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MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE CLAIMS ANOTHER ALUMNI WINNER WHILE THREE SCHOOLS CLAIM THEIR FIRST-EVER ALUMNI CHAMPIONS LEXINGTON, KY - One of the things that separates the IHSA from NCAA/Varsity is the alumni divisions. In what other sports organization do college graduates have the opportunity to come back after receiving their diploma and continue competition as if they had never left? In previous IHSA Nationals alumni results write-ups we have gone on about how Hugh Cassidy effectively started alumni by suggesting the idea after he graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook thirty years ago. We have talked about how the alumni evolved from one hunter seat division to two (equitation and jumping) and how alumni western divisions were eventually added, with alumni reining the youngest of the four having debuted at 1998 Nationals in Port Jervis, New York. What we have not delved into is the uniqueness of these events. With regard to other sports there are some four year colleges which have 'alumni games' but these are usually one-shot events which do not take place multiple times per year. Many Major League Baseball teams have an annual 'Old Timer's Day' where retired players play a two-inning game. Though these old timer's games are rather amusing, it is not the same as competing at the same shows as those who are still active with something at stake to be won over the course of a long season. Some of the alumni riders competed in a single division ten times, then had to survive Regionals and either Zones or Semifinals just to compete at the annual year-end IHSA National show. None of these competitors simply went through the motions or showed up to see other old friends. It was honest-to-goodness competition, an honor they were afforded by competing at least once in an IHSA show as an undergraduate. Perhaps the only difference for the alumni versus the undergraduates is that survivors with a diploma who qualified for Nationals probably needed to ask their boss's permission to take time off from work to travel to and compete in Lexington. To qualify for Nationals an alumni rider must earn 28 points during the regular season in one specific alumni division. Then that alumni rider must place in the top two or three at Regionals (top two for all western entries). Then that rider must make the top two at hunter seat Zones or the top four at Western Semifinals to punch their ticket to the National show. In several cases a few regions within a specific zone did not hold alumni classes this season (or not enough for anyone to come close to 28 points). This helped riders who qualified and survived Regionals in many cases, as there was a direct path to Nationals for a few hunter seat riders and coincidentally a direct path to a western semifinal class made up of exactly four entries. The 2010 schedule of classes at IHSA Nationals saw two of the alumni divisions held on Friday, May 7th and the remaining two held on Saturday, May 8th. For the second season in a row the Alumni Equitation Over Fences division started the Friday session, with Salve Regina University graduate and former Yale Equestrian Team Coach Amanda Gerdts into the ring at 8:38AM Eastern Time. Gerdts was the first of 15 to go in alumni fences, and Judges Don Stewart and Susie Schoellkopf gave her a score of '83.' As the class continued four other riders would also score in the 80's, and once everyone had taken their turn over the jumps Stewart and Schoellkopf asked the five riders in the 80's to return for further testing. After completing the test all 15 riders returned to the ring for the presentation of ribbons. After announcer Kenn Marash read off the names of the five riders who received participation ribbons (anyone technically eleventh and up received these ribbons) it was time for the top ten to learn their fate. Tenth place went to Dr. Emily Weis, who was Emily Unger when she graduated from Stonehill College in 1999. Weis, who won the alumni over fences when Nationals were held at Eden Park in Sunbury, Ohio in 2005, had earned a combined judge's score of '73.' Angela Netoskie, who was Angie Stone when she attended Pace University, was the second of three riders in the division to place inside the top ten and to have graduated in the 1990's. Class of '95 for the Setters, Netoskie was ninth with a score of '75.' Clare Hey, a 2002 Smith College graduate, was eighth. For reasons that are not clear Hey has been listed in most programs (including the Nationals program) by her maiden name, Hey, rather than her married name, Humphreys. In any event Clare Hey Humphreys received a score of '77.' Hey was also one of only five riders in the division to show alumni during the 2009-10 season in the same region where she was an undergraduate. Mara Thayer, who was Mara Sullivan as a student at Virginia Tech, was seventh. Like Hey, Thayer (class of '04) received a score of '77' to the best of our knowledge. In sixth place was Amy Kriwitsky of the University of Connecticut. The first person mentioned since Gerdts not to be married (she is only class of '08), Kriwitsky, who won the division at Zone 1 Zones, had received a score of '78.5.'
