Marie Stewart of Wheaton College won a four-way ride-off for high point rider at the October 30th Boston University show. Her two firsts earlier in the day helped Wheaton tie the hosts for high point team.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY, WHEATON TIED IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

Hanover, MA - On Saturday they won by four. On Sunday they scored ten more points but only tied for high point team. They are the Boston University terriers, and for the first time since 2000-01 they are in first place after halloween.

But they do not hold the lead outright! Wheaton College is even with the terriers, as both have 151 points. For Wheaton, their best-ever season is right now, as the lyons (the same school nickname as Region 3 school Mount Holyoke) have never led their region this late in the season.

Both the terriers and the lyons have several things in common. Both are tied for first place. Both tied for high point team at the October 30th Boston University show. And most importantly of all, both managed to widen their lead over the rest of the field over the weekend.

The two closest schools chasing Boston University and Wheaton have faired well in past seasons. Third place Tufts (now nine behind) has won their region nine times. Two Tufts riders have won the Cacchione Cup, including 1986 Champion Peter Wylde, who has since ridden for the U.S. Olympic Team. Stonehill College, now 17 behind, has won it's region ten times, including the 2002-03 team, which was also the IHSA National Champion hunter seat team.

To lead both of these teams is quite an accomplishment, but with the season only half over, it would be premature to count either out of the running. And for that matter, several of the teams behind Stonehill are making a bid for the top spot.

The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth is only a point behind Stonehill, while Wellesley College trails the top two by 22. Endicott college, host of Saturday's show, is 25 back. Stonehill and Endicott are only separated by eight points. Simply put, this is one of the best races in the country so far this season.

From Chesterfield, Missouri, Boston University freshman Haley Hicks leads the Region 4 Cacchione/open rider standings through five shows. Hicks recorded a first over fences and a second on the flat at the October 30th Boston University show.

The same could be said for the Region 4 Cacchione race. When Boston University last won their region, they had an outstanding freshman open rider by the name of Caitlin Venezia. Though they did not win the region in 2002-03, Jessica Long was their blue chip freshman. Both Venezia and Long went to Nationals in the Cacchione Cup Competition their first seasons as terriers. Haley Hicks, a freshman on the current BU team, has led the open rider standings for several shows. With 21 points on the flat and 30 over fences so far (the first person to secure a place at Regionals with points from only the 2005-06 season), Hicks leds with 51 points.

The lead is only six points, but compared with the lead between second and third, and third and fourth, and some ways after that, Hicks almost has an ocean to work with. Marie Stewart of Wheaton College, helped by two firsts at the BU show, is now in second with 45 points. Stonehill senior Kalyn Healey is next with 42, followed by Tessa LeCuyer of Tufts with 41, Jennifer Roberts of Endicott (a freshman from another Chesterfield, this time in New Hampshire) with 36, Katie Wulster of Tufts (also with two firsts at BU) with 35, both Jessi Dillon of Brandeis and Nicole Logan of Boston University with 34, Stonehill freshman Jamie Marsalise with 31 and Sophie Kohut of Wheaton rounding out the top ten with 28. Three riders are tied with 27. Though the gap between Stewart and Kohut is 17 points, the whole world seems to be squeezed in between. If Hicks should pull an unfortunate draw or two this could be the largest logjam for any Cacchione race ever.

But for now it is just a tight race, perhaps refreshing to the schools who saw Stonehill dominate the Region for the better part of four seasons. Make no mistake, Stonehill is still very much alive and well stocked with talent in 2005-06. At the Boston University show on the 30th, the "Skyhawks" (no longer the 'Chieftains' for the record) scored 34 points, their best showing since 37 on opening day. 34 was the highest score behind BU and Wheaton with 38 each. The skyhawks posted this high score with only three blue ribbons, one awarded to Sara Zelazny in the lone section of beginner walk-trot-canter and the others awarded to Lauren Kasnet in intermediate flat and novice fences.

