. There were two flat heats of ten riders each held early in the day, with ten riders invited back to jump following the final team class. Judge Leslie Tauber Emerson had the option to do callbacks following the jumping phase but opted to pin the division based on what she had already seen. Bridgewater managed one rider in the top eight, as Caitlin Hewitt was eighth for the Eagles. Though an intermediate riding against mostly open riders, Gerland was sixth. Lauren Fay and Julie Oliver of Virginia Intermont both made the call-back, with Fay placing fifth. Both Bonham and Paul Frederick of Savannah College of Art & Design were granted the opportunity to jump, and Bonham was the Reserve Champion for the Medal. Goucher had a pair of riders in the top ten as Brandt was seventh while sophomore Karli Postel was third. Finally Mount Holyoke had a pair of seniors in the top ten. JoJo Gutfarb and Lindsay Sceats both made their college riding debuts at the 2007 Pre-Season Tournament of Champions in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and three years later both were earning top five ribbons in the Medal division at the same event. Gutfarb was fourth while Sceats, from Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the Medal Champion. Ironically this meant that Sceats and Bonham repeated their ribbons won in the Cacchione Cup at IHSA Nationals on May 8th. It was almost as coincidental as the number of times 'Frederick,' 'Fredericksburg,' 'Fredrickson,' et al, came up in this story! Your guess is as good as ours: With Mary Washington winning today's event no IHSA program has won consecutive Tournament of Champions shows since Virginia Intermont did it across two seasons in 2008. Save for Centenary College no IHSA program has more than one win in tournament shows since December of 2008 (The Cyclones, who would have no doubt put in a strong effort had they opted to compete at Goucher, have won each of the past two Holiday Tournament shows). The days of picking VI and Mount Holyoke as the favorites (specifically in Tournament events) may have come to an end. Nevertheless both of these historically powerful IHSA programs have as good a chance as any to claim the top prize when Savannah College of Art & Design hosts the Holiday Tournament of Champions on Saturday, December 4th. By the same token it could be another victory for an IHSA program yet to win a Tournament event of any kind. --Steve Maxwell
(Editor's Note: After double-checking the team totals the Editor is concerned that either several of the placings we have posted are incorrect or that several of the team point totals posted on the "Big Board" at Goucher were incorrect, or a combination of the two. If you see an error in the placings please e-mail us at editor@campusequestrian.com so that we may correct the mistake.) Show Incidentals: Rain in the morning, followed by sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 60's. Start time: 9:15AM. Finish: 2:42PM. Judge: Leslie Tauber Emerson. Stewards: Matt Arrigon/Lynchburg College; Bryan Bradley/University of Delaware and Teresa Seay/University of Mary Washington. This show was Hunter Seat or English only. Team Totals: University of Mary Washington (High Point Team) 34; Bridgewater College (Reserve) 30; Lynchburg College 29; Savannah College of Art & Design 26; Virginia Tech - Enter Sandman 24; Goucher College 21; West Virginia University 19; Mount Holyoke College - Team Silly 19; Virginia Intermont College - Team Gold 19; Cornell University 18; Ohio University - Team Bobcats 17; Lafayette College 17; Virginia Intermont College - Team Black 17; Mount Holyoke College - Team Bandz 15; Virginia Tech - Team Hokie Nation 14; University of Delaware 13; Dartmouth College 12 and Ohio University - Team Rufus 8 Class-by-class results, in the order in which they were held: Intermediate equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Sarah Black, Bridgewater College. 2. Margaret Swanson, Mount Holyoke College - Team Silly. 3. Andrea MacQueen, Virginia Intermont College - Team Gold. 4. Megan Ebling, Virginia Tech - Team Enter Sandman. 5. Emily Webster, Cornell University. 6. Taylor Marcus, Goucher College.
Open equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Sharon Frankhouser, West Virginia University. 2. Kelse Bonham, Savannah College of Art & Design. 3. Shelby Goodman, Bridgewater College. 4. Jasen Bernthisel, Ohio University - Team Rufus. 5. Georgina Melbye, Cornell University. 6. Felicia Harrisch, Mount Holyoke College - Team Bandz. Intermediate equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Linnea Carver, Lafayette College. 2. Danielle Clark, Virginia Intermont College - Team Black. 3. Jamie Carille, Lynchburg College. 4. Molly Banfield, University of Mary Washington. 5. Anna Siegel, Savannah College of Art & Design. 6. Cali Zimmerman, Mount Holoke College - Team Bandz.
