|
||||||||||||||
|
2012 ZONE 3 ZONES: ONE FOR THE AGES Doylestown, PA - Prior to the IHSA National Region Re-Alignment of mid 2010 the team competition at Zone 3 Zones was often not all that interesting by the time of the eighth and final team class. Far more often than not the final team class included two teams that were well ahead of the other two. Sometimes the race for the top two teams was still interesting through seven classes (think Penn State and Lafayette in 2009 for example) but there was seldom the tension that goes with two or more teams being on the brink of Nationals or elimination headed into the final class. Last season marked Centenary College's first season out of Zone 2 since the Zones concept was introduced in mid 1989. The Cyclones and all the other schools previously known as Zone 2, Region 1 were now known as Zone 3, Region 3. It came to pass that Centenary hosted 2011 Zone 3 Zones, and on an individual basis the Cyclones dominated the day. Eight of the region's 16 individual undergradute rides at Nationals were earned by Centenary riders. However the team competition was much closer. Delaware Valley College, the Region 2 champion, actually led Centenary much of the day before Natashia Klingenstein (in team novice flat), Jessica Pabst (team intermediate flat) and Kathryn Haley (team open flat) won the final three classes to give the Cyclones a 44-41 win over the Aggies. Through seven classes Centenary led 37-36 over Del Val while Penn State had 32 but would have been on the wrong end of a tiebreaker unless the aggie open rider came off. That was one of the better endings to a Zone 3 Zones show in that a recent National Champion was nearly runner-up in their own facility. The Cyclones, the 2009 National Champions, went to Lexington and won the 2011 IHSA hunter seat team competition for their fourth Championship title in program history and second in three seasons.
In 2012 it was Zone 3, Region 2's turn to host Zones. For the first time since 2008 Delaware Valley College had the honor of hosting on their Doylestown, Pennsylvania campus. The field for the team competition was quite different then, as Penn State, the University of Delaware, West Virginia University and East Stroudsburg University took full teams to 2008 Zones (both UDel and West Virginia are in different Zones today). Penn State won that contest to advance to Nationals in Burbank, California with West Virginia the reserve champion. Penn State's win in '08 was their sixth straight win at Zones. The Nittany Lions would run the streak to seven before surprisingly finishing last in 2010. Finally able to capture a Region Title in a year ending with a '2' (Wilson College won Region Titles in 1992 and 2002 to interupt what otherwise would be a streak of 24 titles in a row for Penn State), Penn State was at Zones with a full team for the tenth straight season. Rutgers University had not captured a Region Title since 1987 prior to ending the draught in 2012. Surprisingly Region 4 champion Rutgers, Region 1 champion Penn State and Region 2 champion and host Delaware Valley were all in the same region prior to the fall of 1989! If you turn the clock back further Region 3 champion Centenary was in with all three of these schools in what was simply known as "Region 5" as the IHSA was made up of only seven 'Regions' prior to the 1981-82 season. In any event defending National Champion Centenary was competing at Delaware Valley for the first time since either the 1981-82 season or perhaps ever (we don't have concreate information if Delaware Valley hosted on their campus that far back - Editor). The Cyclones and host Aggies had something other than a common region title between them: Both had lost only once during the Regular Season. Centenary was defeated by Sarah Lawrence College the first weekend in November while Delaware Valley College was on the wrong end of a 34-33 score versus Penn State - Berks Campus the third weekend in October. While Centenary lost in Upstate New York Del Val had lost at home, making the Aggies 0-and-1 in their own facility during 2011-12 headed into today's show. The competition started with a class that would not be pinned until much later. Zone 3 usually hosts a Cacchione Cup Class, giving the four riders who have automatically qualified to compete for the cup at Nationals the chance to participate in an exhibition or tune-up. The jumping phase kicked off the proceedings, with all four riders entered also coincidentally entered in either an individual or team class later in the day. Team Intermediate Fences was the first class of the day which officially counted. Three of the four riders had steller rounds but surprisingly there was no testing. Allison Healey (freshman, from Bellingham, Massachusetts) won the class for Penn State. Delaware Valley's Kelsey Ficara was second, Brendan Williams of Centenary third and Gwen Campbell of Rutgers (who might have won if not for one sticky fence) fourth.
