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ST. JOSEPH'S CLINCHES FIRST REGION TITLE IN NINE SEASONS Islandia, NY - Though Fairfield University staged a rally throughout the day that put the outcome of high point team for the year in doubt for a while, St. Joseph's College of Patchogue, New York hung on and captured their second-ever Region Title on March 21st. The Golden Eagles last finished atop the standings in 2000-01, when the region was still known as Zone 3, Region 1. Tara Donahue, a freshman from Centerport, Long Island was the first St. Joseph's rider of the day to win a class, claiming the blue ribbon in the third section of intermediate fences. Ashley Clark, a junior from Shoram, Long Island won her novice fences while Taylor Little (freshman, Millerplace, LI), Christine Nastasi (freshman, East Islip, LI) and Allison Diehl (sophomore, Ronkonkoma, LI) won consecutive sections of novice flat. Though Emily Valentino earned the Golden Eagles only red ribbon of the day with a second in advanced walk-trot-canter, it was around this point in the show that St. Joseph's mathematically clinched the region. If there was any doubt Camelia Vega put it to rest. The sophomore from Farmingdale, Long Island won the first section of walk-trot to close out the St. Joseph's scoring at 24 points for the day. St. Joseph's 24 points may have only been good enough technically for fifth place at today's show but overall their total of 270 was nine more than Fairfield's final total and enough to send them on to the Centenary College Equestrian Center for Zones on April 10th.
Though they entered the day 22 points behind St. Joseph's, Fairfield University gradually gained ground and thanks to a missing score on the St. Joseph's point card (which was eventually added after Vega's win though it affected a novice flat class) it appeared as though Fairfield may have a mathematical chance right up until the final division. Elysse Ruschmeyer started things off for the Stags with a third in open fences while Catherine McIntyre followed with a second in intermediate fences. A pair of freshmen did well in the novice fences, as Nicole Genova was second and eventual reserve high point rider Sara Pollack was a blue ribbon winner. From Tappan, New York Pollack was the first of four Fairfield riders to win outright, followed by Samantha Normandeau (sophomore, Wilbraham, Massachusetts) in intermediate flat, Juliana Lavoie (freshman, Glastonbury, Connecticut) in advanced walk-trot-canter and Andrea Fernandez (freshman, Reading, Massachusetts) also in advanced walk-trot-canter. Just as St. Joseph's riders won three straight novice flat classes, Pollack, Emily O'Conner and Kelsey Hunt placed second in three of the five novice flat sections for Fairfield. It was after Lavoie and Fernandez won back-to-back a short time later that Stags seemed to have a real chance to stage a comeback for the ages. Though this did not happen, Fairfield did make up considerable ground while earning high point team honors for the day. The Stag's 37 points were a season high. New York University, which saw their run of consecutive region titles ended, finished strongly for the season with 35 points and reserve high point team honors for the day. Julie Youngblood (senior, Los Angeles, California) in open fences, Brigid Keating (sophomore, Chatham, New Jersey) in intermediate flat and Bak-Moo Lee (from Seoul, South Korea) in walk-trot provided the Bobcats with blue ribbons while Sam Jaffe (in open fences), Shelby Wakeman (in both open divisions), Juliana Goldlust (in intermediate fences), Megan Johnston (in advanced walk-trot-canter) and Julia Park (in walk-trot) were red ribbon winners. Had the Bobcats not been victimized by mid-season paperwork issues their efforts in the early shows and at today's competition at Islandia Farms indicate that another region title may have been possible. The actual outcome saw NYU score 35 points in the regular season finale to put them at 190 and fifth place in Region 4 for the 2009-10 season. The Stony Brook Seawolves were the third and final team to reach 30 points, scoring exactly that number. Tiffany Kenyon, a freshman from Eastport, LI was the only rider at today's show to win twice. Kenyon won both of her novice classes to claim high point rider honors. In addition Jackie DeLuca and and Tara Devlin also won classes for the Seawolves. DeLuca, who is a freshman from St. James, LI won her open fences while placing third in open flat to finish the season second in the Region 4 open rider standings behind Ruschmeyer. Devlin (a senior from Miller Place, LI who was the Region 4 Cacchione rider at 2009 IHSA Nationals) needed a fourth or better in the open flat to qualify for Regionals in the division and wound up winning the class outright. Had she finished first and not second in open fences Devlin would have finished one point ahead of DeLuca in the open rider standings, who instead edged her out 59-58. Virginia Mule (in intermediate fences) and Brianne Ciferri (in beginner walk-trot-canter) also won red ribbons for a Stony Brook team that finished third overall in Region 4 for the fourth consecutive season. In yet another coincidence the Seawolves finished the season with 239 points, their exact same total as in 2008-09!
