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BROWN WINS BY A SINGLE POINT OVER FOUR TEAMS Avon, CT - The October 11 Trinity College show took the term 'balanced' to a new level. Region 1 certainly was balanced on this day, as Brown University won by a 33-32 margin over four separate teams. While Wesleyan University, the University of Rhode Island, Post University and Johnson & Wales University could all claim a share of Reserve Championship, only two points separated these programs from Roger Williams and their 30 points. Furthermore both Connecticut College and the University of Connecticut were only a point behind Roger Williams at 29. Anyone glancing at the scoreboard headed into the final division would have thought seven or eight teams had a shot at high point. Overall the distance between first and eighth place in the Region 1 team standings is more clear cut after Saturday's event. Defending region champ Brown now trails the University of Rhode Island by two, 71-69. UConn is ten out of first, with Roger Williams and Johnson & Wales 12 and 13 points off the lead, respectively. Post trails J&W by four, Connecticut College trails Post by three, and Wesleyan trails Conn College by eight. Rhode Island College (only a point behind Wesleyan), Trinity College and Central Connecticut State round out the early-season rankings.
Though temperatures would reach the '70's it was around 60 degrees when Eugenie Carabatsos won the first of two open fences sections to start the day. The Wesleyan University junior from Bridgehampton, New York would go on to earn the Reserve High Point Rider award for the day, averting a ride-off as no one else could claim one blue and one red ribbon. Second place in the first class went to University of Rhode Island sophomore Josh Corriveau, who did very well a week earlier when URI won at Faith Hill Farm. The second section of open fences went to Chelsea Bartscht of the University of Connecticut. From Ann Arbor, Michigan it was the first IHSA blue ribbon for the UConn junior, and the first of six blues for the Huskies on this day. Trinity College freshman Alexa Parsons saw her stirrup break towards the end of her jumping round. The Weston, Connecticut resident received a re-ride and eventually a red ribbon in section B of open fences. Parsons earned what would be the first of six red ribbons awarded to Trinity riders, two of which would belong to her. Two sections of Intermediate fences followed, with the Huskies making it back-to-back firsts as Leanna Antenucci won section A. Runner-up in the first intermediate section was Dakota Gruener of Brown. The rider who won section B of intermediate fences told one of the most interesting stories of the day. When Johnson & Wales freshman Kayla Prefontaine revealed she was from Newport, Rhode Island, this writer asked if the 'twin bridges' between the mainland and Connecticut Island were both still standing. Since one of these bridges had been bypassed when the new one was built, there had been talk of the old bridge being imploded as part of a major motion picture. Prefontaine explained that the original bridge was partially demolished two years ago, though the event was not filmed to be part of a movie. While explosives were being used to bring down most of the bridge, Prefontaine was coincidentally riding a horse two miles away which happened to be for sale. The horse did not bat an eye as the earth shook during the explosions, and the potential buyers were so impressed they purchased the horse Prefontaine was riding right then and there! Prefontaine's win in intermediate fences provided her with her first IHSA blue ribbon. Connecticut College received their first red ribbon of the day as freshman Melissa Groher was second to Prefontaine. There were three sections of novice fences. Wesleyan earned their second blue ribbon of the day as sophomore Gabrielle Jehle won section A. Connecticut College made it two straight red ribbons as sophomore Katie McCarthy was second. Section B went to Roger Williams senior Ashley Gagnon. From Lunemburg, Massachusetts, Gagnon would be the only rider to win twice the entire day. Second to Gagnon was Anne Marie Callahan of UConn. While the Huskies would earn six blue ribbons, the most of any school competing at today's show, Callahan would be the only member of the UConn team to secure a red ribbon. In third place was Central Connecticut State freshman Melanie Richard. We mention this not only because it was Richard's second IHSA show but because her third was the highest ribbon of the day for the Blue Devils. The final section of novice fences was won by Emily Bourdeau of Brown. A junior from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Bourdeau would be the only Brown rider to win a blue ribbon the entire afternoon. Rhode Island College would be one of two schools which would not win a blue ribbon at today's show. Brittney Karns earned one of two red ribbons here for the school affectionately referred to as "Rick" by the other schools at Region 1 shows.