Individual Open Fences was in fact tested. Alexis Wirth of Kutztown University and Kathryn Haley of Centenary were asked to switch horses as were Penn State teammates Lauren Powers and Brooke Shinners. After the test (which involved three of the fences) everyone was invited back for the presentation of ribbons. Haley, who did not lose a flat class all season in 2010-11 but who has been human in that area this season, won the class (in 2011-12 the sophomore from Orchard Park, New York has excelled in jumping classes, somewhat reversing last season's trend). Powers, a freshman from nearby Yardley, Pennsylvania was reserve champion. Powers is one of two known freshman within the IHSA this season who has qualified for the Cacchione Cup competition. Individual Intermediate Fences was similar in many regards to the class which preceeded it. Judge Linda Shahinian asked Charlotte Marks of Bucknell University and Trevor Hawthorne of Centenary to switch horses while Brendan Weiss of Penn State and Alanna Reiner of Lafayette did likewise. When the results were announced the men had prevailed. Weiss, a sophomore from Southampton, Pennsylvania was champion while Hawthorne (freshman, Wilmington, Delaware) was reserve. This was the first of four rides on what would be a memorable day for Weiss. Save for Rutgers senior Sam Sagot everyone entered in Team Open Fences had already ridden at least once today. Weiss in fact rode in consecutive classes, having pointed up early in the season in intermediate fences. Surprisingly both Haley and Ciara Menkens of Delaware Valley had at least one sticky fence. Then Weiss was on pace to have a better ride than either of them when his horse refused at the final fence. This was the only refusal in a team class during today's show and no re-ride was given. Sagot appeared to have the round that was 'cleanest' but when the placings were announced Haley had won her second blue ribbon of the day while Sagot was second, Menkens third and Weiss fourth. In the early going this gave Centenary an 11-10 lead on Penn State while host Del Val had nine and Rutgers eight. In 2011 the Alumni Fences was made up of only three riders. In 2012 the field was up to the maximum eight riders, helped in part by the return of hunter seat alumni classes to Zone 3, Region 3. This was the first class of eight not to be tested. Surprisingly the top two riders in the division were the exact same top two as last season (and in the same order no less). 2005 Kutztown University graduate Chrystal Coffelt Wood, who coaches the Penn State - Berks Campus team was reserve champion while 2010 Lebanon Valley College graduate Sarah Bechtel was the winner. Bechtel's ride in 2012 was superior to the winning ride in 2011, as the three-way class one year earlier had been a minor debacle in which Bechtel was the best in a sub-par series of efforts. Today's ride had to be on the money and it was for Bechtel in a big way.