What's this? A Congress vest in Zone 1? Lauren Kasnet of Stonehill College can walk, jog and lope as well as anyone. And at the BU show, she walked, trotted and cantered almost as well as everyone. From Exeter, New Hampshire, Kasnet won twice and finished second to Stewart in the four-way ride off.

Though she is not yet at the open level, Kasnet, an accomplished western rider as well as hunter seat, finished second to Stewart in the ride-off and ahead of Wulster and Endicott's Bethany Prussman, the latter of whom only pointed out of the advanced walk-trot-canter and into novice at the October 9th Tufts show. Had Stonehill not surprisingly scored only 18 points at their own show October 15th, the skyhawks would be much closer to their accustomed place in the recent Region 4 team standings. More than three blue ribbons for point riders at a given show could help mend the gap.

There were in fact 26 undergraduate classes at the BU show. Wheaton College won six, two more than Tufts and the hosts. Amelia Knight (novice flat), Molly Hislop, (advanced walk-trot-canter), Courtney Welch (same) and Kristen Neumayer (walk-trot) joined Stewart in the winner's circle. Head Coach Amanda Hare has now seen her lyons score in the high thirty's two of the past three shows. Considering Wheaton was 14 points behind BU after one show the current situation is not all that bad (i.e. good).

The terriers, like Stonehill, wish they had done better on the 15th. Boston University scored only 20 points that day, but scored 28 and 38 over the Endicott/BU weekend. Boston University earned their four blue ribbons early in the day, with Hicks (open fences), Kira Karbocus (intermediate fences), Zehra Gundogun (same) and Sophie Blease (novice fences) second to none over the jumps. Though Jessica Long is not currently riding for BU, Assistant Coach Sarah Fostello is very happy with the arrival of Hicks not to mention sophomores Nicole Logan and Christine Powell in the open division.

Tufts senior Laura Athey-Lloyd placed second in beginner walk-trot-canter on October 30th. It was her second time having to canter in an IHSA show, having pointed out of walk-trot two shows earlier.

While most Region 4 teams have had good shows and questionable shows, Tufts has clearly been the most consistant. In order, the jumbos have scored 28, 26, 31, 27 and 30, for an average of 28.4 points per show. if you are Coach Charlotte McEnroe you have to be pleased that you get a solid performance out of your team everytime. The key here is to improve slightly, for an average under 30 points per show rarely is enough to win any region, though with so much parity in Region 4 it would not surprise many if the high point team for the season averaged only 27. Wulster, a sophomore from Lebanon, New Jersey, won both of her open classes at BU while Megan Kiely (intermediate flat) and Stephanie Sirabian (advanced walk-trot-canter) were also blue ribbon winners for the jumbos. There 30 score tied them with the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth for fourth - or third, depending on how you look at it - for the day.

Former Mount Ida rider Katelyn Medeiros has the corsairs closer to the top after five shows than UMass at Dartmouth is used to. The Stonehill show on the 15th may have been a tough pill to swallow for BU and the hosts, but for the corsairs it was the best day for ANY TEAM in the region this season bar none. The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth scored 39 points that day, and their 30 point total at BU was easily their second best effort. Coach Medeiros saw freshman Jamie Abram win in intermediate flat, then waited until the last two classes of the day for freshman Rebecca Viera and Becki Carloni to win back-to-back walk-trot sections at BU. The corsairs are only 18 back overall, and if they can repeat their 39 point performance in the final fall show hosted by Boston College the Region 4 race could get even more interesting.

At BU, or rather at Holly Hill Farm where BU always hosts, Endicott College was next with 29 points. Prussman was the only rider with any firsts for the gulls at Holly Hill, winning twice. However it should be noted that intermediate rider Megan Piermarini was high point rider at the Endicott show on Saturday.