One of the more interesting aspects of today's jumping divisions was that the fences were set to the novice height throughout. One coach commented that the open riders had difficulty 'seeing' the jumps as they usually jumped 2.9 and had trouble looking down! Most observers felt the novices did look more consistant than the open riders through the jumps. The lunch break lasted from 11:45AM to 12:45PM, with three sections of open flat to start the afternoon divisions. Another resident of Weston, Connecticut came up a winner, as Johnson & Wales junior Abby Bartley won section A. Runner up in the class was Trinity sophomore Nicole Pucci. From Greenwich, Connecticut it was the IHSA debut for Pucci, who does the 3.6 Eq in Florida. Post earned their first of two blue ribbons as Lana Dufour won section B. The freshman from Eliot, Maine was one of at least six riders to win a blue ribbon in their first IHSA competition. Parsons won the red ribbon without any stirrup issues this time. The final section of open flat went to Johnson & Wales junior Jess Penn. From Oak Park, California Penn ended the day tied for first in the Region 1 open rider standings with Elizabeth Gilberti of Brown. Carabatsos was the red ribbon winner in section C and thus temporarily was in line for the high point rider ribbon. There were three sections of intermediate flat. The University of Connecticut had a large number of riders at today's show who only rode once. One of them was sophomore Taylor Schoenthaler. From Clinton, New Jersey, Schoenthaler won section A of intermediate flat while Christine Ruh of the University of Rhode Island was second. Kelly Strout of Post University was yet another rider making her IHSA debut. After a third in novice fences, the freshman from Otisfield, Maine won section B of intermediate flat for her first IHSA blue ribbon. Groher, from Glastonbury, Connecticut, made it two red ribbons in one day as the runner-up. Gagnon won the third section, making the show a few minutes shorter as it turned out, by eliminating the need for a ride-off of any kind. Incredibly it was the first time Gagnon had ever received two firsts at the same IHSA show. Nicole Layne of Johnson & Wales was second to Gagnon in section C. Novice flat was also made up of three sections. The Rhode Island Rams had been held out of the top spot through the first 13 classes, but Heather Chmura would put a stop to that. The freshman from Cumberland, Rhode Island won section A while Trinity received yet another red ribbon via Kendra Smith. UConn Head Coach Elizabeth Rademacher was not present on this day to see her Huskies earn the most blue ribbons, many by riders who were showing IHSA for the first time (Rademacher was back on the UConn campus, as the Huskie's Dressage team was hosting an IDA event for which Rademacher's presence was necessary). Junior Brittany McLaughlin was yet another UConn rider who left Avon Valley Show Stables undefeated. From Raynham, Massachusetts, McLaughlin won her IHSA debut in section B while Wesleyan's Natalie Unger helped her team stay in the race for high point with a second. Alicia Levy became the first Roger Williams rider other than Gagnon to win when the sophomore from Wantaugh, New York won the final section of novice flat. Post could claim the second place ribbon in this class via Meaghan Hennessy.
Zone 1, Region 1 started the season as the only IHSA region in the Northeast where point sheets are posted but without the actual rider's names. Once a division is completed the totals for each pointed rider in that division are written on the sheets. With the first of three advanced walk-trot-canter classes about to start it appeared that eight teams were alive for high point, and that it was doubtful any school would score in the 40's. Section A of advanced walk-trot-canter saw Trinity break their streak of red ribbons. Melissa Meyers, who rode for Trinity last season won her first IHSA blue ribbon while Teresa Legein was the second Rhode Island College rider of the day with a red ribbon. Sections B and C both went to the University of Rhode Island, as Drew Pearson won B and Amanda Barney C. From East Lyme, Connecticut, Pearson was the first URI rider with a blue ribbon at today's show. Wesleyan's Eden Engel-Rebitzer was second to Pearson while Kathryn Eng won the third of three red ribbons for Brown by placing second to Barney. The only section of beginner walk-trot-canter provided Connecticut College with their lone blue ribbon of the day. Anna Jorgensen became the third rider from the state of Maine to win a class as the freshman from Cape Elizabeth, Maine finished one spot ahead of Post's Pamela Lyon. Though this writer has traveled to many regions this season where only one walk-trot class was necessary due to a lack of entries, it appears that the Region 1 schools have done a good job at pounding the pavement to find absolute beginners. Nine of the eleven schools had at least one entry spread out across three sections of walk-trot, and one school would bat a thousand as their two walk-trotters would win blue ribbons. Section A was won by Kaylie Thomas while section C was won by Samantha Gloeckner. Both Thomas and Gloeckner ride for the University of Connecticut, with one of them securing the final seven points on the Huskie's point card and thus elevating their total to 29 for the day. In between Roger Williams senior Becky Bryant won section B. Second place winners in walk-trot were Alexandra Masko and Aileen McBride of Trinity (providing their team's fifth and sixth red ribbons of the day) while Miranda Downing of Roger Williams was nearly as good as Bryant while riding in section C.
When the points were added the big surprise to many is that Brown won with so few high scores. The Bears may not have had the blues that UConn did (and many of the UConn winners were apparently not point riders) or as many reds as Trinity (which shockingly scored only 18 with seven of eight divisions filled) but perhaps the secret to winning is in the yellow ribbons. Brown picked up six of them to go with three seconds and Bourdeau's first. Brown also had fewer decisions to make regarding point riders, as the Bears had only one rider in five of the eight levels (By contrast UConn had two riders at every level). The good news for everyone except Brown is that no one has established themselves as the team to beat, and with eight shows still to come the possibilities are wide open. Brown Head Coach Michaela Scanlon feels her team will hit it's stride begining in mid-November, and if she is correct one can only imagine how the Bears will do if they actually score 40 or more points. What? No Alumni?: Trinity limited each team to two riders in each undergraduate level. However alumni was not offered at today's show. 2007 Brown graduate Katie Goetz, who showed alumni at the URI show was on hand to lend the Bears' support. Goetz was one of seven alumni (five of which are UConn grads) to show on October 4th, so the future of Region 1 alumni is good provided the divisions are held at the remaining shows. ---Steve Maxwell Show Incidentals: Sunny Skies, with temperatures reaching the low '70's. Start time: 9:35AM. Finish: 3:09PM - includes 1 hour schooling/lunch break. Coaches and Captains meeting held prior to start of show. Point cards posted in this region? Yes, but with no rider names (class names listed only). Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes but not on this day. Judge: Ann Jamieson. Stewards: Fogg/Johnson & Wales University, Steere-Maloof/University of Rhode Island and Luckhardt/Connecticut College. Team Totals: Brown University (High Point Team) 33; Johnson & Wales (TIE-Reserve) 32; Post University (TIE-Reserve) 32; University of Rhode Island (TIE-Reserve) 32; Wesleyan University (TIE-Reserve) 32; Roger Williams University 30; Connecticut College 29; University of Connecticut 29; Rhode Island College 24; Trinity College (CT) 18 and Central Connecticut State University 7. High Point Rider - Ashley Gagnon, Roger Williams University
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