Though they earned only one blue ribbon and three red ribbons all day, C.W. Post College scored a season-high 26 points to tie Nassau Community College for fourth place at today's show. Victoria Leonard, a freshman from Huntington, LI won Post's lone blue ribbon in the second section of open flat. Teammate Kristen Zimmerman may also have earned a blue, but she was second to Leonard in that same open flat section. Later on Laura Powell would place second in novice flat while Melanie Teixeira was a red ribbon winner in the final official class of the regular season, which was the second section of walk-trot. Nassau Community College probably wishes the season had started only a week ago, for after not having scored more than 18 points at a show all season NCC scored 26 to follow up 27 at the March 14th Stony Brook/C.W. Post show. The Lions were at their best late in the day (they did not have a rider in the open fences) as Alison Cawley (a freshman from Massepequa, LI) won her novice flat while Kristen Behr (a sophomore from Farmingdale, LI) won her beginner walk-trot-canter. Lindsay Wilson was second in her intermediate flat class. Nassau moved from tenth to ninth overall for the year with today's effort. Following St. Joseph's with 24 points were a pair of teams with 23. Like Fairfield and C.W. Post, Dowling College scored their season-high at Islandia Farms, the hosts perhaps familiar with several of the horses. Though they did not have a rider in the open fences, Dowling was temporarily undefeated for the day. Jackie Sassone, a senior from St. James, LI won the first section of intermediate fences. It turned out to be the final undergraduate ribbon for Sassone but not the final blue ribbon of the season for Dowling. Nicole Zerafa, a freshman from Medford, New York won her advanced walk-trot-canter class and qualified for Regionals in the process. The Golden Lions (not to be confused with the 'Lions,' a nickname which belongs to Nassau Community College, Molloy College and Columbia University) earned red ribbons via Marissa Quigley in novice fences, Michelle Berry in advanced walk-trot-canter and Sam Stern in beginner walk-trot-canter. While Dowling was surely happy to earn their season high, Molloy College was happy to finish the season so much higher in the Region 4 team standings than they have become accustommed. This group of Lions finished the season with 172 points, two points ahead of C.W. Post and in sole possession of seventh place. This marked Molloy's first finish above ninth place since they were seventh with only 157 points during the 2004-05 season, which was also the final season that Region 4 was still known as Zone 3, Region 1. Things got off on the right foot for Molloy, as Megan Larkin received a re-ride during the first open fences class (not before the results were mistakenly read aloud prior to the re-ride) which resulted in the Rockville Center, LI product receiving the first blue ribbon of the day. Erica Krilov, a junior from Woodbury, Long Island won her intermediate flat while Julia Kerning earned the Lion's lone red ribbon of the day with a second in novice flat. Though 23 was not Molloy's high total for the season, it was their second best, as the Lions scored 29 points a week earlier. Though Molloy finished last in the region twice since 2003 the Lions were easily the most-improved team in Region 4 for 2009-10. Provided the majority of the roster is back for 2010-11 the future of the Molloy program looks bright indeed.
Though they only scored 19 points at today's show (and ten one week earlier) Hofstra University finished fourth overall to break a string of two straight fifth-place finishes in '08 and '09. More importantly this marks the first time this century that Hofstra finished as high as fourth in their region. Molly Collins, a junior from San Diego, California won the lone blue ribbon of the day for the Pride, doing so in the first section of open flat. Courtney Molloy earned Hofstra's only other top-two ribbon, placing second behind Normandeau in intermediate flat. Though she could not ride in any of the spring shows as her eligibility had been used up over the previous four-and-a-half seasons, Jamie Graham still finished fourth in the Region 4 open rider standings. Columbia University had but five riders entered at today's show. Nevertheless the Lions still scored 18 points. Columbia waited the longest to see one of their riders earn a blue ribbon, which was not until Elizabeth Whitman came through less than an hour before the show ended. A junior from New Canaan, Connecticut, Whitman won the final section of beginner walk-trot-canter. Until that point Rachel Berkowitz's second in novice fences was the Lion's best result. Rounding out the scoring was Sacred Heart University with 15 points. Brian Buchanan, a sophomore from Troy, New York won the Pioneer's lone blue ribbon of the day early on. A winner in intermediate fences, Buchanan finished second to Keating in intermediate flat and became part of the ride-off for Reserve. Alessandra Lyons was second to Collins in open flat to add another red ribbon to the Pioneer's total. Does it count as an appearance?: Yale University was listed in the program as having three riders entered. However the Bulldogs did not come to today's show (this only one week after scoring a season-high 26 points). Since no one turned in a point sheet on their behalf the records will show Yale did not make an appearance and thus are not charged with a zero score. Though they did not have any Regional Qualifiers, Yale's season was not over as the Bulldogs (as well as Columbia) took part in the All-Ivy League Invitational show hosted by Dartmouth College on April 17th.
