Though this picture was taken on a sunny day at Briarwood Farm during the 2007-08 season, Delaware Valley's Kristi Moreland received a similar blue ribbon at Regionals on a rainy day in late March 2009. Moreland's first in walk-trot-canter made her one of five undergraduate Aggies to advance to Zone 3 Zones eight days later.

DELAWARE VALLEY, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE SEND THE MOST RIDERS FROM REGION 2 TO 2009 ZONE 3 ZONES

(Kristie Heitmann, the Captain of the Washington College hunter seat team wrote her account of the Zone 3, Region 2 hunter seat Regionals show held on March 28th. Though seven different Region 2 schools will be represented by undergraduates at Zones, two more schools will have alumni present, with Tori Frederick the only alumni Regionals survivor to have ridden as an undergraduate in another region. One unusual statistic: No rider who competed at 2009 Region 2 Regionals advanced to Zones in more than one hunter seat division - Editor.)

Warwick, MD - The Zone 3, Region 2 Regional Horse Show was held on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at Granite Springs Stables in Warwick, Maryland. The show was originally supposed to be held at C-Line Stables in Odessa, Delaware. However after a scheduling conflict with a dog agility trial the show was moved to Granite Springs. With rain looming in the forecast, there was still a chance that the show would be moved yet again. However with the chance of rain decreasing over the week the decision was made to keep the show in Warwick.

Bad storms on Friday night left large puddles within the outdoor. When I arrived at 9am volunteers were using shovels and buckets in an attempt to remove water from the sand ring. While they did a great job, a few puddles remained. However all of the horses schooled well despite the mucky conditions. While the water did not seem to compromise the footing of the ring it appeared to make horses and riders more conservative in their jump courses.

The rain held out until about halfway throughout the show, when it began to mist very lightly. The mist turned into a steady drizzle, making it very cold and wet for both spectators and riders. Despite the bad weather, the show ran very smoothly. Only one rider was unfortunate enough to part company with their mount!

Overall the University of Delaware and Delaware Valley College qualified the most riders to Zones, with five each. Other schools were also well represented, with Drexel sending two and Villanova, Bucks County, West Chester and Arcadia sending 1 each. As for Alumni, Delaware Valley College, the University of Pennsylvania and Drew University will be represented at Zones. Jamie Mast, a Del Val alum, was champion in the Alumni Fences class. Mast donated the “977 Trophy” for the champion of Alumni Fences in 2004. Since then she has won it back a total of four times, only missing it last year. Mast was very glad to have the trophy back in her possession, and to qualify for Zones yet again.

The two most exciting classes of the day were Novice Flat and Walk-Trot-Canter. There were a large number of riders in each division, requiring separate "A" and "B" heats. The top four riders from each heat were called back to participate in a final heat for the chance to move on to Zones. Carrie Fillebrown of Arcadia University ended up champion in the class. It was Fillebrown's first time competing at the Regional Horse Show. “Probably the best way to describe how I felt after my class was shock," said Fillebrown. "I wasn't expecting to get called back into the final round of Novice Flat and then when I heard my number called as one of the top two, I was completely surprised. Even though we had to go through the class two times, it was definitely worth it. Getting first was especially rewarding because my friends and family were all at Regionals to support me.”

Overall it was a great day at the Zone 3, Region 2 Regional Horse Show. We were even lucky enough to have IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione in attendance. All of the teams were very helpful throughout the day, some even helping to pull out cars which had become stuck in the mud. Congratulations to everyone that qualified for Zones and we hope to see Zone 3, Region 2 well represented at Nationals this year.

--Kristie Heitmann; Results courtesy Betsy Vogt.

Class-by-Class results from 2009 Zone 3, Region 2 Regionals, with the top two in each division advancing to Zone 3 Zones on April 5th in Forest City, Pennsylvania:

Walk-trot: 1. Medha Sengupta, Drexel University. 2. Alissa Claiser, University of Delaware. 3. Sarah Bellomo, Arcadia University. 4. Erin Bethke, Rider University. 5. Kathryn Garner, Delaware Valley College. 6. Rachael Parkins, Rider University.

Walk-trot-canter: 1. Kristi Moreland, Delaware Valley College. 2. Anastasia Garzillo, Delaware Valley College. 3. Ann Donovan, Delaware Valley College. 4. Amanda Munyan, University of Delaware. 5. Caitlin Gormley, University of Delaware. 6. Caitlyn Stuart, University of Delaware.

Novice equitation on the flat: 1. Carrie Fillebrown, Arcadia University. 2. Lindsay Smith, Delaware Valley College. 3. James Hobbie, University of Delaware. 4. Allison Howarth, University of Delaware. 5. Alyssa Flocco, Rider University. 6. Megan Blaskewicz, University of Delaware.

Novice equitation over fences: 1. Allison Mecaughey, University of Delaware. 2. Lisa Nulton, Delaware Valley College. 3. Julia Cutler, Drexel University. 4. Jessica Alfonse, University of Delaware. 5. Chelsea Crozier, Arcadia University. 6. Christine Moller, Delaware Valley College.

Intermediate equitation on the flat: 1. Lyndsay Broadhead, Bucks County Community College. 2. Heather Yarnell, West Chester University. 3. Julia Jesu, Delaware Valley College. 4. Steph Moran, University of Delaware. 5. Julia Cutler, Drexel University. 6. Terence Prunty, Delaware Valley College.

Intermediate equitation over fences: 1. Ellen Hansen, Villanova University. 2. Katie LaDow, University of Delaware. 3. Taylor Adolph, University of Delaware. 4. Maria Metz, Delaware Valley College. 5. Julia Jesu, Delaware Valley College. 6. Kate Long, University of Pennsylvania.

Open equitation on the flat: 1. Taylor Adolph, University of Delaware. 2. Sara Gumbiner, Delaware Valley College. 3. Ashton Ryan, West Chester University. 4. Jen Windish, University of Delaware. 5. Katie Kuzinevich, University of Pennsylvania.

Open equitation over fences: 1. Nicole Adams, University of Delaware. 2. Samantha Hodge, Drexel University. 3. Kelly Black, Temple University. 4. Jennifer Windish, University of Delaware. 5. Sarah Lessler, University of Delaware. 6. Katie Kuzinevich, University of Pennsylvania.

Alumni equitation on the flat: 1. Jess Schatz, University of Pennsylvania. 2. Tori Frederick, Drew University. 3. Katy Henderson, Miami University of Ohio. 4. Genna Weissner, Delaware Valley College. 5. Gia Ottaviano, Delaware Valley College.

Alumni equitation over fences: 1. Jamie Mast, Delaware Valley College. 2. Genna Weissner, Delaware Valley College. 3. Jess Schatz, University of Pennsylvania. 4. Tori Frederick, Drew University. 5. Gia Ottaviano, Delaware Valley College.

Zone 3, Region 2 also held their year-end banquet later that evening, at which time riders who placed inside the top two learned exactly which ribbons they had received. Several other awards were also given out at the banquet:

Coach of the Year - Hunter Seat: Cory Kieschnick, Delaware Valley College

Coach of the Year - Western: David Walbert, Washington College

Academic Athlete: Sara Korn, University of Delaware

Fellowship's Silver Empress Jumping Incentive Award: Tim Gridley, Valley Forge Military College

Poetry N'Motion Non-Jumping Incentive Award: Theresa Maloney, Villanova University

Dee Jones Sportsmanship Award: Eric Hart, Valley Forge Military College

Hunter Horse of the Year: Q-Tip, Reinbow's End Farm

Western Horse of the Year: Lark, Red Wing Farm

All-Around Horse of the Year: Teke, Granite Springs Stables