Though she finished second to Whitney Keefe of Brown in team open flat, Mount Holyoke senior Nathalie Cooper had a tremendous day otherwise, winning individual open flat and fences, team open fences and the Cacchione class.

MOUNT HOLYOKE WINS AGAIN; BROWN SURVIVES ZONE 1 ZONES

South Hadley, MA - For the first time since the IHSA began eliminating teams at Zones in 1997, the team race within Zone 1 Zones did not go down to the last class. In fact the biggest surprise was Browns' ability to stay even with host Mount Holyoke through four team classes. By the time the sixth team class was completed, Mount Holyoke was ahead of Brown 36-31 and would maintain their lead the rest of the way. Stonehill was six behind Brown at that moment and would get no closer, hanging on to edge Dartmouth 32-31 for third place. Mount Holyoke won half of the eight classes while finishing second in the other half to win outright with 48 points.

Mount Holyoke open rider Nathalie Cooper (prnounced 'Natalie' as the 'H' is silent) dominated the proceedings. The senior from Newport, Rhode Island won individual open fences to start the day, then won team open fences a short time later. Cooper was second to Whitney Keefe of Brown in team open flat in the third-to-last class of the day but followed that up with a first in individual open flat and a victory in the Cacchione Class.

Other individual classes winners included Mount Holyoke senior Christine Gunn, who won intermediate fences nearly one year to the day after winning individual novice fences; Lila Pemberton of Mount Ida College, one of only two individual riders from Region 2 to survive Zones, and the first Mount Ida fences rider to reach Nationals since 2000, and Meghan Smith of Wheaton College. During the novice fences one rider went off course, another was a last-second subsitute and a third rider - which was Smith - wore a wrong number. Because there was some confusion as to which rider was which Smith made it clear to the everyone that she was the entry with the wrong number on her back. For her honesty, Smith was given the Sportsmanship award. For her ride in individual novice flat, Smith was given the blue ribbon.

--Steve Maxwell.

Class-By-Class Results from 2007 Zone 1 Zones in South Hadley, Massachusetts, with the top two riders in each individual class advancing to IHSA Nationals May 3rd through 6th in Springfield, Massachusetts:

Individual Open Equitation Over Fences: 1. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Tim Malone, Dartmouth College. 3. Kathryn Wulster, Tufts University. 4. Daisy Freund, Dartmouth College. 5. Cassie Herman, Mount Holyoke College. 6. Whitney Keefe, Brown University. 7. Tessa LeCuyer, Tufts University. 8. Jamie Salvesen, Post University.

Team Open Equitation Over Fences: 1. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Whitney Keefe, Brown University. 3. Jamie Marsalise, Stonehill College. 4. Tim Malone, Dartmouth College.

Individual Intermediate Equitation Over Fences: 1. Christine Gunn, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Bryana McGillycuddy, Boston College. 3. Amanda Avella, Rhode Island College. 4. Kira Karbocus, Boston University. 5. Natasha Rabinowitz, Mount Holyoke College. 6. Mike Zito, University of Vermont. 7. Elizabeth Bissell, Dartmouth College.

Team Intermediate Equitation Over Fences: 1. Elizabeth Gilberti, Brown University. 2. Danni Corkill, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Rebecca Clifford, Stonehill College. 4. Ashley Hannebrink, Dartmouth College.

Alumni Equitation Over Fences: 1. Amanda Forte, Brown University. 2. Karen Cooper, University of Connecticut. 3. Melissa Rabbitt, Mount Holyoke College. 4. Kate Goodwin, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. 5. Jessica Willis, Smith College.

Individual Novice Equitation Over Fences: 1. Lila Pemberton, Mount Ida College. 2. Marie Hilliard, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Rebecca Clifford, Stonehill College. 4. Laura Tarko, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Makenzi Wendel, University of New Hampshire. 6. Sara Anderson, Johnson & Wales University.

Team Novice Equitation Over Fences: 1. Laura Cieoroski, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Rachel Griffith, Brown University. 3. Elise Lewyckyj, Dartmouth College. 4. Megan Martinez, Stonehill College.

