Amaya Bellfield of the University of Lynchburg "Black Team" (on right) won both of her open classes to start the day and set the tone for the host school. Head coach Phillip Williamson (on left), who also had a "Red Team" entered, saw the Black Team score 50 points to take high point team honors on September 26th.

LYNCHBURG HOSTS, WINS PRE-SEASON CLASSIC WHILE SCAD WINS TIEBREAKER WITH SKIDMORE FOR RESERVE CHAMPIONSHIP

(Following almost every Tournament of Champions invitational event Jim Arrigon, the founder of the Tournament Series, writes a press release for media outlets to use on-line or in print. We at Campus Equestrian have edited Arrigon's latest press release, written following the Tournament of Champions Pre-Season Classic held at the Patrick Henry Family Services Farm in Rustburg, Virginia on Saturday, September 26, 2026 and hosted by the University of Lynchburg. According to Arrigon this is the first time Lynchburg has hosted a Tournament event - Editor.)

Lynchburg, VA - Tournament of Champions began the 36th season with the 2026 NCEA National Champion University of Lynchburg hosting the first of four Tournament events on a sunny fall day at their Equestrian Center on the south side of the mountain in Rustburg, Virginia. It didn't take long to establish the pace, with 2026 (individual open over fences) IHSA National Champion Amaya Bellfield winning Class One, the first Open Flat class for the Lynchburg Hornets, giving her team a lead that would only get bigger as the day progressed. The Hornets Team Black (the Tournament hosts may field two teams; Bellfield was a member) scored 50 points this day to top the Reserve Champion Savannah College of Art & Design Bees, which finished with 35.

McKenzie Burch of Lynchburg won Class Two for Team Red, the first section of Open Fences, which briefly had the two Lynchburg teams tied for the lead. Purdue's Samantha Wertz was second in both open classes, giving Purdue a brief early lead until Bellfield won the second section of Open Fences to put Lynchburg Black in the lead for good. Virginia Tech's Anna Szefc (pronounced chef) won the second section of Open Flat, giving the Hokies a solid start that would eventually put them into sixth place for the day. Purdue would get one blue ribbon, from freshman Abby Ringuette in limit flat, but they were consistent and the Boilermakers would finish fourth Place overall.

Savannah College of Art & Design brought several freshmen to Lynchburg for the Tournament including Kaleb Yonkosky (pictured). From Buffalo, New York, Yonkosky won his intermediate over fences class to help SCAD eventually win a tiebreaker for second place with Skidmore.

SCAD didn't get a blue ribbon until Class Six, an unusually slow start for the Bees. Freshman Kaleb Yonkosky's win in Intermediate Fences started SCAD on a comeback that would lead to second place overall. The Bees got a late blue ribbon from Sophia Iglesias in the Intro division, giving them just enough to place above Skidmore College by way of the first tiebreaker which is the number of blue ribbons. Ani McIntyre's first in intermediate flat was the only blue ribbon for Skidmore. The Thoroughbreds were in second place at the midday break, finishing tied with SCAD at 35 points each but officially in third place.

The Goucher Gophers got two blue ribbons, both from 2026 (individual limit over fences) IHSA National Champion Cameron Andruskiewicz in Intermediate Flat and Limit Fences. Goucher finished as the official fifth place team in what was a three-way tie on the scoreboard with Virginia Tech and Lynchburg's Team Red at 31 points each. While Team Red claimed seventh place yet another tiebreaker put Emory & Henry University in eighth place over Cornell University and Delaware Valley University with 29 points each (team ribbons are awarded to eighth place). It was a competitive day as only six points separated second place from tenth place.

Andruskiewicz also won the Low Medal for the hat trick of three blue ribbons - a pretty good day for the Goucher sophomore from Connecticut. Emma Carter of Lynchburg scored slightly higher over fences in the Low Medal but Andruskiewicz had the high score in the flat phase to take his first Low Medal Championship. Carter was the reserve Low Medal champion while SCAD freshman Austin Saloum, from Columbus, Ohio, was third.

Cam Andruskiewicz of Goucher College (on right, with head coach Jen Smith) was a perfect three-for-three on September 26th to become the only rider of the day with three blue ribbons. The sophomore from Norwick, Connecticut won two traditional team classes along with the low medal division.