Fifth place went to 2007 Virginia Tech graduate Kristen Marley. A former teammate of Thayer's for a year, Marley received a score of '84.5.' Tori Frederick, a 2008 graduate of Drew University, was technically fourth going into the test with a score of '84' and coincidentally emerged with the white ribbon even though some in the top five moved up or down during testing. Very surprisingly only two of the 15 alumni fences riders received their diplomas in 2009. One of these two was Purdue graduate Laura Lemanski, who had the highest score prior to testing with an '86.' However Lemanski was ultimately third. Gerdts moved way up, going from fifth to second with a brilliant test. Zone 4, Region 2 is one of only three IHSA regions never ever to have had alumni classes. Therefore riders from schools in this region have seldom won National Alumni Titles as they would have to drive great distances if they lived in that same area after graduation just to compete in alumni classes. Kelley Douglas, a 1994 Hollins College graduate who won individual open over fences at 1992 Nationals an hour east in Morehead, Kentucky, now resides in the Chicagoland area where Zone 9, Region 2 does have alumni. With a score of '85' and perhaps the finest test of all, Douglas became both the first rider ever to emerge from Zone 9, Region 2 to capture an Alumni Champion ribbon and the first Hollins graduate to capture such a prize as well. Douglas, who will be Kelley Mallory later this year, trains with Northern Illinois University Head Coach Joleen DeWitt, herself a Virginia Intermont College graduate who competed against Hollins as an undergraduate (and who has qualified for Nationals in the alumni divisions on prior occasions). By chance Hollins had a full hunter seat team on hand, which meant that Coaches Nancy Peterson and Liz Courter were on hand to pose for pictures with their former standout. Eleven classes would come and go between the alumni fences and the second alumni class of 2010 Nationals, the Alumni Reining Pattern. In fact the alumni reining division was once again the final class on day two of IHSA Nationals, a spot the division has held more often than not since 2004. Sadly, only seven riders were entered in the division, making it the smallest of its' kind since 1999 (simply put, many of the regions which offered alumni western classes this season did not have enough alumni reining riders to make the classes legal. As a result there were far more alumni horsemanship riders competing at 2010 Nationals than alumni reining riders). Three of the seven riders came from Zone 3, including the eventual winner (only three zones and four regions were represented in this division). While Stewart and Schoellkopf judged all 2010 Nationals hunter seat classes, Charlene Carter and Bonnie Jo Clay handled judging duties for the western divisions. After each rider completed their reining pattern, Carter and Clay radioed their scores to Marash, who in turn announced them. Because there is no testing in alumni reining anyone who wrote down Marash's scores could figure out who was going to receive what ribbon. Eventually all seven riders returned to the ring and Marash could officially announce the placings. Seventh place went to Misty Hobbs, a 2002 West Texas A & M graduate who sadly went off her pattern or overspun for a '0' score (however Hobbs would fair much better in alumni western horsemanship a day later). Sixth place went to 2007 University of Kentucky graduate Megan Carter, who had received a score of '106.' Margaret "Meg" Parrott-Johnson, who graduated from Auburn University in 2000 before that program went NCAA/Varsity-only, received a score of '117.' Parrott-Johnson was the only rider to return in the division from 2009 Nationals, moving down one placing from fourth to fifth in a year's time. 2002 Delaware Valley College graduate Courtney Beidelman was the first of three Zone 3 riders into the top four. With a score of 123.5 Beidelman was fourth. Jennifer Lewis, one of two riders in the division to have graduated in 2009 was third. The Midway College graduate received a score of '124.' Kaley Riel, who graduated from California University of Pennsylvania in 2007, was the Reserve Champion. Fifth in the same division at 2008 Nationals in Burbank, California (though with a higher score of '138' at the time), Riel received a score of '128' and the red ribbon. The 2010 Alumni Reining Champion had placed ninth in individual open western horsemanship in her Nationals debut one year ago. This time 2009 Washington Colelge graduate Bernadette Loomis was on top. With a score of '132.5' Loomis is the first rider from a school east of the Ohio/Pennsylvania border ever to win the alumni reining division.
