Intermediate level rider Hawthorne Hart was one of three Skidmore freshman to take part in a five-way ride-off on November 20th.

NEWCOMERS PLAY BIG PART IN BIG DAY FOR SKIDMORE

Greenfield, NY - On a long day which included an all-freshman five-way ride-off, Skidmore College stayed unbeaten in 2004-05, with a season-high 47 points. The aptly-named thoroughbreds took 13 of the 34 undergraduate classes including a sweep of four open flat classes to start the afternoon session. Following their opening day 39-39 tie with Cornell, Skidmore posted back-to-back 43 point performances, and at this point only a perfect score remains for improvement.

The big red put up a good fight early and continue to score in the high '30's. Cornell Co-Captian Erica Rosen won the second section of open fences and later placed second in open flat. The senior from New Paltz, New York continues to lead the Region 3 Open Rider Standings, now with 44 points and a five-point lead on teammate Samara Ringer. Junior Asta Torokvei also won an open jumping class for the big red while freshman Samantha Horowitz won a pair of intermediate classes and the right to be in the ride-off. Liz Kozakleiwicz (novice flat), Christine Garvey (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Rita Mizrahi (walk-trot) also took home blue ribbons for the big red.

For the second week in a row Cornell finished with 36 points and for the second week in a row this put the big red a point out of reserve. Last week it was crosstown rival Ithaca College with 37, while this week Hartwick captured reserve honors. Margaux Watt won her advanced walk-trot-canter section while freshman Jen Nelson won a pair of novice classes. From Courtland Manor, New York, Nelson advanced to her first IHSA ride-off in the process. Though Head Coach Elisabeth "Betsey" Smith-Price has been involved with the Hartwick program since the late 1990's she said not once had a novice-level rider from Hartwick qualified for a ride-off until Nelson managed the feat today.

Ithaca again broke the 30-point barrier with 31. Lisa Tilstone (intermediate flat) and Megan Quinlan (intermediate fences) won classes for Head Coach Connie Sawyer's bombers. Four other Ithaca riders won reserve ribbons. Ithaca remains in fourth place overall, averaging exactly 30 points per show. If the bombers can maintain these numbers, it will be Ithaca's finest season in school history. Four shows this spring will tell the tale.

Most of the other schools entered had big days as well. Morrisville State scored 28, with Suzannah Cornue (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Elizabeth Acker (walk-trot) securing blue ribbons for the mustangs. Colgate was sixth for the day, but still with a healthy 27 points. Johanna White (novice fences) and Devon Storbeck (novice flat) won blue ribbons for the raiders. Siena had 47 points when the day started and 24 more at the conclusion. Erin Wagner (novice fences) and Laura Daubman (advanced walk-trot-canter) won blue ribbons for the saints. Hamilton College junior Christy House won her section of novice fences as the red dragons scored 22. Binghamton University may have been ninth overall on this day but the bearcats were also into 20-plus territory with 21. Sophomore Rachel Pech of Binghamton upstaged older sister Gillian Pech of Cornell, as both had a chance to qualify for Regionals on this day but only the younger Pech did. Gillian Pech ended up with 34 points following a third in intermediate fences while Rachel Pech, who needed a first to point up, won her novice flat class. Teammate Barbara Ehlen won the only section of beginner walk-trot-canter on this day. Rounding out the team totals were S.U.N.Y. - Cobleskill with 18 and R.P.I. with 15.

Overall however the day belonged to the aptly-named throughbreds. Blue ribbons were awarded to Nichole Malone (open flat and fences), Jessica Schroff (same), Ashley Woodhouse (open flat), Alyssa Garvin (same), Hawthorne Hart (intermediate flat and fences), Casey Atchinson (intermediate flat), Katie Slade (intermediate fences), Ashley Halsey (novice flat), Courtney Clark (novice fences) and Julia Whittle (walk-trot). Schroff, a freshman from Buffalo, New York had been High Point Rider at the Cornell show on November 7th, while Malone and Hart made it to the ride-off for the very first time.

What you don't know won't hurt you: Storbeck's first in novice flat advanced her to Regionals for the second time this season, as the Colgate sophomore was already qualified in novice fences. Storbeck needed one point and earned seven, but did so without hearing some of judge Leslie Brown's commands. "I could not hear," said Storbeck, "and I was trotting. Then as I went by (Coach) Anna (Hackney) told me to walk. It just worked."

Break the routine: Riders in class 5D were treated to a surprise when judge Brown did not ask the six participants to canter in one direction. After lining up the class for the placings, someone brought the oversight to Brown's attention and everyone was sent back out on the rail for one more canter. Tilstone's victory in this section advanced her to Regionals, while Morrisville senior Sophia Stolarcyk placed second and also advanced.

