St. Lawrence Assistant Coaches Cate Wagner and Jennifer Pletcher and Head Coach Mary Drueding stand behind walk-trot rider Katelyn Swirbalus, whose first place ribbon insured a perfect score of 49.

PERFECT SCORE HELPS ST. LAWRENCE TAKE LEAD IN REGION 2

Canton, NY - For the second time since Mary Drueding took over as Head Coach, the St. Lawrence Saints posted a perfect 49 score, moving 13 points ahead of a Syracuse team that led by a point entering the day. Rachael Ragozzino (open fences), Tarah Watson (open flat), Marrielle Van Rossum (same), Lauren Kuester (intermediate flat), Jess Campbell (novice fences), Vicky Wright (same), Kate Bacon (novice flat), Jessica Rochlin (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Katelyn Swirbalus (walk-trot) won classes for St. Lawrence, giving the saints nine blue ribbons in 27 undergraduate classes.

"We did it once before since I have been here," said Drueding, refering to the 49 score. "Both times I did have a drop. Not since the 80's (when Drueding coached at Colby-Sawyer College) did I have eight riders all with seven."

The saints, who had been averaging a hair below 36 points per show, did not pull away until after the lunch break. S.U.N.Y. - Oswego Head Coach Alicia Feraday was ecstatic that her lakers were ahead early. "Did you get that Oswego was leading after fences?" said Feraday. "We are so proud of ourselves." A pair of laker juniors, intermediate rider Becky Kosbob and novice rider Audrey Hagar won blue ribbons over fences while open fences rider Andrea Nagle won a yellow ribbon.

While Oswego had 25 at the time, Syracuse was in second. Freshman Katie Hauss and junior Marissa Stashenko won sections of open fences, while Jeanne Stenswold came out on top in intermediate fences. No longer known as the orangemen but rather as simply "The Orange," Syracuse was still technically in the lead through four and a half shows.

Unfortunatly one half does not a show maketh, and St. Lawrence went wild on the flat. Watson, Kuester, Bacon, Rochlin and Swirbalus were pointed and each received a first-place ribbon. Brittany Eckstrom of Oswego earned the only blue ribbon in a flat class for the lakers, victorious in advanced walk-trot-canter. Syracuse, who had averaged exactly 36 points per show entering the day, tied for second overall with 35 points, as Katie Reicke (advanced walk-trot-canter), Erin O'Brien (walk-trot) and Stashenko (in open flat) won after the lunch break.

Familiar territory: Syracuse tied St. Lawrence's neighbor, S.U.N.Y. - Potsdam, for reserve. Potsdam Head Coach Debbie Healey was not present for today's show, preoccupied at a non-IHSA show in the Rochester area. The substitute coach knew a thing or two about the Elsa Gunnison Appleton Riding Hall, having coached the saints to IHSA National Championships in 1973, 1976, 1977 and 1981. She even likely knew a thing or two about at least one of the bear open riders. Legendary former St. Lawrence Head Coach Marilyn Cobb filled in for daughter Debbie, and saw blue ribbons awarded to bear riders Kate Murphy (beginner walk-trot-canter), Craig Worboys (advanced walk-trot-canter), Reagan Fierle (novice flat and novice fences) and freshman open rider Megan Healey, who is both Coach Healey's daughter and Cobb's granddaughter. Healey was a winner over fences. Potsdam had been averaging exactly 29 points per show but can now claim to be a fraction of a point better than 30.

More blue ribbons: Also winning blue ribbons on this day were Katie Frickland of Alfred in novice flat, Kim Stouffer of Ottawa (the only Canadian team at today's show, though Trent had previously entered) in intermediate flat and Jackie Miller and Lindsay Urbanski of Cazenovia, the former a winner in intermediate flat and the latter in novice flat. Cazenovia, in third place overall, finished a point behind Oswego and four points behind both Syracuse and Potsdam.

The Ride-off: Stashenko, from Medfield, Massachusetts won the ride-off versus Fierle, a freshman from Hamburg, New York. Though now a junior, the ride-off was the first-ever in IHSA competition for Stashenko. "I was reserve here once," said Stashenko, "But there was no ride-off." Stashenko's two firsts moved her into either third or fourth place in the Region 2 open rider/Cacchione race, depending on how one looks at it. Stashenkos' 40 points puts her behind Ragozzino (with 50 and a first and a second today), Megan Cowen of Cazenovia (with 52) and teammate Hauss, a freshman from the Southern California town of Winnetka, also with 52. The top three have a bit of an edge in that only two hunter seat shows remain, with St. Lawrence hosting on March 5th and Cazenovia hosting the next day.

Odds/Evens: Syracuse is trying to break a pattern that started when Region 2 shed eight schools following the 1999-2000 season (Skidmore won the Region 11 out of 13 seasons between 1987-2000). Starting in 2000-01, St. Lawrence has been high point team in Region 2 for the season on the years ending with odd numbers while Cazenovia College has won the region in seasons ending with even numbers. In theory, St. Lawrence's big day reminded everyone that this season ends with an odd number, so it should be their turn!

Feasel, Nyhan jump to Regionals: Cazenovia graduate Kelly Nyhan had already qualified for Regionals in the alumni flat division, having won all four sections of the division entering today's show. Nyhan opted to sit out the flat class, allowing several others the chance to earn up to seven points. Rochester Institute of Technology graduate Joanna Prescott made the most of the opportunity, winning the alumni flat and moving to within five points of Regionals in the division. Nazareth graduate Kathy Feasel won alumni fences, raising her total in the division to 31 while Nyhan's second in the class also qualified her for Regionals. Feasel's former teammate Kelley Pfromm stayed alive in each division, placing second on the flat and third over fences. Pfromm has 18 over fences and 17 on the flat while Feasel also has 17 on the flat. Nyhan may sit out the remaining alumni classes March 5th and 6th, though if Feasel sits out on the fences it is hoped that one of two Guelph alumni named Sarah (Burd and Gillard, who showed earlier this season) take part so that the class becomes legal.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Cloudy, with Snow flurries. Temperature in the upper 20's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 8:57AM. Finish: 3:28PM - includes 51 minute lunch break/coaches & captains meeting and separate 17 minute schooling break. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Fran Dotoli. Stewards: Blumenthal/Cazenovia College, Backer/Alfred University and Van Patten/Syracuse University.

Team Totals: St. Lawrence University (High Point Team) 49; Syracuse University (TIE-Reserve) 35; State University of New York at Potsdam (TIE-Reserve) 35; State University of New York at Oswego 32; Cazenovia College 31; State University of New York at Geneseo 29; Alfred University 20; Nazareth College 19; Rochester Institute of Technology 17; University of Ottawa 15 and Trent University 0.

High Point Rider - Marissa Stashenko, Syracuse University
Reserve High Point Rider - Reagan Fierle, State University of New York at Potsdam