The third day of IHSA Nationals was the second day for alumni riders. Though it was only the fifth class of the day, the Alumni Hunter Seat Equitation or Alumni Flat did not take place until roughly 2:30PM in the afternoon. This was because the awards for the Cacchione Cup took place immediately following the work-off phase around 11:30AM, plus the ring needed to be dragged prior to the individual open reining class at roughly 1:00PM. The final two hunter seat classes of any kind for the 2009-10 season were the individual open equitation on the flat and the alumni flat which immediately followed. For the alumni flat all 15 riders entered the ring together and were asked to walk, trot, walk, canter, walk, reverse, trot, walk, canter, walk and line up. Several riders were not happy with the lightning-fast way the alumni flat class was conducted (Editor's Note: Three quotes, one by an alumni rider, one by an open flat rider and another by the parent of an alumni rider were originally to be posted here, but due to concerns over repercussions these comments might generate they have been deleted. Suffice to say there was much discussion and considerable discontent over how quickly the final two hunter seat classes were held). No matter how you look at it, this division, and the open flat division that preceeded it, involved no testing and litterally was lined up in under five minutes. There is no question that the riders in each of these two classes were more vigorously tested at Zones and likely Regionals than on the big stage. Still, no matter how much time you receive in the ring you must make an impression and make the most of the situation. The top ten in alumni flat did just that. Tenth place went to Katelyn Brumfield of Mississippi State University. A 2005 graduate, Brumfield had won the division at Zone 5 Zones in early April. Frederick, who rode alumni in Zone 3, Region 2 each of the past two seasons, and who won the alumni flat class at Zone 3 Zones in both '09 and '10, was ninth. Margaret "Meg" Donahue, who graduated from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 2002 but now rides in Zone 5, Region 2 was eighth. Donahue also lent her assistance to the University of South Carolina team during '10 Nationals. Lauren Casale, who was the Zone 3, Region 4 Cacchione entry last season, was 7th. The '09 Kutztown University graduate was third at Zone 3 Zones in the division but for one year only Zone 3 sent their top three individual riders to IHSA Nationals instead of the top 2 due to having over 1,000 registered hunter seat riders (the rules will be changing in 2010-11, so that no Zone sends more than two individuals on to Nationals in hunter seat). Like Weis over fences, Angee Quattro was a previous alumni champion. Now known as Angee Quattro Kerns in most programs (though the 'Kerns' was left out of the Nationals program), the 2003 Virginia Intermont College graduate won the individual alumni over fences at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania four years earlier. This time Quattro Kerns was sixth on the flat. Kristine Kennedy, who was at Drew for two seasons alongside Frederick, was also a former alumni champion. Kennedy was the 2007 alumni flat winner at the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts but had to settle for fifth this time. It is believed that Ashton Phillips has set an IHSA record. Starting with his appearance at 2002 Nationals (held in Cazenovia, New York) in alumni fences Phillips has competed in at least one IHSA Nationals class at nine straight IHSA Nationals (Sandra Sayre, who graduated from Drew mid-season in 1993-94 and who was a student of Phillips at Suburban Essex Equestrian Center/Montclair Riding Academy as the '80's became the '90's, has won more alumni classes that anyone but by not qualifying for '99 Nationals does not have as long a streak of consecutive Nationals appearances as Phillips). Though Phillips has been in the running every time once again his name was heard sooner than his fans would have liked as the 1989 Virginia Intermont College graduate received a fourth. Lemanski proved to be very consistant, equaling her yellow ribbon over fences. Tara Lynch, a 2008 University of Connecticut graduate who won the division at Zone 1 Zones, was announced as the Reserve Champion. This was an improvement over her fourth in alumni flat at '09 Nationals and tenth place in the '08 Cacchione Cup competition.
