The Sweet Briar Equestrian Team poses (in very bright sunlight) following their 39-38 win over Hollins on November 1st. Coach Emily Casali (back row, center) holds the trophy and blue ribbon as the Vixens win for the first time this season.

SWEET BRIAR WINS THE BATTLE WHILE HOLLINS TAKES THE LEAD OVERALL

Weyer's Cave, VA - Sweet Briar College scored a season-high 39 points to narrowly win the Bridgewater College show on November 1st. Defending Region Champion Hollins University spent most of the day in the best position to win the November 1st contest, yet the Vixens prevailed by one point as Elizabeth Wise won the final section of walk-trot. Wise was not the only Vixen to leave the Bridgewater College Equestrian Center with a blue ribbon on November 1st. Alison Sims, a senior open rider from Atlanta, Georgia won her over fences early on while Emily Richonne, a freshman from Newport Beach, California, was first in her section of novice fences. Meredith Newman, a senior from Charlottesville, Virginia, and Emma Rakosky, a freshman from Ellicott City, Maryland, were victorius in open flat and advanced walk-trot-canter, respectively. Rakosky is undefeated in her IHSA career, with her blue ribbon the third in three times entered.

One of the ironies of Wise's victory was that the sophomore from Memphis, Tennessee almost competed in a different section of walk-trot. At the pre-show Coaches and Captains meetings in Region 2, everyone goes through the program class-by-class to see where there are scratches. In some cases a rider in one section of a division will be moved to another, in order to create an equal number to replace a scratch. As each class name was read off none of the teams appeared to have any scratches. However in the very last class there was a scratch from Longwood University. Therefore a rider from Section A of walk-trot had to be moved to Section B, and that rider turned out to be Wise!

James Madison University scored 30 points for the day. At one point the Dukes won three classes in a row, including a first for Danielle Parkinson (on right) in intermediate flat. Head Coach Bobby Jones (on left) has James Madison within nine points of first place going into the mid-season break.

Sweet Briar entered the day trailing Randolph College by twelve points for first place and ended the day trailing Hollins by four points for first! It has been that kind of year so far for Region 2, though Hollins has been better since scoring a surprisingly low 24 on opening day. The school without any nickname or team mascot scored their season-high of 38 with considerable input from junior open rider Katie Furches. From Oley, Pennsylvania, Furches won open fences to start the show, then won the first section of open flat seven classes later. Furches did not even have to ride off for high point, as no other rider at today's show was a double blue winner. Hollins managed only one other blue ribbon, won by Mallory Potock. The senior from Boulder, Colorado won the first section of intermediate fences, though Paige Bridell (novice fences), Meredith McDonnell (novice fences), Arden Cone (intermediate flat) and Emily Mendelssohn (novice flat) each won red ribbons to help boost the Hollins point total. Hollins is one of four different teams to win a Region 2 show this season, having won the Randolph/Lynchburg show on October 17th. They join James Madison (which scored 41 at Hollins on October 10th) and Randolph College (a winner with 39 at Radford on October 5th) and Sweet Briar as schools with Region 2 high point team honors thus far in 2008-09.

It is hard to believe Bridgewater College is not on that list as of yet. The Eagles were neck-and-neck with Hollins and Sweet Briar most of the day and can make the unusual claim they are now one point out of first place without having won a single show! Bridgewater scored 37 points, with seven freshmen, three sophomores and one senior (Patti Ann Thornton, who was second to Newman in open flat) competing on November 1st. Katie Leonard, a freshman from Staunton, Virginia and Katie Etter, a sophomore from somewhere in the vicinity of Harrisonburg, won novice fences and advanced walk-trot-canter, respectively. Alex Dupont (open fences), Chelsea Hames (intermediate fences), Kailey Williams (intermediate flat) and Lindsay Ferguson (novice flat) won red ribbons for Sarah Irvine's Eagles, who are the only Region 2 school to score in the thirties through each of the first four shows.

Maggie Halliday (center) earned the only University of Virginia blue ribbon of the day with a first in the lone section of beginner walk-trot-canter. The Cavalier coaches for 2008-09 are 2007 UVA graduate Rosalie Morton (left) and 2007 IHSA Cacchione Cup winner and 2008 UVA graduate Whitney Roper (right).