Individual Novice Fences was next. Shahinian again decided against further testing and the riders were invited back for the placings. When the results were announced in reverse order (as is common at post-season IHSA shows) there was much screaming amongst the West Chester University faithful. Nicole Ligon (sophomore, from Glenmoore, Pennsylvania) was second for the Golden Rams. Though her coach (Beth Orem) and teammates were simply happy for her Ligon had actually ended a dubious streak. At 2011 Zone 3 Zones schools from Zone 3, Region 2 failed to advance a single undergraduate rider to Nationals (16 rides, 0 top two placings from Region 2). Ligon became the first Region 2 undergraduate to advance individually since 2010. Brendan Williams (sophomore, Stratford, Connecticut) was the champion. In total contrast Haley, Hawthorne and Williams kept Centenary on a pace to advance as many undergraduates on an individual basis as in 2011. Could the Cyclones maintain this level of success and send forward as many riders from one team as the rest of the zone combined? Team Novice Fences was the last of the jumping classes. Rutgers scored a major mid-season pick-up when Michelle Retkwa transfered from Skidmore College to the New Brunswick, New Jersey school. A freshman from Byrum, New Jersey Retkwa won the novice fences, followed by Amanda Pritt of Penn State, Chelsea Koerper of Delaware Valley and Elisabeth Scovotti of Centenary. Though early results from Zones shows can often mean little to nothing when the show is over everyone was certainly in the race at this point. Through three classes it was Rutgers 15, Penn State 15, Centenary 14 and Delaware Valley 13. This was the first time New Jersey-based Rutgers and Centenary had ever gone head-to-head in a post-season IHSA show and at least for a moment the Scarlet Knights had the lead on the defending National Champion Cyclones. After the removal of jumps and a schooling break Team Open Flat kicked off the first of 12 flat classes (including the Cacchione Cup Flat Phase) at 1:06PM. When this class was pinned Weiss had won for the second time today. The once-invincible flat rider Haley was second, Menkens third and Hailey Pamula of Rutgers fourth. Sagot of Rutgers had remarked on a prior occasion that Weiss "is amazing" and the Penn State sophomore was certainly that on the flat today. Through half the team classes: Penn State 22, Centenary 19, Rutgers 18 and Delaware Valley 17. Individual Novice Flat featured only five schools. This is because two riders each from Centenary, Delaware Valley and Penn State qualified out of Regionals. In fact Rebecca Folk of Lafayette College was the only entry in the division not from a 2012 Region Champion school. After everyone had gone through the usual walk-trot-walk-canter-walk-reverse-trot-walk-canter-walk routine, Shahinian lined everyone up and sent four riders back out on the rail (those four were Gianna Micozzi of Penn State, Chelsea Koerper of Delaware Valley, Natasha Klinenstein of Centenary College and Elisabeth Van Embden of Rutgers). Once these riders had lined up everyone thought that would be the class. However Shahinian then asked the other four riders to go out on the rail. Eventually they too were lined up again. When the placings were announced the first four who were sent out on the rail were in fact the top four. Koerper (who was high point rider for the first time on March 11th) was fourth, Micozzi third, Van Embden the reserve champion and Klingenstein the winner. Centenary now had four individuals heading on to Nationals. The team was in second; could they catch Penn State for the top spot?
The Cacchione Cup flat phase followed. After lots of work without irons the blue ribbon went to Cori Reich of Centenary. A junior from Ivyland, Pennsylvania (her parents said it took them five minutes to drive to the Delaware Valley campus), Reich bested Powers (second), Menkens (third) and Rebekah Scharfe of Lafayette (the latter of which is also a freshman Cacchione Cup qualifier). Team intermediate flat gave Klingenstein another chance to win on the flat (which historically is her specialty). The senior from Torrance, California was clearly the winner, vaulting Centenary to within a point of Penn State. Emily Denning was second for the Nittany Lions, who still led 27-26. Campbell was third while Ficara was fourth. Rutgers now had 22 and host Delaware Valley shockingly only 20 in their own building. Through five classes the team competition was starting to look like - eh - Zone 3 Zones, where two teams get ahead of two others. Could Rutgers or Delaware Valley make it seem like Zone 1 Zones (nine times out of ten the Zone 1 Zones show holds real drama going into the final class)? Prior to the show this writer asked Williams which horse or horses impressed Centenary. Williams cited "Bentley" (a Lehigh University horse) who Haley would ride for part of the individual open fences. For Individual Open Flat Haley drew "Bentley DVC," another horse usually known as Bentley but modified since he belongs to the hosts and there were obviously two Bentleys on the premesis. Haley reminded everyone why she went undefeated on the flat through Nationals last season with a steller blue ribbon ride here. Delaware Valley finally had something to cheer about. Jess Katz (sophomore, West Hartford, Connecticut) was second to give the Aggies a second rider at Nationals (Menkens obviously was already going in the Cacchione Cup competition). Perhaps Katz' ability to do something for Del Val may have 'awoken the sleeping dog.' Team Novice Flat did not include a single rider with prior IHSA Zones experience (technically Retkwa had a ride earlier in the day - Editor) as all four entries were freshmen. When it was over Retkwa was fourth, Lauren Buettner of Centenary third, Madeline "Maddy" Fass of Penn State second and Elizabeth Parker of Delaware Valley the champion. From Atlanta, Georgia, Parker is a former IEA rider, having competed on the Falcon Ridge Stables team in the extra-large IEA Zone 4. With Parker's win all four schools in the team competition had earned a least one blue ribbon. Through six of eight team classes it was Penn State 32, Centenary 30, Delaware Valley 27 and Rutgers 25. Would this be just a temporary turn of events for the Aggies or could they challenge the top two?