Perhaps the happiest winner all weekend was 2009 Northern Illinois University graduate Michael Lenard. Lenard, who prevously was eighth in individual open fences in '07 and tenth in the Cacchione Cup at '09 Nationals in Murfreesboro earned his best Nationals ribbon in a big way. From St. Charles, Illinois, Lenard won the alumni flat, meaning that both hunter seat alumni winners came from Zone 9, Region 2 (and ironically both finished second to Lemanski in their respective divisions at Zones on April 11th). Huskies Coach DeWitt (a former teammate of Ashton Phillips for at least a season at Virginia Intermont) and Purdue Head Coach Jerry Steinmetz were also jubulant. Steinmetz was ecstatic for Zone 9, as he is Zone Chairperson. It is unclear to Campus Equestrian if Steinmetz is still a Zone Chair in 2010-11, as Zone 9 is being eliminated and absorbed into Zone 7 (really Zone 9 is becoming Zone 7, with one Zone 7 region remaining in Zone 7, but that is another story for another day - Editor). Because of the realignment within the IHSA, Lenard has the honor of being the final rider from Zone 9 to win a class at IHSA Nationals. Lenard is also the first Northern Illinois rider ever to win a blue ribbon at an IHSA National show (After this story was first posted Lenard himself responded to our request for his thoughts on the division: "I believe the horse that I drew was named Darina, and she was a chestnut mare from Virginia Intermont. She was a very nice horse...definitely a head turner! During the regular season, most of the time Kelley won over fences and I would win on the flat. There were a few exceptions to that, but we both qualified for our stronger disciplines at Nationals. Most of the time, we were 1 and 2 in all of our classes. The alumni class did seem like it went pretty fast, and that also seemed to be a pretty controversial issue at Nationals. Since I work for a large hunter/jumper show management company in Chicago, I have the opportunity to network and converse with many judges. My opinion is that the judge has the discretion to take however long is needed in a class. If the winners are obvious, then there is no need to keep the class going. With that said, there is certainly a balance between judging efficiently and judging effectively. Would testing the riders have changed the outcome? No one can say for certain, but if the judge is happy with his/her current decision, then testing would most likely change the outcome only if someone made a mistake in the test. It just isn't needed. As always, this IHSA Nationals was a blast for me. Winning was a treat, but doing it at the same Nationals as Kelley is the coolest part since we rode together all season"). Two classes later it was time for those qualified for Alumni Western Horsemanship to close out the alumni divisions for another season. Twelve riders were entered, a net gain of one rider from the 2009 class. Each rider walked, jogged and lopped until Carter and Clay asked everyone to line up and perform the pattern one at a time. After 45 minutes the division was completed, riders were asked to dismount, handlers escorted the horses to the holding area, and the placings were announced by Marash. After participation ribbons were given to '07 Georgia Tech graduate Megan Heaphy and '84 United States Military Academy graduate Peggy Leonowich-Graham (the latter making her first IHSA Nationals appearance since riding in the same division at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia in 2000), tenth place was awarded to 2005 Missouri State graduate Jennifer "Jenny" Reed. Reed, who is the Zone 9, Region 2 alumni rep, was making her IHSA Nationals debut. Loomis could not repeat as the rail champion, settling for ninth place this time. 2001 Midway College graduate Marianne England, who first rode in the division at the '02 Cazenovia National show, was eighth. Beidelman fell three notches to seventh in her second ride in two days while Riel fell from second to sixth. Riel's former teammate, 2006 California University of Pennsylvania graduate Sarah Wells, finished one place higher at fifth. Carter improved on her reining score, climbing two places to