The High Medal included two former Tournament Medal Champions. Jessica McElhaney of Lynchburg won the high medal at the 2025 Pre-Season while Isa Jensen of Skidmore is a former Low Medal Champion. Smart money was also watching Goucher's Hope Vershleiser, always a high finisher, and others were certainly of interest. SCAD freshman Luke Rinehart, the son of former University of Connecticut rider Richard Rinehart (the Individual Open Over Fences Champion at 1988 IHSA Nationals) got to meet his father's former head coach as Janice Callahan was also on hand. Callahan has resided in Virginia for over 15 years after having coached the Huskies for 35 seasons.

In the end it was the one nobody gave any attention who proved to be the rider to beat. Delaware Valley University's Paige Gatz, a senior from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, emerged from the pack as the Aggies' first High Medal Champion in the past forty-five Tournaments! Chelsea Koerper won the High Medal at the 2013 Holiday T of C while Delaware Valley co-Head Coach Ciara Menkens Tjong won the High Medal three times from 2011 to 2013 and was inducted into the Tournament of Champions Hall of Fame in 2025. McElheny finished as Reserve Champion, Jensen third place, Vershleiser fourth, and Rinehart fifth.

The Equestrian Talent Search (ETS) Medal Class takes entries from the ETS Boot Camp clinics, which are equitation teaching and recruiting clinics for high school and middle school students held by Jim Arrigon for 20 years. Arrigon is a former collegiate coach, mostly known for coaching Miami University of Ohio for most of two decades and who retired after 25 years as IHSA National Secretary. Arrigon now holds more than a dozen ETS clinic weekends each year at colleges around the country. Former entries in the ETS Medal class include SCAD's Yonkosky and Purdue's Ringuette, both of whom won classes for their teams today. In all there were nearly 30 collegiate riders in this show who had come through the ETS Boot Camp program, nearly a third of all the riders entered at the 2026 Pre-Season.

Skidmore scored 35 points with almost all of them coming from seniors. From left to right are seniors Ani McIntyre, Nila Rothman, Isa Jensen and Stella Allen of the Thoroughbreds who were about to collect the third-place team ribbon when this photo was taken. McIntyre won her intermediate flat for Skidmore's lone blue ribbon of the day.

The Tournament of Champions Series will continue at Virginia Tech on December 5th, followed by SCAD on January 30th and the University of Findlay on March 20th. SCAD is the reigning Series Tournament Champion, and obviously Lynchburg has taken the Series lead this season.

Bonus info not found in the Press Release: Today's Tournament was held outdoors, marking the first time a T of C event was not either in a covered arena or an indoor since St. Mary of the Woods hosted in September of 2023...Purdue University was the only school present which had already competed in an IHSA show this season. The Boilermakers won twice at shows hosted by Indiana University the previous weekend...Cornell University made their first appearance at a T of C event since the pandemic...Cornell is a member of Zone 2, Region 1, where all the shows are held indoors. This was the first time any of the Cornell riders had shown outdoors at an IHSA-related event...Cornell will host the 2027 Pre-Season Classic on September 25, 2027 at their John T. Oxley Equestrian Center...Emma Kaminski was a late substitute for Goucher College, placing second in novice equitation. Nearly one year earlier Kaminski, then a high school senior from Perry Hall, Maryland was second in the ETS Medal Class at the 2025 Pre-Season hosted by Goucher on their Towson, Maryland campus...Including the medal divisions SCAD entered four freshman over the course of the pre-season event...It is official! SCAD's Alex Alston will compete for the Bees in the Spring Semester. Having shown IHSA starting in the spring of 2023 Alston had one semester of eligibility remaining. Alston will show in his eighth and final semester most likely starting Saturday, February 13th when the Bees host.

Show incidentals from the 2026 Pre-Season Tournament of Champions invitational held at the Patrick Henry Family Services Farm in Rustburg, Virginia on Saturday, September 26, 2026. Sunny Skies, with temperatures reaching the low '70's. Start Time: 9:08AM. Final regular class was placed at 4:03PM prior to the awards for the ETS Medal, the Low Medal and the High Medal. Judge: Richard Luckhardt, Mystic, Connecticut. Stewards: Kathryn Kraft, Purdue University; Nicole Madonna Cerio, Cornell University and Beth Sheely, Virginia Tech. This show was hunter seat or English Only.

