Virginia Intermont College had gone without a blue ribbon over the course of twelve consecutive classes before senior Kristen Stinson (left) won her section of novice flat. Head Coach Eddie Federwisch (right) was happy to see the winless streak end; Stinson was happy to qualify for Regionals. At the end of the day, Virginia Intermont had seven blue ribbons, 43 points and a 26-point lead over Saint Andrews headed into the mid-season break.

VIRGINIA INTERMONT WINS AT HOME BY SIX, OPENS UP 26 POINT LEAD

Bristol, VA — Through three Region 3 shows you could make a case the region was up for grabs. Through four shows it was looking like the defending region champs were starting to take control, and after the defending region champs hosted on November 14th it looks probable they will be taking a full team to Zone 4 Zones for the eighth season in a row.

Virginia Intermont College, twice the IHSA National Champion hunter seat team this decade, won in their own building by a 43-37 score over the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on November's second Tuesday. Brittany Denton (open fences), Jennifer Cumming (intermediate fences), Caitlin Lem-Luzzi (same), Kristen Stinson (novice flat), Meredith Guider (advanced walk-trot-canter), Johnna Applegate (beginner walk-trot-canter) and Tia Fitzgibbon (walk-trot) all won blue ribbons for Intermont. In addition seven other VI riders won red, second place ribbons over the course of 33 classes and seven and a half hours.

The Tar Heels came in second apparently for the second time this season. Freshman Brooke Weidenbenner had perhaps the best day of any Chapel Hill rider, earning one of their four blue ribbons in open flat and one of their five red ribbons in open fences. Other University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill blue ribbon winners were Danielle Verrilli in novice flat and both Jackie Ratner and Lauren Merkel, who won consecutive sections of the advanced walk-trot-canter.

"I'm going to win that one!" From left to right are Amanda Cronin, Jennifer Palmisano and Sonja Boras of Virginia Tech. The photo was taken during the jumping classes, but later on Palmisano would win her section of open flat while the Hokies finished third overall for the day with 35 points.

Virginia Tech was the second of four teams to score in the thirties. Allison Jones, a Hokie junior from Williamsburg, Virginia won twice, earning the first Virginia Tech blue ribbon of the day in novice fences and later duplicating the feat in intermediate flat. Junior Lindsay Woodburn won the section of novice fences which followed Jones' ride, while Jennifer Palmisano (open flat), Susan Wilson (intermediate flat) and Laura Welch (novice flat) also won classes for Virginia Tech, which finished the day with 35 points and fourth overall headed into the mid-season break.

The Hokies gained a little ground but not enough to keep the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from holding onto third place overall through five shows. The 49'ers earned three blue ribbons, courtesy of Bethany Coogle (novice flat), Hannah Propst (novice fences) and Susan Martelle (walk-trot), who won the final class of the day at a minute before 6:00PM. The 49'ers were red ribbon winners on three occasions (including sophomore Propst in novice flat) and yellow ribbon winners five times. Charlotte finished the day with 33 points and a 165-162 lead over Virginia Tech overall.

Saint Andrews Presbyterian College had entered the day only 15 points behind Virginia Intermont but gave back eleven in the standings despite a strong effort. Janelle Harcus, a junior from Kirkland, Washington won both of her open classes while freshman Courtney Taylor did likewise in her novice sections. The freshman from New Bern, North Carolina thus joined Harcus in what was a four-way ride-off for high point rider. Megan Stiles earned the title of 'Undefeated' as the freshman from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina won her IHSA debut in advanced walk-trot-canter. The Knights also earned five red ribbons and can still claim second place overall, though the 49'ers lurk only eight behind with at least two Region 3 hunter seat shows coming in the spring.

Caroline Taylor of Saint Andrew's Presbyterian College (left, with Knights' Assistant Coach Sarah Rhymer) may have been out of the ribbons in today's four-way ride-off yet the Freshman from New Bern, North Carolina was the High Point rider at the North Carolina Chapel Hill show on October 23rd. Taylor won both of her novice classes at each show to gain entry into the ride-offs.

North Carolina State was next with 24 points. Junior open rider Kaitlyn Walsh, who was a last-minute replacement in the fourth of four open fences classes, produced the lone blue ribbon of the day for the Wolfpack. Senior open rider Lauren Hill picked up a second over fences and a sixth on the flat, giving her 46 points to Denton's 47 in the Region 3 Cacchione/Open Rider Standings headed into the break. Anna Rector (intermediate fences), Margo McNair (same) and Lauren Titus (walk-trot) joined Hill in the Wolfpack red ribbon-winner department.

Elon scored 23 points, with freshman Kathryn Bosteel winning the first section of intermediate fences. Camille Swain, who is yet another Elon freshman, came in one place shy of the top in open flat.

Denying Swain the blue in the open flat was Wake Forest senior Lauren Widner. From Jacksonville, Florida, Widner also won her open fences class, raising her point total from 15 to 29 in less than three hours! In spite of competing in almost all the shows through three prior seasons, the talent level among Region 3 open riders is routinely among the highest in the IHSA, and as a result today marked Widner's first-ever appearence in a IHSA ride-off. No other Demon Deacon riders earned first or seconds on this day, though senior Jenny Hornberger's fifth in novice flat qualified her for Regionals. Wake Forest ended up with 21 points for the day.