fourth. Brittany Swartzwelder was the only rider in the division to still be in school (as an undergraduate) when the school year started. Graduating in December of 2009 from Ohio University's Southern Campus, Swartzwelder was the yellow ribbon winner. Hobbs, who had placed ninth in the division a year earlier and seventh in reining only yesterday was the Reserve Champion this time around. This was easily Hobbs' best ribbon at an IHSA National show to date. Somewhat remarkably the winner in this division was making her IHSA Nationals debut. "(As an undergraduate) I went to Regionals once," said 2008 Middle Tennessee State University graduate Kimberly White, who was as surprised as anyone to come out on top at 2010 Nationals. White had never been passed Regionals until 2010. At the Pomona, California semifinal White finished second behind England to reach Nationals where she is now undefeated. White is the latest in a line of MTSU western riders to win outright in the alumni divisions at IHSA Nationals. Since 2003 Lisa Ligon-Grissom (in '03), Corrine Gould (in '06), Jessica Schultz (in '07) and White have won the alumni western horsemanship blue ribbon while Schultz (in '07) and Amy Snoderly (in '09) have won alumni reining. Though the University of Findlay dominated the individual undergraduate alumni classes, winning four of the six divisions a third consecutive season, Middle Tennessee State has a firm lead on the Oilers in the alumni department. Save for Michelle Gagat's win in the first-ever alumni reining class at '98 Nationals (only four people were entered), Findlay has no other alumni western blue ribbons at prior Nationals to speak of. Blue Raiders Head Coach Anne Brzezicki can claim five winners in six classes, giving her the all-time lead in this department as 2009-10 comes to an end. --Steve Maxwell The following is a list of the Alumni Class-by-Class Results from 2010 IHSA Nationals, held in the Indoor Equestrian Event Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Alumni Fences and Alumni Reining were held on Friday, May 7th while Alumni Flat and Alumni Western Horsemanship (also known as Alumni Rail) were held on Saturday, May 8th. The judges for all 2010 IHSA Nationals hunter seat classes were Don Stewart and Susie Schoellkopf while the judges for all western classes were Charlene Carter and Bonnie Jo Clay. Individual Alumni Equitation Over Fences: 1. Kelley Douglas, Hollins University. 2. Amanda Gerdts, Salve Regina University. 3. Laura Lemanski, Purdue University. 4. Tori Frederick, Drew University. 5. Kristen Marley, Virginia Tech. 6. Amy Kriwitsky, University of Connecticut. 7. Mara Thayer, Virginia Tech. 8. Clare Hey, Smith College. 9. Angela Netoskie, Pace University. 10. Dr. Emily Weis, Stonehill College. Individual Alumni Reining: 1. Bernadette Loomis, Washington College (MD). 2. Kaley Riel, California University of Pennsylvania. 3. Jennifer Lewis, Midway College. 4. Courtney Beidelman, Delaware Valley College. 5. Margaret Parrott-Johnson, Auburn University. 6. Megan Carter, University of Kentucky. 7. Misty Hobbs, West Texas A & M University. Individual Alumni Equitation On The Flat: 1. Michael Lenard, Northern Illinois University. 2. Tara Lynch, University of Connecticut. 3. Laura Lemanski, Purdue University. 4. Ashton Phillips, Virginia Intermont College. 5. Kristine Kennedy, Drew University. 6. Angee Quattro, Virginia Intermont College. 7. Lauren Casale, Kutztown University. 8. Meg Donahue, St. Andrews Presbyterian College. 9. Tori Frederick, Drew University. 10. Katelyn Brumfield, Mississippi State University. Individual Alumni Western Horsemanship: 1. Kimberly White, Middle Tennessee State University. 2. Misty Hobbs, West Texas A & M University. 3. Brittany Swartzwelder, Ohio University - Southern Campus. 4. Megan Carter, University of Kentucky. 5. Sarah Wells, California University of Pennsylvania. 6. Kaley Riel, California University of Pennsylvania. 7. Courtney Beidelman, Delaware Valley College. 8. Marianne England, Midway College. 9. Bernadette Loomis, Washington College (MD). 10. Jennifer Reed, Missouri State University.
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