Individual Intermediate Flat was the fourth division of the day to feature Weiss (prior to the show Weiss cited "Autumn" as a horse most Nittany Lions hoped to draw. Another Lehigh horse, Autumn was a big winner at 2010 Zone 3 Zones in Forest City, Pennsylvania). Last season Region 4 did only slightly better than Region 2 in advancing individual undergraduate riders on to Nationals. Shannon Bilder of Bloomsburg University won individual open over fences in 2011 but she turned out to be the only Region 4 survivor via the Zones route. In 2012 Region 4 turned out to be twice as good, as Alyssa Piccoli of Kutztown was the Reserve Champion to join Van Embden at Nationals. Weiss made it three blues for the day with the intermediate flat champion ribbon. For the first time all day a Centenary rider did not make the top two individually. Jessica Spanier of Stevens Institute of Technology just missed becoming the first Region 3 rider of the day not from Centenary to advance, placing third. Individual Walk-Trot-Canter followed. Penn State was the only school with two riders in the division and both survived to Raleigh. Haleigh Boswell (junior, Woodstock, New York) was second while Kate McAndrew (freshman, Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania) was the champion. This would be the only time all day that the top two individual riders would come from the same school. McAndrew was also the only freshman to win an individual class today. Suprisingly Penn State now had five individual rides secured at Nationals, the same number as Centenary. Some may or may not like the fact that Team Walk-Trot was the seventh team class of the day. Most riders in this division over the years have limited or no riding experience whatsoever prior to arriving at college. Therefore it puts considerable pressure on these riders to be competing so late in a Zones competition with so much on the line. But the division must take place at some point during the day and today it was the fourth-to-last class. The results of team walk-trot threw the standings into a tizzy. Alexz Goldin of Rutgers was fourth, Thomas Goodwin Jr. of Centenary third Jessica Hanlon of Penn State second and Sarah Conklin of Delaware Valley College the winner. A freshman from Westbrook, Connecticut Conklin had made it two team class wins in a row for the Aggies. Remarkably this created a tie with Centenary for second place, both with 34 points each. Penn State remained ahead with 37 while Rutgers held 28 points. Though the Scarlet Knights no longer could advance to Nationals (unless two riders fell off!) Rutgers could wreck havoc for Centenary or Delaware Valley in the team walk-trot-canter two classes later. Penn State needed only to 'stay on' for a trip to Nationals. Centenary, the defending National Champions, a team that won their region by over 100 points was now in a 50-50 situation with a suddenly-hot host Del Val team. With the Aggies having been rather successful at four of the past five Tournament of Champions events, and having been a bonafide contender to win Zone 3 Zones a year ago, there was real hope they could survive. However Centenary had won Zone 3 Zones a year ago, had then won Nationals a year ago and had won the Winter Tournament of Champions (at Centenary) in December. The Cyclones needed one good ride and a return to Nationals would be theirs. Everyone had a moment to catch their breath, double-check their points (many present either thought Del Val was a point ahead of Centenary or that Centenary was two points ahead of Del Val; At least one head coach had it added correctly on her hand-held device) and watch the Alumni Flat to see if history would continue to repeat. 1989 Virginia Intermont College graduate Ashton Phillips (who coaches both New York University and Princeton University - currently in different Zones) said before the show that this was his 12th consecutive appearance at Zone 3 Zones. Save for the first of those appearances (at Westbrook Hunt Club in 2001) Phillips has advanced to IHSA Nationals in at least one alumni class every season. For the past few seasons Phillips has only competed in alumni flat classes, and with each passing season he has qualified for Regionals in what turned out to be the final regular season show. Yet here he was again at Zones in alumni flat. Could he run his streak of IHSA Nationals appearances to 11, breaking his own record?