Open equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Brittany Hill, University of Mary Washington. 2. Kelly Gerland, Lynchburg College. 3. Kelly Tropin, Dartmouth College. 4. Karli Postel, Goucher College. 5. Danielle Miranda, Lafayette College. 6. Paige Messick, Virginia Tech - Team Enter Sandman. Intermediate equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Alicia Shankle, Virginia Tech - Team Enter Sandman. 2. Corinne Frederickson, University of Mary Washington. 3. Amanda Shamer, Virginia Intermont College - Team Gold. 4. Sarah Spangenberg, Dartmouth College. 5. Kait Scott, West Virginia University. 6. Kristine Guthrie, Lynchburg College. Walk-trot-canter equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Sarah Williams, Virginia Tech - Team Enter Sandman. 2. Shilpa Deshpande, University of Delaware. 3. Alice Burnett, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Katie Martin, Ohio University - Team Bobcats. 5. Joelle Jach, Cornell University. 6. Amanda Sobus, Goucher College. Intermediate equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Kayla Deyarmin, Bridgewater College. 2. Ashley Ramey, Virginia Intermont College - Team Black. 3. Valerie Shurtleff, University of Delaware. 4. Allison O' Neill, Mount Holyoke College - Team Silly. 5. Alanna Reiner, Lafayette College. 6. Taylor Marcus, Goucher College. Novice equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Taylor Brown, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Emily Neely, Ohio University - Team Rufus. 3. Emily Coggins, Mount Holyoke College - Team Silly. 4. Shelby Wambold, Lynchburg College. 5. Jessica Ropelewski, Virginia Tech - Team Hokie Nation. 6. Caroline Rusk, Cornell University. Walk-trot equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Drew Nichols, Lynchburg College. 2. Kristen Ridge, Savannah College of Art & Design. 3. Belinda Wenke, Mount Holyoke College - Team Silly. 4. Allyson Gallamore, Bridgewater College. 5. Madison Tidwell, Goucher College. 6. Katy Haupt, Virginia Intermont College - Team Black. Open equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Amory Brandt, Goucher College. 2. Jennifer Osterman, Virginia Tech - Team Hokie Nation. 3. Kelsey Craig, Cornell University. 4. Ashley Miller, Virginia Intermont College - Team Gold. 5. Jordan Rooney, Lynchburg College. 6. James Hobbie, University of Delaware. Walk-trot-canter equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Kelli Greenslade, Lynchburg College. 2. Clair Maher, University of Mary Washington. 3. Erin Duggan, Lafayette College. 4. Meghan Kelty, Virginia Intermont College - Team Gold. 5. Marion Carroll, Virginia Tech - Team Hokie Nation. 6. Leslie Allen, Bridgewater College. Novice equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Carly Klose, Ohio University - Team Bobcats. 2. Helena Witte, Dartmouth College. 3. Clara Tate, Mount Holyoke College - Team Bandz. 4. Caroline Lavenduski, University of Delaware. 5. Casey Gilligan, Virginia Intermont College - Team Black. 6. Jack Charleton, University of Mary Washington. Walk-trot equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Alyssa Bower, Ohio University - Team Bobcats. 2. Pauline Erni, Mount Holyoke College - Team Bandz. 3. Meghan Olson, University of Mary Washington. 4. Jaclyn Niggemeyer, West Virginia University. 5. Rebecca Kaczmarek, Virginia Intermont College - Team Gold. 6. Holly Sanderlands, Lafayette College. Novice equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Emily Kowalchik, Cornell University. 2. Jessica Ropelewski, Virginia Tech - Team Hokie Nation. 3. Addie Jabin, Goucher College. 4. Andrea MacQueen, Virginia Intermont College - Team Gold. 5. Taylor Brown, Savannah College of Art & Design. 6. Sally Gibb, Mount Holyoke College - Team Silly. Open equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Brittany Hill, University of Mary Washington. 2. Paige Messick, Virginia Tech - Team Enter Sandman. 3. Lauren Fay, Virginia Intermont College. 4. Taylor Rose, Bridgewater College. 5. Liz Tripp, Mount Holyoke College - Team Silly. 6. Hennrietta Armstrong, Savannah College of Art & Design. Novice equitation on the flat - Section B: 1.Morgan Squires, West Virginia University. 2. Juliana Peterson, Bridgewater College. 3. Ella Pittman, Mount Holyoke College - Team Bandz. 4. Mackenzie Walsh, University of Mary Washington. 5. Madeleine Holmes, Goucher College. 6. Kristin Wavell, Virginia Tech - Team Enter Sandman.
Medal Division: 1. Lindsay Sceats, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Kelse Bonham, Savannah College of Art & Design. 3. Karli Postel, Goucher College. 4. JoJo Gutfarb, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Lauren Fay, Virginia Intermont College. 6. Kelly Gerland, Lynchburg College. 7. Amory Brandt, Goucher College. 8. Caitlin Hewitt, Bridgewater College.
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