Save for Massachusetts Institute of Technology, currently made up only of freshman open rider Kate Broadbent, each of the remaining schools entered at Boston University earned exactly one blue ribbon. Brandeis was next in the order of scoring, earning 26 points, while Dillon won her open flat class; Wellesley College earned 25, with Ashley Snell placing first in intermediate fences; Boston College, with 18 and a blue ribbon for Bryana McGillycuddy in open flat; and the Univeristy of Massachusetts at Lowell, earning 15, with a blue ribbon going to junior Lori Kinney in novice flat (Harvard and Framingham State did not ride at the Boston University show, though Harvard did compete Saturday, scoring 12 points).

Perfect weekend for Viera: University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth freshman Rebecca Viera (left, with first year Head Coach Katelyn Medeiros) won her first IHSA blue ribbon on Saturday at the Endicott show, then won another blue ribbon the next day at the Boston University show. Viera had just won her walk-trot class at BU when this photo was taken.

Estes leads the way among Region 4 alumni: Katie Estes, or 'Kate' Estes as she is also known, needs only a fifth on the flat and a fourth over fences at Volo Farm November 5th to qualifiy for Regionals in both alumni divisions before the winter break. The 2005 Tufts gradaute won both classes at Holly Hill on Sunday, this after not competing a day earlier in the Endicott show. So far this season Estes has won six of the eight alumni classes in which she has been entered, with her low score a third over fences at Stonehill. 2005 UMass at Dartmouth graduate Katie Goodwin won both classes that day while former Yale graduate (and Head Coach of the 2005 Zone 3, Region 1 Region Champion Yale Bulldogs) Margot Sanger-Katz won both classes at Twisdenwood Farm on October 29th. Though she has yet to win an alumni class this season, former Tufts standout Katie Schaaf (who has reached several IHSA National shows in both alumni divisions) is second overall in alumni flat with 18 points. Sanger-Katz, who missed two shows, is close with 17. Over fences it is Goodwin giving Estes a run for her money, earning 23 so far. 2002 UMass at Dartmouth graduate Tracey Wallace is third over fences with 15. Sanger-Katz was second on the flat at BU while Schaaf was second over fences. There could be several Region 4 alumni going to Regionals provided they don't miss any more shows.

Photo Opportunity: Many riders at today's show asked this writer, who also takes all the pictures you see on the site unless otherwise noted, about how one obtains photos taken for use on Campus Equestrian if they are not posted on the site. Many photos taken at today's show will, for various reasons, never appear on Campus Equestrian, though by simply e-mailing us at editor@campusequestrian.com we would be happy to e-mail the jpegs of the photos free of charge. This goes for not only Region 4 of Zone 1, but for all 30 IHSA Regions.

Crystal ball useless when a region is this balanced: After Boston College hosts on November 5th, the Region goes into hibernation until March, when three or four more shows will take place. Usually you can find a flaw in someone's masterplan to have a full team at Zones. A school may lack depth in one level or have a zillion riders all ready to point up in one division. Since not everyone showed at Holly Hill due to mild limitations on the number of riders a school could bring, it is unclear if any of the top seven schools have a depth issue. There is so much parity within the region that unless Wheaton and Boston University have another really big day on the same day sooner rather than later then your guess is as good as mine as to which team will represent Region 4 at 2006 Zone 1 Zones on April 8th. The luck of the draw will never mean more anywhere than it will here for the remainder of the 2005-06 season, or until one team consistantly gets into the thirties.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: High Temperature in the upper 60's. Mostly sunny skies. Start time: 9:29AM. Finish: 2:47PM - includes 23 minute Lunch Break/Coaches and Captains meeting. Point cards posted in this region?: Yes. Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Greg LaPlace. Stewards: Hare/Wheaton College, McEnroe/Tufts University and Andreotolla/Endicott College.

Team Totals: Wheaton College (TIE-High Point Team) 38; Boston University (TIE-High Point Team) 38; Stonehill College 34; Tufts University 30; University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth 30; Endicott College 29; Brandeis University 26; Wellesley College 25; Boston College 18, University of Massachusetts at Lowell 15 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology 0.

High Point Rider - Marie Stewart, Wheaton College
Reserve High Point Rider - Lauren Kasnet, Stonehill College