Class-by-class results, in the order in which they were placed:

From Trumbull, Connecticut, Evan Ann Doyle (on right) was no stranger to the Equestrian Talent Search (ETS) classes at T of C events. Doyle was the ETS Class Champion on September 26th, followed by Emily Hotine (on left) who was the top rider at the Delaware Valley ETS Clinic on September 12th/13th. The winner of this division automatically qualifies to compete at SCAD during the Winter Tournament for the ETS Yearly Championship. Doyle noted that having won this class earlier in 2026 she was entitled to two rides at the SCAD Tourney!

Open equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Amaya Bellfield, University of Lynchburg - Black Team. 2. Samantha Wertz, Purdue University. 3. Paige Gatz, Delaware Valley University. 4. Isa Jensen, Skidmore College. 5. Olivia Edington, Emory & Henry University. 6. Emily Lowenguth, Lake Erie College.

Open equitation over fences - Section A: 1. McKenzie Burch, University of Lynchburg - Red Team. 2. Samantha Wertz, Purdue University. 3. Anna Szefc, Virginia Tech. 4. Hope Verschleiser, Goucher College. 5. Nada Souiedan, Emory & Henry University. 6. Erin Morera, Cornell University.

Open equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Anna Szefc, Virginia Tech. 2. Erin Morera, Cornell University. 3. Soph Chiaverini, Mount Holyoke College. 4. McKenzie Burch, University of Lynchburg - Red Team. 5. Hope Verschleiser, Goucher College. 6. Dax Eddy, Savannah College of Art & Design.

Open equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Amaya Bellfield, University of Lynchburg - Black Team. 2. Isa Jensen, Skidmore College. 3. Henry Hollis, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Emi Graf, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Emily Lowenguth, Lake Erie College. 6. Paige Gatz, Delaware Valley University.

Intermediate equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Kaleb Yonkosky, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Abby Windsheimer, Lake Erie College. 3. Ashley Watts, University of Lynchburg - Red Team. 4. Emerson Cassidy, Cornell University. 5. Sophia Frisbie, Delaware Valley University. 6. Sophia Bull, Mount Holyoke College.

Intermediate equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Molly McGarvey, University of Lynchburg - Black Team. 2. Ani McIntyre, Skidmore College. 3. Abby Ringuette, Purdue University. 4. Grace Simpson, Emory & Henry University. 5. Adriana Hardin, Goucher College. 6. Claudia Smith, Virginia Tech.

Intermediate equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Cameron Andruskiewicz, Goucher College. 2. Ella Bramer, Emory & Henry University. 3. Emily Futty, University of Lynchburg - Red Team. 4. Lauren Dunnett, Purdue University. 5. Allison Rice, Cornell University. 6. Grace Neumuth, Mount Holyoke College.

Intermediate equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Ani McIntyre, Skidmore College. 2. Jessica McElhaney, University of Lynchburg - Team Black. 3. Charlotte Taylor, Virginia Tech. 4. Peter Cavagnac, Savannah College of Art & Design. 5. Maggie Mitchell, Delaware Valley University. 6. Abby Windsheimer, Lake Erie College.

Paige Gatz of Delaware Valley University (pictured) was the surprise high medal champion. Not much was known about Gatz ahead of the competition, but after finishing ahead of the likes of McElhaney, Verschleiser and Jensen, Gatz will be noticed for certain when entered at future T of C events.

Limit equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Cameron Andruskiewicz, Goucher College. 2. Nathaniel Biery, Savannah College of Art & Design. 3. Ruby Suess, University of Lynchburg - Red Team. 4. Caitlyn Ford, Purdue University. 5. Savannah Fasner, Cornell University. 6. Juno Masoudi, Mount Holyoke College.

Limit equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Jessica McElhaney, University of Lynchburg. 2. Zelly Main, Virginia Tech. 3. Alicia Smoot, Delaware Valley University. 4. Lucy Beacher, Skidmore College. 5. Caroline Hall, Emory & Henry University. 6. Grace Harrington, Lake Erie College.