James Madison University was fourth for the day, scoring 30 points. The Dukes won nearly as many blue ribbons as the Vixens, as Allison Smyrl (a junior from Bedford, New Hampshire; in intermediate fences), Danielle Parkinson (a senior from Westfield, New Jersey; in intermediate flat), Morgan Fink (a sophomore from Leesburg, Virginia; also in intermediate flat) and Lawler Watkins (a freshman from Charlottesville, in novice flat) came through with firsts. Three of their blue ribbons were consecutive, as the Dukes swept the intermediate flat behind Smyrl and Parkinson while Watkins won immediately afterward. Helped by their 41 score a few weeks back at Hollins, James Madison finished the day with 126 points overall, enough to claim a tie for fourth place overall while trailing Hollins by only nine points for first through the fall shows.

Lynchburg College shares the Randolph College Riding Center with the school for which the facility is named. For the first time this season Lynchburg outscored Randolph at a Region 2 show. Kelly Gerland, a freshman from Malvern, Pennsylvania led the way for the Hornets, with a first in novice flat and a second in intermediate fences. Like Furches, Gerland did not have to ride-off for Reserve High Point Rider honors, as no one else earned a first and a second. Junior Mallory Williams was second to Wise in walk-trot. Now coached by Jim Arrigon's son Matt (for whom the younger Arrigon rode for at Miami of Ohio a few seasons back), Lynchburg finished with 27 points.

From left to right are Diane Silcox (who won the individual intermediate over fences at 2008 IHSA Nationals), Lynchburg College Coach Matt Arrigon and Charlotte Harris, Kelly Gerland and Caitlin Flathers of the Hornets. Gerland was first in novice flat and second in intermediate fences to earn Reserve High Point Rider honors while Lynchburg placed fifth overall for the day with 27 points.

The University of Virginia was next with 24 points. The Cavaliers' lone blue ribbon of the day was awarded to freshman Maggie Halladay, who won the lone section of beginner walk-trot-canter. UVA's Nicole Harlan was second in the section of walk-trot which followed Halladay's class, while Grace Stuntz had finished second to Furches in the first open fences class at the beginning of the day. The Cavaliers trail Hollins overall by 22 at what is likely the season's halfway mark.

It was nearly a forgetable day for Randolph College, at least until the next-to-last class. The Wildcats, who started the season in first place and had scored at least 30 points in each show until their 22-point performance today, were without a blue ribbon until Jonathan Brooks made Randolph team history in walk-trot. A member of the Randolph College lacrosse team, Brooks agreed to do double duty, allowing the Wildcats to fill their card and keep pace with the rest of the region. In his first horse show of any kind, the freshman (from Portland, Oregon, according to teammate Alanna Mayernik) won the Wildcats' lone blue ribbon while becoming the first male rider ever to compete for Randolph, which was Randolph-Macon Woman's College through June of 2007 and did not admit males until last season. Earlier senior Ashley Lovegrove was third in both of her open classes, which now puts her one point behind Furches overall in the race to represent Region 2 at Nationals in the Cacchione Cup competition (the race is now essentially a two-way battle, with Bridgewater's Patti Ann Thornton 19 points behind Lovegrove). Gillian Baird, a junior from Blacksburg, Virginia finished one place ahead of Lovegrove and one behind Furches in the first section of open flat while Marilena Austin was also a second-place winner for the Wildcats, earning the red ribbon in advanced walk-trot-canter. Randolph is tied with James Madison for fourth place through four shows, thus still very much alive in the Region 2 team race.

Though he came to Randolph College as a Lacrosse player, freshman Jonathan Brooks (holding blue ribbon) was a winner in his IHSA (and horse-showing) debut, winning the first of two sections of walk-trot. Because Randolph College only went co-educational in the Fall of 2007, Brooks is both the first male rider to compete for - and win a blue ribbon for - Head Coach J.T. Tallon (fourth from right) and the Wildcats. Seen here with many of his teammates, Brooks was the only blue ribbon winner for Randolph on this day.

Washington & Lee earned 18 points. Like the Wildcats, the Generals were led by a walk-trot rider, as Jane Lee placed third in the final section of the day. Because of how strong Region 2 is as a whole, several Washington & Lee riders were relegated to fourth place ribbons even though their rides were generally without much fault. Upon open rider Allison Lemon completing her jumping round in the first section of open fences, Generals Head Coach Gordon Reistrup told her "That was a nice trip in a class of nice trips." Lemon went on to place fourth in both open fences and intermediate flat while Generals teammate Sarah Bujtas was fourth in open flat and Anna Burnett was fourth in beginner walk-trot-canter. This was the second consecutive show in which the Generals scored 18 points.