It was only a class of seven (Amanda Bender of the State University of New York at New Paltz was the only rider with over 28 points in Region 3) and it seemed as if Phillips was doing as well as anyone. When everyone finally dismounted and the names were read off in reverse order Phillips' name continued to alude the voice of announcer (and Bucks County Community College open rider Sarah Keyser) even through second place. For the first time since 2008 when he won the class in the same building, Phillips was a blue ribbon winner. After winning Phillips gave Centenary Co-Coach Heather Clark a hug. "I had a lesson with Heather at 10:00 last night," said Phillips, who had taken other lessons with Clark and intends to keep taking them in preparation for Nationals. Second in the division was 2011 West Chester graduate Emily Rosen. West Chester coach Orem remarked at how well the Zone 3, Region 2 alumni had done today (a first and two seconds, with two of them by coaches within the region). And then it came, the eighth and final team class, Team Walk-Trot-Canter. Everyone was very quiet for this class (early in the day you could here a pin drop, then everyone made a fair amount of noise, then people quieted back down for this division). Once the riders were done and had dismounted Keyser had everyone's attention when it was time for her to announce. "In fourth place, number 624..." which meant Delaware Valley had placed fourth. In third place was 628, Anthony DeSimone of Centenary College. A freshman from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts DeSimone had saved the day for the Cyclones, and by a single point Centenary was on to Raleigh for the championships. Freshman Natalie Pontillo of Rutgers was second while senior Erin Sutherland (from Eldersburg, Maryland), who had nothing to lose as long as she stayed on, was the Walk-Trot-Canter winner. The final team placings put Penn State well ahead of the others, as the Nittany Lions totaled 44 points. Centenary's total was 38, Delaware Valley had 37 and Rutgers 33 (Rutgers' effort was better than many might imagine; The Scarlet Knights would have made the top two in some other places if they rode the same way). Some said it is difficult to both host a Zones show and compete in it, which may be why Delaware Valley could not get untracked early. In any event Penn State won Zone 3 Zones for the first time in three years and the ninth time this century. Centenary survived to send a full hunter seat team to Nationals for a seventh consecutive season and the 25th time since there has been an actual team competition at IHSA Nationals (Centenary also won their region in 1976, 1977 and 1978, the last of those three years being the final year a formula determined the IHSA National Champion rather than real team classes; The 1978 National Championship was awarded to Centenary over five other region winners based on this 'now lost' formula - Editor). There was one more class before the presentation of the team awards. Individual Walk-Trot was the final class of the day. With only one rider from Region 4 participating the field was made up of only seven riders, tieing it with alumni flat for the smallest class of the day. The division did not feature any Centenary riders, making it the only undergraduate class of the day where this was the case. West Chester University certainly did as well as any school without a full hunter seat team entered as Katie Beard (junior, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was reserve champion. Region 3 would have a non-Centenary rider going to Nationals after all, as State University of New York at New Paltz senior Kerri Sheridan brought home the blue ribbon for the Hawks. From Woodbourne, New York, Sheridan's school was abbreviated in the program to 'SUNY-New Paltz' as is often the case. Part of the 'SUNY' System (or Soo-knee system), the Hawks tied Stevens Institute for second place behind Centenary in the 2011-12 Region 3 hunter seat team standings.
