Bears topple Huskies, Hawks and Camels to take early lead

Storrs, CT (9/28/02) - Sixteen seniors from last season (including legendary open rider Amanda Forte) had graduated. However, the new-look Brown bears were not deterred in the least, putting 39 of a possible 49 points on the scoreboard to win at UConn for only the second time in team history. Open riders Jackie Bialo (a transfer from Colgate) and Jamie Peddy (a freshman) filled the void left by many class of '02 open riders by each winning their open flat and fences classes. Peddy, from Oyster Bay, NY won a four-way ride-off at days' end, with Bialo, from Larchmont, NY earning reserve.

Both Roger Williams and host UConn were second, a mere three points off the pace of Brown. Connecticut College, with firsts in each of the first three divisions to compete, led early but took their lumps over fences, ultimately finishing with a still-respectable 33 points.

Bears in second early, then lead for good: Though Peddy brings some impressive non-IHSA credentials to college with her (sixth in PHA finals last year; won horsemanship competition at New England Equestrian Championships), some feel Connecticut College junior Vanessa Stevenson is as talented as anyone in the region. Bialo won the first open flat class to start the day, Stevenson the second and Peddy the third. The fourth open flat class went to Natalie Williams of Roger Williams. At that point the bears, the camels and the hawks were all tied. Intermediate flat aided the camels, as sophomore Nikki Hayes was pointed and won her section outright. Others to win intermediate flat sections were Brie Lemoine of Johnson & Wales, Megan Bowers of UConn (later part of the four-way ride-off for high point rider) and Brittany Parine, another UConn huskie. Neither Bowers nor Parine was the pointed University of Connecticut rider, as the point cards without names were finally filled in once the division was complete, revealing fewer than seven points added to the huskies' total. Five sections of novice flat followed, with two Connecticut College riders and three University of Connecticut riders earning blue ribbons. The camels took the first two sections, with blue ribbons awarded to Adriane Neff (her first ride in novice after pointing out of advanced walk-trot-canter at the Conn College-hosted finale last season) and Jenn Vlasaty. The huskies then took three straight, with Jackie Gallant, Alexa Smith and Megan Pouliot the winners. Pouliot would win the final novice fence class of the day as well, making the ride-off a four-way competition. Connecticut College led at this point, still with a shot at a perfect score, though Heather Rutana, Caitlin Elliot and Elizabeth Davis of Roger Williams all placed second, which put five points on the board for the hawks to stay close.

Brown would begin their ascent during the advanced walk-trot-canter. Section 2B-a went to Chautelle McLenithan of Teikyo Post, the first of three blue ribbons for the westernmost team in the region. Section 2B-b went to UConns' Jenn Palmadessa, while the third section, 2B-c was seven points for Deidre Dennis of Roger Williams. However Rebecca Barker of Brown was second, the best ribbon that ultimatly showed up on the point card since Marston St. John had placed second in intermediate flat to Lemoine. The beginner walk-trot-canter classes went to Jenna Stevens of Teikyo Post and Suzanne Mancheski of UConn, the latter ribbon perhaps landing seven points onto the huskies' point card.

One good Burke deserves another: Though older sister Megan Burke was one of the sixteen seniors who graduated, Galyn Burke started her sophomore year with a bang, winning her walk-trot class. Burke proved to have been pointed, and when coupled with Connecticut College not earning blue ribbons in the walk-trot and walk-trot-canter divisions, the bears moved ahead for good. Cassie Uricchio of UConn won the other section of walk-trot, which helped UConn develop steam which would eventually bring them into a tie for second.

Something unique to the University of Connecticut: Unlike almost everyone else, the University of Connecticut runs all flat classes before bringing out the jumps for fences. While some regions have a few flat classes before their jumping, UConn has all their flat before anyone goes over a fence. The open fences started at 1:13PM as it turned out, with Bialo of Brown a winner in the first section. Prior to todays' show, Bialo had never won a class during her days in zone 2, region 3 at Colgate. Bialo became the first rider into the ride-off, but would be joined by Peddy two classes later. In between, the huskies' Shay Meisinger won the middle section of open fences. More importantly, the camels' best bet to stay with Brown went by the boards, as Stevenson had some sticky fences, resulting in a fifth.

More fences: Brown freshman Leila Ledsinger won the first of three intermediate fence classes, while Jillian Cohen of Roger Williams and Liz Lopez of UConn won the others. Ledsinger may not have been the pointed Brown rider, while Cohen and Lopez were pointed by their schools. Still, Brown had enough of a lead that the opener was virtually clinched for the bears. Three of the four novice fences classes went to UConn, with Megan Bowers, Michelle Rodriguez and Meghan Pouliot each obtaining a blue ribbon. Bowers and Pouliot both won earlier, joining Peddy and Bialo (pictured together, above) in the ride-off. The third section of novice fences went to Aimee Boyer of Teikyo Post. The ride-off went to Peddy, with Bialo having to settle for second. The team totals were relatively close, and if Johnson & Wales had a walk-trot rider perhaps five teams would have cracked 30 points. Still, the first show is in the bears' win column, their first at UConn since Fall of 1998 and their first in the two-year old Horsebarn Hill Arena, also home to the UConn polo team.

UConn alumni fair the best: University of Connecticut alums Amy Tuckerman and Sue Simon had ridden in the tournament of champions invitational one week earlier. The practice might have helped, for Tuckerman won the alumni flat while Simon placed second in alumni fences. Another recent UConn graduate, Amanda Rahmann, placed first over fences and second on the flat. Simon also placed third in alumni flat while Tuckerman was fourth in alumni fences. Yet another UConn graduate who participated was Jessica Salonia, fifth in novice fences. Tricia Hussey, a 1999 graduate of the University of Rhode Island, placed fourth in alumni flat while Niki Krenzel, who was Niki Grainger while riding for Rutgers (class of '93) placed sixth in both sections. Though not listed in the program, the best alumni rides for someone who did not attend UConn went to Megan Goodwin, the Johnson & Wales graduate placing third in alumni fences and fifth in alumni flat.

How now Brown team?: Though they won the show and they found a new open rider who can be pointed with some safety every week, the Brown bears still have to "keep ahead" of what are very talented UConn, Conn College and Roger Williams teams. Though UConn may have to debate who to point at open (the huskies have over ten open riders) Brown will likely turn to Peddy, Connecticut College to Stevenson or Laura Kirby (who was not at todays' show) and Roger Williams to Natalie Williams. Each of these four teams can fill a point card, with depth in each division (at the moment). It will take the entire Fall schedule to put separation into the team standings that significantly drops someone out of the race.

Show Incidentals: High Temperature in the low 70's. Sunny skies, very windy. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 9:05AM. Finish: 4:23PM - includes 37 minute lunch break/coaches & captains meeting and separate 10 minute schooling break. Point cards posted in this region? Yes, but with no rider names (class names listed only). Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Lisa Foster, Dover, MA. Stewards: Scanlon/Brown University, Lindberg/Johnson & Wales University and Del Santos/Roger Williams University.

Team Totals: Brown University (High Point Team) 39; University of Connecticut (TIE - Reserve) 36; Roger Williams University (TIE - Reserve) 36; Connecticut College 33; Johnson & Wales University 26; Teikyo Post University 24; Wesleyan University 13; Trinity College (CT) 10 and University of Rhode Island 2.

High Point Rider - Jamie Peddy, Brown University
Reserve High Point Rider - Jackie Bialo, Brown University