Longwood College was next with nine points. The Lancers were without riders in walk-trot, intermediate fences or either open divisions, which held down their score. Freshman Laura Ehrhardt earned the Lancers' best ribbon of the day with a third in intermediate flat while Caitlin Zoetis and Meghan Greene were fourth in separate sections of novice flat. Longwood Head Coach K.C. Hearn was elected to the Stonehill College Athletic Hall of Fame over the summer, becoming the first equestrian in Stonehill history ever so honored. Coached for most of her four seasons at Stonehill by Bill Barber, the former K.C. Coleman arrived at Stonehill in the fall of 1992 with the then-Chieftains having never won a region title. After four seasons riding for Stonehill the Chieftains (known today as the Sky Hawks) had four Zone 1, Region 1 Region Titles! Stonehill also placed as high as fourth at IHSA Nationals, with Coleman/Hearn placing third in team open flat at 1995 Nationals in Fort Collins, Colorado when the fourth-place ribbon was the Chieftains outright. Now a member of Zone 1, Region 4, Stonehill has earned eight more region titles since Coleman/Hearn graduated.

Rounding out the scoring was Radford with five points. Bree Clemmons was second in the second section of advanced walk-trot-canter while Radford teammate Mary Jennings repeated the placing in beginner walk-trot-canter moments later. The show itself was the fastest this writer has seen this season, with the first rider in the ring at 9:29AM sharp and the final class pinned at 1:13PM. With only seventeen classes, no ride-off and no break between the last fences class and the first flat class it is not all that surprising that the competition was completed in less than four hours.

Arden Cone (on left, with Coach Sandy Gerald) was one of four Hollins riders to place second in a class on November 1st. Cone, a freshman from Landrum, South Carolina whose sister Bailey rides for Virginia Intermont College, was second in intermediate flat. Hollins was Reserve High Point Team for the day by one single point and now leads the region by as much through four fall shows.

If you drew Petey, then sit slowly, but if you drew Sophy, then "Lucky You!": Region 1 is one of several IHSA regions which print out horse descriptions for both the riders and the public. Here is what the list said about the horses who carried their riders to victory at least once each (with their blue-ribbon-winning riders listed afterward):

"Pops" - Jump: Keep Canter organized. Huge stride. Flat: Great Draw! Lucky you! Spur: O and I (open and intermediate). Stick: Yes (Potock, Furches over fences).

"Boom" - Flat: Good Draw. Grumpy when mounting. Spur: No. Stick: No (Rakosky, Watkins).

"Blue" - Jump: Light hands, continue down lines. Flat: Set up for left lead. Spur: No. Stick: No.

"George" - Jump: Leg to hand, continue down lines. Flat: No stick or spur. Spur: O and I. Stick: Novice (Brooks).

"Gus" - Flat: Great Draw. Spur: No. Stick: Yes.

"Rio" - Jump: Huge stride - don't override, soft hands. Flat: Good draw. Spur: O and I. Stick: No (Sims).

"Robbie" - Jump: Keep in front of leg, continue down lines. Flat: Perfect, no spur for flat. Spur: O and I. Stick: OK.

"Rocket" - Jump: Leg to hand, ride up to jumps. Flat: Perfect. Spur: O and I. Stick: OK.

"Calvin" - Jump: Good draw, don't override. Flat: Perfect. Spur: No. Stick: No (Smyrl).

"Sophy" - Jump: Don't override, inside rein and leg for changes, encourage to use stride. Flat: Lucky You! Spur: No. Stick: No (Leonard, Richonne, Newman, Halladay).

"Trey" - Jump: Dont over ride, soft hands, don't counter bend. Flat: Do not counter bend. Spur: O and I. Stick No.

"Panda" - Jump: Don't over ride, soft hands. Flat: Do not counter bend. Spur: No. Stick: No.

"Petey" - Jump: Don't over ride, plenty of stride, inside rein and leg for lead/support off ground. Flat: Good draw. Sit slowly when mounting. Spur: No. Stick: OK (Parkinson, Fink, Etter, Wise, Furches on the flat).

"Woody" - Jump: Left drift. Flat: Set up canter depart. Spur: O. Stick: OK.

"Zenith" - Jump: Huge stride, builds as you go, block left side. Flat: No spur or stick on the flat. Spur: O and I. Stick: No.

"Barbie" - Flat: Great draw. Spur: No. Stick: Yes.

"Windsor" - Jump: Get pace in beginning and then he will continue on his own. Flat: Good draw. Spur: O and I. Stick: Yes (Gerland).

