Katie Moulton (on left) and Karyn Kesselring of Lehigh University both won jumping classes in the morning for the Mountain Hawks on November 16th. Moulton would later go two-for-two with a first in intermediate flat, thus earning a place in the ride-off.

LAFAYETTE WINS BIG, LEADS REGION BY 25 AT BREAK

Readington, NJ - The race for Region 4 high point hunter seat team was reasonably balanced until today. Lafayette College, bolstered by seven firsts including two earned by novice rider Kelsey Work, scored 45 points, 16 more than both the University of Scranton and East Stroudsburg University at the Alumni-hosted show at Briarwood Farm on November 16th. With Rutgers scoring only 27 the Leopards suddenly found themselves leading the region by 25 points, a far cry from the eight point lead they held on the Scarlet Knights entering the day.

Emily Mallory (open fences), Danielle Miranda (open flat), Alexis Flowers (intermediate flat), Elanna Spiegel (same) and Jessica Grabowski (novice fences) joined teammate Work, a freshman from Los Angeles, California, in the winner's circle. Runner-up red ribbons were awarded to Molly Clarke (advanced walk-trot-canter), Hannah Frank (same), Kristen Darragh (intermediate fences), Flowers (same) and Miranda (open fences). Work was one of three riders to win both of her classes, thus earning the opportunity to compete in the ride-off. To the best of Campus Equestrian's knowledge this will mark the first time Lafayette has ever led their region at the mid-season break, as the next Region 4 hunter seat show is not until February 21st, when the Leopards host at Briarwood.

Both Scranton, which entered the day nine points out, and defending Region Champions East Stroudsburg scored 29 points. The Royals managed to accomplish this with only one blue ribbon, won by Molly Htitzo in beginner walk-trot-canter. Scranton pounced on the red ribbons, as Maria Gubbiotti (intermediate fences), Melanie Nasser (novice fences), Mary Elena Cassetori (novice flat), Lisa Tamorira (walk-trot) and Nikki Sims (same) were all runner-ups in their respective divisions. For the Warriors blue ribbons were awarded to Marisa Favata (intermediate fences), Sarah Whitley (same), Kim Mineo (novice fences) and Candice Girandola (novice flat) while April Koveleski's second in novice flat was East Stroudsburg's only red ribbon.

From Branchburg, New Jersey, East Stroudsburg freshman Kim Mineo holds up both her blue ribbon and what turns out to be a fold-up blanket courtesy of Ernst & Young. These blankets were awarded to most of the blue ribbon winners. Mineo was best in a field of nine novice fences riders while the Warriors tied for Reserve High Point Team with Scranton.

Lehigh University came within a point of ESU and Scranton. The Mountain Hawks were led by by Katie Moulton, a sophomore from Denver, Colorado who won her open fences to start the day and later won her intermediate flat to qualify for the ride-off. Karyn Kesselring won her intermediate fences, and may have won her intermediate flat had she not been in the same section with Moulton. Kesselring thus earned Lehigh's only red ribbon of the day.

Rutgers was slightly unlucky in that the Scarlet Knights earned the exact same number of blue ribbons (seven) and red ribbons (five) as Lafayette yet scored only 27 points. Sam Sagot (open fences), Alex Charles (open flat), Alexandra Calcado (novice flat), Kate Carracapa (same), Elyse Conway (advanced walk-trot-canter), Jackie Audette (beginner walk-trot-canter) and Becky Young (walk-trot) went back to New Brunswick with the blues while Caitlin Doran (open flat), Alicia Ulmes (intermediate flat), Shannon Thieme (novice flat and fences) and Calcado (novice fences) returned home with the reds.

Also into the 20's was Penn State-Berks. Emily Riden, a freshman from Lititz, Pennsylvania won both of her novice classes while walk-trot rider Megan Deeds was also a blue ribbon winner. The year-old Berks team filled their point card for the second consecutive show.