As is customary at Zones ribbons were given out to each of the four teams involved in the team classes. Rutgers received white ribbons, Delaware Valley yellow, Centenary red (plus saddlepads) and Penn State blue (plus bridles). At that point the proceedings were officially over and it was time for the survivors to plot a course to Raleigh and how they might win at Nationals. Earlier in the day there was a separate awards presentation. The Zone 3 USHJA Awards were presented between the conclusion of the jumping classes and the start of the flat classes. To quote the program "These awards recognize Zone 3 riders who earned the most points over the 2011-12 year. It is the sum of the rider's top 7 shows, regardless of division." Ten ribbons were given out to flat riders (Powers was calculated first), ten to fences riders (Wirth edged out teammate Piccoli for this honor) and ten to walk-trot and walk-trot-canter riders (Claire Persichetti of Dickinson College received this honor). United States Military Academy senior Lance Barrow was one of five riders who featured on both the 'flat riders' and 'Walk-Trot/Walk-Trot-Canter' lists. Jenna Pappas of Gettysburg College (second to Powers) and Rutgers' Campbell appeared in both the flat and fences top ten. Zone 3 Individual Nationals Qualifiers broken down by region: Region 1 will have five undergraduates, all from Penn State (McAndrew, Boswell, Powers and Weiss twice) and one alumni (LVC graduate Bechtel). Region 2 will have three undergraduates (Ligon and Beard from West Chester; Katz from Del Val) and three alumni (Phillips, Wood and Rosen, the latter of which actually graduated from a current Region 2 school). Region 3 again produced the most undergraduate top-two placings (Williams, Hawthorne, Klingenstein and Haley twice from the Cyclones plus Sheridan from SUNY-New Paltz) while Region 4 advanced two riders (Van Embden of Rutgers and Piccoli of Kutztown). Garden State Trivia: Though today's show was in Pennsylvania, can anyone name the other two New Jersey schools in the history of the IHSA (besides Centenary and Rutgers) that advanced a full hunter seat team to the post-season? The answer follows the team totals listed at the end of this article. What might have been: Considering how well Weiss did in three classes, a clear final fence in team open fences may have changed the overall outcome. If Weiss won the class it would have pushed Haley and Centenary down by two points but would have pushed Menkens and Delaware Valley down by only a point. Had the rest of the show gone as it did the Cyclones and Aggies would have finished with 36 points each. The first tiebreaker is number of blue ribbons, which would have given Delaware Valley a two-to-one edge. Back to reality: Through the March 31st/April 1st weekend Zones 3, 5, 6 and 7 each held Zones shows. The exact same teams as one year earlier made the top two at the other three Zones shows. Therefore Centenary and Penn State can look forward to seeing Virginia Intermont College (who won Zone 5 Zones at home), Savannah College of Art & Design (second in Zone 5), Miami University of Ohio (Zone 6 Zones champs), University of Kentucky (second to Miami), the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Purdue University, the latter two of which tied at Zone 7 Zones (Wisconsin won the tiebreaker) at the Hunt Horse Complex in Raleigh next month. Zones 1, 2, 4 and 8 will hold their Zones on April 7th, though Zone 8 will split their classes over two days (half the classes are on Easter Sunday!). Though many may feel that there are stronger Zones in the IHSA than Zone 3 there is no doubt that the two teams which survived today's Zones competition are more than capable of holding their own in the IHSA Nationals hunter seat team competition. And please do not forget that a fair number of the Centenary riders who will compete at Nationals have been there before. --Steve Maxwell Show Incidentals: Overcast skies with temperatures reaching the upper '50's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 