"Billy" - Flat: Good draw, set up for leads, soft canter depart. Spur: No. Stick: No.

"Taco" - Jump: Continue down lines, encourage to use stride. Flat: Set up for left lead. Spur: O and I. Stick: Yes.

"Desi" - Flat: Great draw. Spur: O, I and N. Stick: Yes.

The loss of a legend: Only five days after the Bridgewater College show took place, Sweet Briar Head Coach Jon Conyers lost his year-long battle with esophageal cancer. The former IHSA Alumni Director and Zone 5 Zone chair who was associated with seven different IHSA programs in less than 30 years was only 47. A separate story on Conyers has been posted on the Campus Equestrian home page for several weeks now, though when putting that story together we were unaware that Conyers was involved with the University of the South program.

"He was one of my closest friends and his loss is indescribable on so many levels," says University of the South Head Coach Megan Taylor. "After Jon's year at S(avannah) C(ollege of) A(rt and) D(esign), when he moved to Virginia, Jon would travel down to Sewanee every couple of months to do clinics. In addition to teaching clinics, Jon also was instrumental in giving me ideas that have shaped the Equestrian Center and Team at Sewanee. Over the years Jon also judged at Sewanee or within our region every year."

"(Middle Tennessee State Head Coach) Anne Brzezicki has told me that she and (IHSA Founder and Executive Director) Bob Cacchione decided that the 2009 IHSA National Horse Show will be dedicated to Jon. At this time, Zone 5, Region 1 will be dedicating something to Jon, I just have not decided what yet." In addition, Taylor indicated that Zone 5 as a whole will likely also do something to honor Conyers, who was involved with the Wesleyan College program for several years in Zone 5, Region 3 in addition to his involvement with SCAD and Sewanee. It is also believed that Zone 4, Region 2 or Zone 4 as a whole may honor Conyers in some way. A scholorship in his name has frequently been discussed though as of December 3rd Campus Equestrian could not confirm the creation of one just yet.

One thing several members of the Sweet Briar IHSA team accomplished only days after Conyers' passing was to win at the Southwest Virginia Hunter Jumper Association's annual horse show and medal finals in Lexington, Virginia. Sims placed first in two adult hunter over fences classes while senior Katie Davilli won second place in the SWVHJA adult medal finals, thus becoming the reserve champion. Freshman Morganne Young won the SWVHJA Hunter Seat Medal Finals and was also Best Child Rider on a horse. Young tied for reserve in the Children's Hunter Division while placing first in the Children's handy hunter class. Both Young and Sims won on horses which belong to Sweet Briar College. Though Conyers received a moment of silence at IHSA shows in Ithaca, New York, Bristol, Virginia and several other places within a few days of his passing, the wins at the SWVHJA for those Sweet Briar riders competing with heavy hearts was perhaps the best honor Conyers received at that time.

Sweet Briar director of Riding Shelby French, who had known Conyers since he was a freshman at St. Andrews Presbyterian College back in 1979, has posted an on-line journal informing everyone of Jon's situation through the CaringBridge web site for nearly a year now (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jonconyers is the link for these posts). In her December 3rd update, French talks a little about the November 30th service which took place at Conyer's church in his memory and was attended by many currently and formerly involved with the IHSA. Since this writer was one of many who could not attend but, as French put it "who were with us in spirit," this writer would like to thank Shelby French for keeping everyone so well informed about Jon over the last 12 months. French indicated that the December 3rd journal posting will likely be her last on Jon's CaringBridge page. Jon's page has received 13,972 visits from family and friends since his page was created last December, with everyone wanting to read not only what French had to say but what others had to say both to Jon and about Jon in that time. We miss you, Jon, and we will often talk about you, your riders and your involvement in the many IHSA programs you were a part of.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny skies, with temperatures climbing into the low '60's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 9:29AM. Finish: 1:13PM. Coaches and Captains Meeting held prior to start of show. Point Cards posted in this Region? Yes. Alumni Classes held in this region? No. Judge: Tony Workman. Stewards: Hearn/Longwood University, Morton/University of Virginia and Cornwell/Radford University.

Team Totals: Sweet Briar College (High Point Team) 39; Hollins University (Reserve) 38; Bridgewater College 37; James Madison University 30; Lynchburg College 27; University of Virginia 24; Randolph College 22; Washington & Lee University 18; Longwood University 9 and Radford University 5.

High Point Rider - Katie Furches, Hollins University
Reserve High Point Rider - Kelly Gerland, Lynchburg College