Wake Forest Head Coach Anne Morgan (left) poses with Edythe King (center) and Lauren Widner (right) after Widner won her second blue ribbon of the day. Though they do not graduate until the Spring, Widner and King were in their final day as Wake Forest Co-Captains, and Widner would win her first-ever IHSA ride-off a little later.

Duke University was tops among the teams in the teens, scoring 18. The Blue Devils were led by a pair of freshmen on this day, as Amy Tsai won her advanced walk-trot-canter class while Tracy Gold was second in novice flat. Appalachian State was next with 16, as Rachel Jones (in intermediate flat), Danielle Hagerman (beginner walk-trot-canter) and Christina Berwanger (same) all received third-place ribbons for the Mountaineers. While no one from East Carolina made the top three in the first 30 classes, Keith Parker placed third in the first section of walk-trot while teammate Ashley Upchurch followed with a first in the second walk-trot section. Parker is now within five points of becoming the first ECU rider this season to qualify for Regionals. East Carolina finished with 15 points while both the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Western Carolina University concluded the team totals with seven each. Katie Ware earned five of Greenboros' seven points in the very first class of the day, placing second to Denton in open fences. Maria Aponte earned all seven of Western Carolinas' points with a first in the second of two sections of beginner walk-trot-canter.

The Ride-off: Held between the second and third sections of advanced walk-trot-canter, Harris, Jones, Taylor and Widner worked without stirups among other things during the ride-off. Though she had never even qualified for a ride-off prior to today's show, senior Widner would earn the blue ribbon while Jones would get to take the reserve ribbon back to Blacksburg.

A Captain goes out on top: When Wake Forest elects Captains they take over mid-season, one day after the final fall hunter seat show. Because Mimi Gaines and Sarah Gay Barnett were elected earlier this season to take office at mid-season, today's show marked the final day as Co-Captains for Widner and Edythe (pronounced 'Edith') King. Widner and King will graduate later this season but competed as captains for the final time today.

Quote of the day: "There are horse people, and their are people people. Eddie Federwisch is the only person I have ever met in the horseworld who is both." - Long time Virginia Intermont College Office Manager Margaret Jones, who has seen Federwisch win nine region championships, two IHSA National Championships and a few Tournament of Champions shows through eleven seasons as Virginia Intermont Head Coach.

Jackie Ratner (left) and Lauren Merkel won back-to-back advanced walk-trot-canter classes for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is believed they both wore the same helmet (perhaps a lucky helmet?). The Tar Heals were reserve high point team with 37 points at today's show.

VI wins yet again: Though the November 14th Virginia Intermont show was the final competition until February for most, two teams from Region 3 participated in the Holiday Tournament of Champions show at Cazenovia, New York on December 3rd. Though both the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Virginia Intermont filled their cards at the Tournament show, each of the two brought five riders, with the same riders jumping and flating in novice, intermediate and open. For the 49'ers both Alex Freeborn (in open flat) and Sarah Wooley won classes, the latter remaining undefeated in three tournament shows over fences. The senior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina claimed her third T of C blue ribbon in the second section of intermediate fences. Charlotte finished eighth overall while Intermont won the show outright, their third win at a December T of C show in three seasons! VI did this with six red ribbons and one blue, the latter going to walk-trot-canter rider Jennifer Kelly in the show's final class. The sophomore from West Palm Beach, Florida needed to win the division as Cornell finished only a point back. Red ribbon winners for VI were Denton (open fences), Jessica May (intermediate flat and fences), Julianne Wilson (novice flat and fences) and Jaime King (walk-trot). Both Charlotte and Virginia Intermont will compete against each other again on January 27th, when the University of Georgia hosts the third Tournament of Champions show of the 2006-07 season. Virginia Intermont will bring two hunter seat teams to Georgia that day, with their 'Gold' team including at least one ride from each of the riders who traveled to Cazenovia. A VI win would be their fifth over the past six Tournament of Champions shows dating back to December 2004. The Region as a whole returns to battle on February 3rd, when Saint Andrews hosts a rare (at least for them) weekend hunter seat show.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny skies, with High Temperatures in the low '50's. Entire show held indoors. Start Time: 10:18AM. Finish: 5:59PM - Includes 18 minute break to remove jumps and drag the ring. 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: Linda Kanatzer, Camden, SC. Stewards: Bennett/North Carolina State University, Peltier/University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Murphy/University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Team Totals: Virginia Intermont College (High Point Team) 43; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Reserve) 37; Virginia Tech 35; University of North Carolina at Charlotte 33; Saint Andrews Presbyterian College 32; North Carolina State University 24; Elon University 23; Wake Forest University 21; Duke University 18; Appalachian State University 16; East Carolina University 15; Western Carolina University 7 and University of North Carolina at Greensboro 7.

High Point Rider - Lauren Widner, Wake Forest University
Reserve High Point Rider - Allison Jones, Virginia Tech