Schauble gets in on alumni fences: At least ten riders took part in the alumni over fences divisions, which was nearly one division before the stewards and show management agreed to split it so that everyone was likely to get points. Only one rider, in this case Stony Brook graduate Alexandra "Ali" Schauble, had any chance of qualifying for Regionals. All other alumni fences riders were either already qualified or assured of being on the outside looking in. Still Region 4 is known for the largest alumni group nationwide, and on this day each section was won by a rider competing just for the love of riding. Valerie Achkhanian, who will be Valerie Bertram after getting married on June 19th, won her first blue ribbon of the season in the first alumni fences section. Amelia Rubenstein, who graduated from Skidmore College and who entered the day with 17 points in alumni fences, narrowly missed a trip to regionals in the division after winning the second section. Schauble was fourth in the section Rubenstein won, giving her the one point she needed to go to Regionals plus two more. Similarly only one alumni flat rider qualified on this day. Hofstra graduate Diane Bollen won the second section of alumni flat (the program indicated two alumni flat sections were planned all along) to join six other riders who were already qualified, including Rubenstein. 2008 Columbia graduate Diana Patterson won the first section of alumni flat while placing third in alumni fences. Patterson finished with the most Region 4 alumni flat points, with 49, and alumni fences points, with 40. The Ride-Off: Though she qualified to compete in the ride-off for reserve, Devlin was no longer on the premises by the time the ride-off rolled around. It was thus a division of two riders, with Pollack better than Buchanan in the eyes of Judge Karin Immerman. Was there another show someplace else?: This writer goes to roughly 40 IHSA shows a year, and at no time did he see so many riders listed in a program who scratched. There were so many scratches from today's show that riders had to be juggled last minute between sections of a division to keep everything legal (Why so many scratches? Was there an "A" show someplace??). This writer wants to put in a kind word for the Dowling parents, many of whom were attempting to run aspects of a horse show for the first time. Though there were some issues inherent at many horse shows (example: during the morning when classes were indoors, people on the far side of the indoor could not hear the annoucements) the Dowling parents handled things well, and this writer was impressed that even if he could not hear a placing he could find the right people who had that information. No need to cross the sound anymore: Since the mid 1990's three Connecticut schools (Fairfield, Yale and Sacred Heart) had to travel from the nutmeg state to Long Island for the majority of the shows. The remaining schools from Long Island (and since mid-2005 Columbia and New York University as well) had to travel to Connecticut for at least one if not three or four shows per season. If you are unfamiliar with New York metropolitan area geography it is worth noting that to get between these two areas one must drive very far to the west and then go through two of the five boroughs of New York City before then traveling east again for some time. This is because of a body of water called the Long Island Sound separating the two areas (There is a ferry in and out of Bridgeport, Connecticut which runs at certain times every day, though one may have to make a reservation ahead of time to take it). Though it was not clear if Yale and Fairfield would still be in Region 4 for the 2010-11 season at the time, the IHSA ultimately decided to put all three Connecticut schools in the new Zone 2, Region 5 (along with six Zone 1, Region 1 schools also located in the nutmeg state - or constitution state as their license plates say). This will mean that the five boroughs of New York City and all of Long Island now make up Zone 2, Region 4. Though some will miss seeing their friends now found across Long Island Sound few will miss the driving logistics. Perhaps a Zones show will require everyone to go through the routine again! Campus Equestrian is on Facebook: Almost every time we post a new story or update the Regional Qualifiers somewhere we use our facebook page to let everyone know. If you go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/campusequestriancom/90976286447?ref=ts and become a fan of campusequestrian.com on Facebook you will automatically be notified of our updates. We limit our Facebook updates to no more than two per day (usually only one update with all the changes made that day). We would also like to hear feedback from anyone on our Facebook page, be they fans of the IHSA or riding in general. In time we hope to offer content on our Facebook page not found on the traditional pages of Campus Equestrian (we posted some Holiday Tournament of Champions videos there as an example). Our Facebook post for August 26, 2010 lets everyone know that five months after the fact our story on the March 21st, 2010 Dowling College show in Zone 2, Region 4 is now posted! --Steve Maxwell Show Incidentals: Sunny Skies, with temperatures reaching the mid '50's. All fences classes were held indoors while all flat classes were held outdoors. Start time: 8:45AM. Finish: 4:39PM - includes 40 minute lunch break/Coaches & Captains meeting. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Ms. Karin Immerman. Stewards: Kinnally/Columbia University, Kowalski/Hofstra University and Rigert/St. Joseph's College. Team Totals: Fairfield University (High Point Team) 37; New York University (Reserve) 35; Stony Brook University 30, Nassau Community College 26; Long Island University - C.W. Post College 26, St. Joseph's College 24, Dowling College 23, Molloy College 23, Hofstra University 19; Columbia University 18 and Sacred Heart University 15. High Point Rider - Tiffany Kenyon, Stony Brook University
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