9:08AM. Finish: 3:39PM - includes three schooling breaks totaling over one hour. Coaches and Captains meeting held prior to start of show. Judge: Linda Shahinian. Stewards: Vulich/Dickinson College, Purowitz/Rider University, Sykes/Drew University and Brittain/Moravian College. Class-By-Class Results from 2012 Zone 3 Zones in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, listed in the order in which they were held, with the top two riders in each individual class advancing to IHSA Nationals May 3rd through 6th in Raleigh, North Carolina: Team Intermediate Equitation Over Fences: 1. Allison Healey, Penn State University. 2. Kelsey Ficara, Delaware Valley College. 3. Brendan Williams, Centenary College. 4. Gwen Campbell, Rutgers University. Individual Open Equitation Over Fences: 1. Kathryn Haley, Centenary College. 2. Lauren Powers, Penn State University. 3. Brooke Shinners, Penn State University. 4. Alexis Wirth, Kutztown University. 5. Kate Felter, Rutgers University. 6. Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College. 7. Cori Reich, Centenary College. Team Open Equitation Over Fences: 1. Kathryn Haley, Centenary College. 2. Elizabeth Lubrano, Penn State University. 3. Danielle Miranda, Lafayette College. 4. Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College. Individual Intermediate Equitation Over Fences: 1. Brendan Weiss, Penn State University. 2. Trevor Hawthorne, Centenary College. 3. Alanna Reiner, Lafayette College. 4. Charlotte Marks, Bucknell University. 5. Grace Smith, Delaware Valley College. 6. Natasha Klingenstein, Centenary College. 7. Hailey Pamula, Rutgers University. 8. Lauren Weber, West Chester University. Team Open Equitation Over Fences: 1. Kathryn Haley, Centenary College. 2. Sam Sagot, Rutgers University. 3. Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College. 4. Brendan Weiss, Penn State University. Alumni Equitation Over Fences: 1. Sarah Bechtel, Lebanon Valley College. 2. Chrystal Coffelt-Wood, Kutztown University. 3. Amanda Bender, State University of New York at Oswego. 4. Emily Rosen, West Chester University. 5. Michelle Geise, University of Scranton. 6. Kristi Jacobsen, Lebanon Valley College. 7. Brooke Bologna, State University of New York at New Paltz. 8. Lena Andrews, Lehigh University. Individual Novice Equitation Over Fences: 1. Brendan Williams, Centenary College. 2. Nicole Ligon, West Chester University. 3. Gwen Campbell, Rutgers University. 4. Annie Cecil, Susquehanna University. 5. Elaine Tierney, Bloomsburg University. 6. Amanda Maggiano, Susquehanna University. 7. Andrea Lengel, West Chester University. 8. Kalen Larson, United States Military Academy. Team Novice Equitation Over Fences: 1. Michelle Retkwa, Rutgers University. 2. Amanda Pritt, Penn State University. 3. Chelsea Koerper, Delaware Valley College. 4. Elisabeth Scovotti, Centenary College. Team Open Equitation On The Flat: 1. Brendan Weiss, Penn State University. 2. Kathryn Haley, Centenary College. 3. Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College. 4. Hailey Pamula, Rutgers University. Individual Novice Equitation On The Flat: 1. Natashia Klingenstein, Centenary College. 2. Elisabeth Van Embden, Rutgers University. 3. Gianna Micozzi, Penn State University. 4. Chelsea Koerper, Delaware Valley College. 5. Debbie Smith, Centenary College. 6. Emily Henkels, Penn State University. 7. Rebecca Folk, Lafayette College. 8. Liz Morelli, Delaware Valley College. Cacchione Cup Class: 1. Cori Reich, Centenary College. 2. Lauren Powers, Penn State University. 3. Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College. 4. Rebekah Scharfe, Lafayette College (Editor's Note: This class does not count towards IHSA Nationals. Menkens, Powers, Reich and Scharfe were all automatically qualified for Nationals as the riders from their respective regions with the most combined open flat and fences points during the regular season). Team Intermediate Equitation On The Flat: 1. Natasha Klingenstein, Centenary College. 