Limit equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Abby Ringuette, Purdue University. 2. Clair Humphreys, University of Lynchburg - Red Team. 3. Nathaniel Biery, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Bailey Shive, Emory & Henry University. 5. Mira Cooper, Virginia Tech. 6. Zara Hicks, Mount Holyoke College.

Novice equitation - Section A: 1. Tea Fuller, Emory & Henry University. 2. Maggie Gardner, Delaware Valley University. 3. Lainey Dickens, University of Lynchburg - Red Team. 4. Maddie Harper, Virgina Tech. 5. Shelby Green, Purdue University. 6. Alexa Carey, Cornell University.

Limit equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Adam Matejko, University of Lynchburg - Black Team. 2. Stella Allen, Skidmore College. 3. Elsa Heacock, Delaware Valley University. 4. Emma Edelman, Goucher College. 5. Estelle Azurin, Cornell University. 6. Grace Harrington, Lake Erie College.

Introductory equitation - Section A: 1. Sophia Iglesias, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Hailey Dowell, Emory & Henry University. 3. Nila Rothman, Skidmore College. 4. Colin Newton, Purdue University. 5. Celeste Huartas, Goucher College.

Novice equitation - Section B: 1. Sydney Remmington, University of Lynchburg - Black Team. 2. Emma Kaminski, Goucher College. 3. Kayah Lieto, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Isa Washburn, Skidmore College. 5. Nory van Rhyn, Mount Holyoke College. 6. Cordelia Webber, Lake Erie College.

Introductory equitation - Section B: 1. Keira Larkin, Delaware Valley University. 2. Neveah Turner, Virginia Tech. 3. Gabrielle Maggio, Cornell University. 4. Amaya Shuler, University of Lynchburg - Black Team. 6. Emma Tsui, Mount Holyoke College.

Equestrian Talent Search Medal Results: 1. Evan Ann Doyle, Trumbull, Connecticut. 2. Emily Hotine, Cold Spring Harbor, New York. 3. Katherine Harris, Virginia Beach, Virginia. 4. Grace Urtz, Leonardtown, Maryland. 5. Maggie Carr, Hudson, Ohio. 6. Gia Feldman, Naples, Florida. 7. Kaitlyn Slade, Basking Ridge, New Jersey. 8. Langston Eleby, Teaneck, New Jersey.

It was a modest day for Jessica McElhaney of Lynchburg, who before placing second in the high medal to Gatz won her limit over fences for the Lynchburg Black Team. The junior from Virginia Beach, Virginia is seen here with one of the cups the blue ribbon winners received. These cups were made by Gwen Arrigon, Jim Arrigons' wife, who can print out the T of C logo and affix it to the cups.

Low Medal Division Results: 1. Cameron Andruskiewicz, Goucher College. 2. Emma Carter, University of Lynchburg. 3. Austin Saloum, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Ani McIntyre, Skidmore College. 5. Ava Hogan, University of Lynchburg. 6. Jillian Ryan, Cornell University. 7. Elaine Nibbio, Mount Holyoke College. 8. Layla Anvar, Purdue University.

High Medal Division Results: 1. Paige Gatz, Delaware Valley University. 2. Jessica McElhaney, University of Lynchburg. 3. Isa Jensen, Skidmore College. 4. Hope Verschleiser, Goucher College. 5. Luke Rinehart, Savannah College of Art & Design. 6. Samantha Wertz, Purdue University. 7. Erin Morera, Cornell University. 8. Soph Chiaverini, Mount Holyoke College.

Final 2026 Pre-Season Tournament of Champions Team Totals:

University of Lynchburg - Black Team - 50 (High Point Team)

Savannah College of Art & Design - 35 (Won Tiebreaker - two blue ribbons to one)

Skidmore College - 35

Purdue University - 32

Goucher College - 31 (official fifth place)

Virginia Tech - 31 (official sixth place)

University of Lynchburg - Red Team - 31 (official seventh place)

Emory & Henry University - 29 (official eighth place)

Delaware Valley University - 29

Cornell University - 29

Mount Holyoke College - 15

Lake Erie College - 12

(For more info about the Tournament of Champions series please e-mail JimArrigon@hotmail.com or visit the Equestrian Talent Search page on Facebook)