See you much later: Stolarcyk's ride was her last before Regionals. The senior will take part in an internship program this spring, though Stolarcyk (who has ridden at Nationals on more than one occasion in western divisions) will take part in the Regional show. Colgate senior Krista Rokicki qualifed for Regionals in intermediate fences, and will now sit on the sidelines until the Regional show as the raider rider will graduate in December. House of Hamilton managed to achieve the best of both worlds. The junior won her class and climbed to 33 points in intermediate fences. Had she qualifed for Regionals she would have to skip the show, as House will go abroad for the Spring 2005 semester. Should House pick up the two points needed during the 2005-06 season opener, she will essentially get in seven practice classes throughout next season to prepare for Regionals.

The Ride-off: Following the alumni divisions, Cornell's Horowitz (Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania), Hartwick's Nelson and Skidmore's Malone, Schroff and Hart (Middleburg, Virginia) took part in the ride-off. Needham, Massachusetts resident Malone (who rode for Stonehill College Head Coach Sara Del Vecchio while at the Dana Hall School) went on to win the ride-off. Both Malone and Schroff moved from being out of the top ten in the Region 3 open rider standings all the way to a tie for fourth place with four spring shows still to come. Though Schroff was the only rider in the championship class with previous ride-off experience, the reserve rider ribbon went to Hart, who looked very smooth.

Trivia at it's best: Nelson was the only rider in the ride-off with a dark colored coat. The other four wore light grey hunt coats through the weather was overcast and in the 40's outside.

Alumni race completely up for grabs: Apparently the alumni are very evenly matched in this part of Upstate New York, as the alumni standings in Region 3 change radically from week-to-week. Carrie Biggar (Hamilton '04) was perfect in the season opener, then did not take part in the Cornell show, then placed second in both divisions today. By missing the Cornell show Biggar is in third place in both divisions. Emily Unger (Stonehill '99, and a former teammate of Coach Del Vecchio), who rode alumni in Zone 2, Region 2 during the 2001-02 season, missed the first show but won on the flat at Cornell and at today's show while placing third over fences at Cornell and first in the same division today. Unger leads on the flat but is tied for fourth over fences at this point. James Sardelli (who attended Ohio State), Autumn Greenberg (who graduated from Ithaca last year) and Christie Schneckner (Cornell class of '02) are the only riders to show at all three contests that offered Alumni classes. Schneckner, who led the region in both divisions each of the past two seasons, leads over fences with 14 and is second on the flat with 13. Sardelli's 13 over fences put him second behind Schneckner in that division while Greenburg is tied with Unger over fences with 11. Since Campus Equestrian only lists the top five in each alumni category, two names that don't show up on the Alumni Standings page had a good day. 2003 Siena graduate Sarah Enwright won both of her alumni classes while 1995 Clemson graduate Kathleen Webster was second to Enwright over fences and third on the flat. Unger, Enwright and Webster all train with Siena and R.P.I. Head Coach Nora Hanlon, and if all three continue to show, their names should appear in our top five at some point. Three other alumni are also familiar with each other. University of Pennsylvania graduate Stephanie Furman, Morrisville State graduate Kelly Saporito and Allegheny graduate Meredith Foresther all know each other from vets school. Furman had the best day of these three, placing fourth in both of her alumni sections. It is worth noting that though only ten alumni riders in total were entered for today's show, both alumni divisions were still split into two sections. The more often the alumni is split, the likelyhood of a large alumni class at Regionals gains momentum.

What's next?: Cornell is averaging 37 points per show, which would be enough to win most IHSA Regions. However Skidmore is averaging 43 points per show, among the top totals in the nation. Though nine Region 3 schools will have to wait until February to compete against the thoroughbreds and big red once again, the top two schools face each other (and IHSA teams from around the country) at the Holiday Tournament of Champions in Long Valley, New Jersey, hosted by Centenary College on December 4th and 5th. Strange as it may sound, Cornell is undefeated in the Centenary College indoor ring, as the big red handley won the Ivy League Invitational there last April 24th.

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Overcast skies in the morning, light rain in the afternoon. High Temperature in the upper 40's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 8:35AM. Finish: 6:08PM - includes 46 minute lunch break/coaches & captains meeting and several schooling breaks totaling an additional 42 minutes. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Leslie Brown, Glasgow, VA. Stewards: Hackney/Colgate University, Smith-Price/Hartwick University and Hanlon/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Siena College.

Team Totals: Skidmore College (High Point Team) 47; Hartwick College (Reserve) 37; Cornell University 36; Ithaca College 31; Morrisville State College 28; Colgate University 27; Siena College 24; Hamilton College 22; Binghamton University 21; State University of New York at Cobleskill 18 and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 15.

High Point Rider - Nichole Malone, Skidmore College
Reserve High Point Rider - Hawthorne Hart, Skidmore College