2. Emily Denning, Penn State University. 3. Gwen Campbell, Rutgers University. 4. Kelsey Ficara, Delaware Valley College. Individual Open Equitation On The Flat: 1. Kathryn Haley, Centenary College. 2. Jess Katz, Delaware Valley College. 3. Kelsey Bernini, Centenary College. 4. Lauren Powers, Penn State University. 5. Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College. 6. Hailey Pamula, Rutgers University. 7. Amy Woolf, Dickinson College. 8. Rebekah Scharfe, Lafayette College. Team Novice Equitation On The Flat: 1. Elizabeth Parker, Delaware Valley College. 2. Maddy Fass, Penn State University. 3. Lauren Buettner, Centenary College. 4. Michelle Retkwa, Rutgers University. Individual Intermediate Equitation On The Flat: 1. Brendan Weiss, Penn State University. 2. Alyssa Piccoli, Kutztown University. 3. Jessica Spanier, Stevens Institute of Techology. 4. Jessica Pabst, Centenary College. 5. Emiline Mylod, Rider University. 6. Erika Cloud, West Chester University. 7. Trista Kuna, Rutgers University. 8. Rebecca Bub, Bucknell University. Individual Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat: 1. Kate McAndrew, Penn State University. 2. Haleigh Boswell, Penn State University. 3. Gianna Grupp, Delaware Valley College. 4. Abaigeal Flannery, State University of New York at New Paltz. 5. Jill Shortt, East Stroudsburg University. 6. Kayla Felstedt, Centenary College. 7. Ann McGinness, Kutztown University. 8. Jen Poland, Bucks County Community College. Team Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat: 1. Sarah Conklin, Delaware Valley College. 2. Jessica Hanlon, Penn State University. 3. Thomas Goodwin Jr, Centenary College. 4. Alexz Goldin, Rutgers University. Alumni Equitation On The Flat: 1. Ashton Phillips, Virginia Intermont College. 2. Emily Rosen, West Chester University. 3. Amanda Bender, State University of New York at New Paltz. 4. Sarah Bechtel, Lebanon Valley College. 5. Lena Andrews, Lehigh University. 6. Katie Moulton, Lehigh University. 7. Kristi Jacobsen, Lebanon Valley College. Team Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat: 1. Erin Sutherland, Penn State University. 2. Natalie Pontillo, Rutgers University. 3. Anthony DeSimone, Centenary College. 4. Allyson Kriebel, Delaware Valley College. Individual Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat: 1. Kerri Sheriden, State University of New York at New Paltz. 2. Katie Beard, West Chester University. 3. Michelle Plotzker, Stevens Institute of Technology. 4. Jessica Middleberg, Wilson College. 5. Maxwell Sechzer, Franklin & Marshall College. 6. Elizabeth Austin, Dickinson College. 7. Helen Xu, Lafayette College. Final Hunter Seat Team Totals, with the top two teams advancing to IHSA Nationals: Penn State University (2012 Zone Champion) 44; Centenary College (Reserve) 38; Delaware Valley College 37 and Rutgers University 33. Trivia Question Answered: Ashton Phillips coached Princeton University to a Zone 3, Region 4 hunter seat title during the 2005-06 season. The Tigers were fourth out of four teams at 2006 Zones at C-Line Stables in Odessa, Delaware. The other New Jersey school is Fairleigh Dickinson University, specifically the Teaneck campus. The school which produced IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione won the original Region 1 in 1978-79 to send a full hunter seat team to '79 Nationals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (a show the Cyclones won). There was only one region when FDU-Teaneck was High Point team for the 1966-67 season (when senior Bob Cacchione was on the team and had just officially named the organization). Either FDU-Madison (coached by Jack Fritz) or FDU-Rutherford took high point team honors the following season. Jersey City State may have also won high point team honors in either 1969 or 1970 though the IHSA only officially awarded a prize for a 'National Champion' starting in 1971. Probably more than you needed to know!
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
HOME
| CONTACT US |
||||||||||||||