Considering that both schools had scored in the 30's when Rutgers hosted a week earlier, neither Kutztown University or Bloomsburg University could be happy to have earned only 13 points. Kutztown senior Lauren Casale continues to be a bright spot however, earning a second in open flat to remain in first place in the Region 4 hunter seat open rider standings. Mallory and Scranton's Chelsea Levine gained ground however, and now both trail Casale by a 49-46 margin with four shows still to come. In addtion to Casale, Golden Bear teammates Shannon Ebert (open fences), Molly Lowman (open flat), Linda Beyer (intermediate flat), Jennifer Hoff (novice fences), Allison Meir (beginner walk-trot-canter) and Samantha Kronstadt (advanced walk-trot-canter) earned red ribbons, giving Kutztown more second place ribbons than any team entered at today's event. Bloomsburg had one blue ribbon courtesy of Jaci Smith in advanced walk-trot-canter, while Jenna Breitinger was second to Work in novice flat. Both of the Wyszynski sisters also earned red ribbons for the Huskies, as Adria was second in novice flat while Rachel was second in advanced walk-trot-canter.

It was certainly not a warm day, so it is no wonder that (from left) Alexis Flowers, Allie Hellreich, Danielle Miranda and Jess Grabowski look so happy to be in the Briarwood office! These Lafayette Leopards were probably even happier with the score, as the school from Easton, Pennsylvania took a 25-point lead in the Region 4 team standings through six shows.

Cedar Crest College scored 12 points despite no one on their point card being above the novice level. Jackie Tuttle was a winner in walk-trot while Linda Syers was second to Htitzo in beginner walk-trot-canter. Cedar Crest has scored 59 points so far in 2008-09, better than twice the 26 points they scored all of last season.

Princeton University reached double figures for the second consecutive weekend, with the Tigers earning 11 points. Meredith Bock's first in open flat appears to be the first blue ribbon for a Princeton open rider this season while K.L. Huang's first in advanced walk-trot-canter made him the first Tiger with two blue ribbons in 2008-09.

Wilkes University scored eight points, with Jessica Ashford earning seven of them. Ashford was fourth in novice fences and third in novice flat. Rounding out the scoring was Moravian College with four points. Stephanie Rich was fourth in intermediate fences to lead the way for the Greyhounds.

The most dramatic or traumatic part of today's alumni results was that Ashton Phillips did not compete in the alumni fences for the sixth time this season. Phillips has qualified for Regionals in the alumni fences every season since 2001, and at least five times in that span Phillips has survived Zones in the division. It appears the 1989 Virginia Intermont College graduate and Princeton Head Coach is serious about riding only in the alumni flat division this season, where he is dominating as usual. Today Phillips was second to East Stroudsburg graduate Melissa Tsouhnikas, who now has as many blue ribbons in alumni flat this season as Phillips does (though with one more show entered), with three each. Phillips leads Tsouhnikas 31-28 on the flat, with both assured of a ride at Regionals. Dartmouth graduate Stacey Klein won alumni fences for the first time this season, which put her at exactly 28 in the division and thus made her the first Region 4 regional qualifier in the division. East Stroudsburg graduate Megan Franz was second while Lehigh alum Lena Andrews was third, raising her total over fences to 25, the closest total to Klein at the moment.

The Ride-Off: Judge Louise Kass asked quite a lot of Riden, Work and Moultan. Each performed a figure eight at the canter with no irons. Later there were requests for a turn on the forehand and a turn on the haunches. When it was over Moulton, an open rider who was riding against two novices, was declared the winner while Work earned reserve honors for the first time.

What's next?: There are four shows scheduled for the spring, and if the weather cooperates then all ten shows will have taken place. Three of the four will be at Briarwood while Kutztown will host at Pipe Dream Farm in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania, where the Golden Bears last hosted on 11/17/07. Though Lafayette jumped way ahead at today's show, four shows gives several of the other top five teams a chance to whittle away the lead. The odds are with the Leopards, who if they should advance to Zones would be the fifth program in five seasons to represent Region 4 with a full team there.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Overcast skies, with temperatures in the mid 40's. Start time: 8:45AM. Finish: We forgot to write it down! The lunch break/Coaches & Captains meeting took 32 minutes. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Louise Kass. Stewards: S. Casale/Kutztown University, Kalmar/Lehigh University and Speziale/East Stroudsburg University.

Team Totals: Lafayette College (High Point Team) 45; University of Scranton (TIE-Reserve High Point Team) 29; East Stroudsburg University (TIE-Reserve High Point Team) 20; Lehigh University 28; Rutgers University 27; Penn State University at Berks 23; Bloomsburg University 13; Kutztown University 13; Cedar Crest College 12; Princeton University 11; Wilkes University 8 and Moravian College 4.

High Point Rider - Katie Moulton, Lehigh University
Reserve High Point Rider - Kelsey Work, Lafayette College