Individual Intermediate Equitation on the Flat: 1. Rachel Schneebaum, Williams College. 2. Hillary Amster, Tufts University. 3. Heather Marban, Stonehill College. 4. Rebecca Gambsy, Mount Ida College. 5. Amber Garland, University of Connecticut. 6. Tara Hinds, University of Rhode Island. 7. Mike Zito, University of Vermont. 8. Katherine Nolfi, Williams College.

Team Intermediate Equitation on the Flat: 1. Elizabeth Gilberti, Brown University. 2. Christine Gunn, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Ashley Hannebrink, Dartmouth College. 4. Stephanie Perry, Stonehill College.

Alumni Equitation on the Flat: 1. Kate Estes, Tufts University. 2. Jessica Willis, Smith College. 3. Amanda Forte, Brown University. 4. Melissa Rabbitt, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Karen Cooper, University of Connecticut.

Individual Novice Equitation on the Flat: 1. Meghan Smith, Wheaton College. 2. Jennifer Troncone, Johnson & Wales University. 3. Casey Parmelee, Boston University. 4. Lauren Rarich, Roger Williams University. 5. Marie Hilliard, Mount Holyoke College. 6. Amy Russell, Williams College. 7. Lila Pemberton, Mount Ida College. 8. Sarah Smith, Mount Ida College.

Team Novice Equitation on the Flat: 1. Kelli Monroe, Stonehill College. 2. Caralie Cahill, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Emma Bogdonoff, Brown University. 4. Jeanie Lau, Dartmouth College.

Individual Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation on the Flat: 1. Laura Bredehorst, University of Connecticut. 2. Penelope Essoyan, Wesleyan University. 3. Alisha Phipps, Endicott College. 4. Alyssa Findlay, University of Vermont. 5. Julie Kanner, Boston College. 6. Lauren Kolodinski, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 7. Erika Botman, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 8. Heather Hunt, Mount Ida College.

Team Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation on the Flat: 1. Emily Coler, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Chesa Bochner, Dartmouth College. 3. Briana Touzjian, Stonehill College. 4. Leona Rosenbaum, Brown University.

Individual Walk-Trot Equitation on the Flat: 1. Jasmine Brooks, University of Connecticut. 2. Carolyn Kane, Becker College. 3. Caitlin McInerny, Mount Holyoke College. 4. Sharon Amaral, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. 5. Nancy Bowes, Mount Ida College. 6. Katie Post, University of Rhode Island. 7. Mallory Lescynski, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. 8. Eric Isabelle, University of New Hampshire.

Team Walk-Trot Equitation on the Flat: 1. Kate Miller, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Kaitlyn Wallace, Dartmouth College. 3. Jenna Boyd, Stonehill College. 4. Stephanie Carmack, Brown University.

Team Open Equitation on the Flat: 1. Whitney Keefe, Brown University. 2. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Daisy Freund, Dartmouth College. 4. Quinn Traendly, Stonehill College.

Individual Open Equitation on the Flat: 1. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Whitney Keefe, Brown University. 3. Jamie Salvesen, Post University. 4. Tim Malone, Dartmouth College. 5. Sara Smith, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 6. Allison Schaitman, Mount Ida College. 7. Rebecca Renier, Tufts University. 8. Kathryn Wulster, Tufts University.

Cacchione Cup Class: 1. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Whitney Keefe, Brown University. 3. Tim Malone, Dartmouth College. 4. Tessa LeCuyer, Tufts University. (All four of these riders are automatically qualified for IHSA Nationals as Region Champion High Point Open Riders - Editor)

Final Hunter Seat Team Totals, with the top two teams advancing to IHSA Nationals May 3rd through 6th in Springfield, Massachusetts: Mount Holyoke College 48, Brown University 41, Stonehill College 32 and Dartmouth College 31.

(Special thanks to Kayla Blanchette and Sara Royston for their help in gathering these results - Editor)