From left to right are IHSA Nationals Ringmaster Dr. John Xanthopoulos, Skidmore College Head Coach Cindy Ford, Skidmore senior Laura Roberts, Skidmore Assistant Coach Belinda Colgan and IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione. Roberts put Skidmore on the board with a second in team novice fences. Roberts would be the first of four Skidmore riders to earn a red ribbon in the 2010 IHSA Nationals hunter seat team competition.

2010 IHSA NATIONALS HUNTER SEAT TEAM COMPETITION GOES DOWN TO THE EIGHTH AND FINAL CLASS

LEXINGTON, KY - Sometimes the IHSA Team Competitions at the many Zones shows roughly one month prior to IHSA Nationals are a precurser to the same competition at the big event. Though 1997 Zone 3 Zones are remembered for Fairfield University's big rally to overtake Penn State for second in the final class, the University of Delaware surprisingly ran away with first place at Zones early on. Though they were huge underdogs headed into 1997 IHSA Nationals the Fighting Hens came on down the stretch and captured their first and to date only IHSA National Championship.

In 2007 Virginia Intermont College won the first four team classes at Zone 4 Zones and went on to earn 52 of a possible 56 points in cruising to the Zone Championship. Not by any means an underdog going into 2007 Nationals, VI still ran away with the hunter seat team competition, scoring a remarkable 37 points to win the National Championship by 12 over Mount Holyoke College and the University of Findlay.

There were nine Zones shows held nationwide over the April 10th/11th weekend, with 19 of the 31 schools with a full team at Zones advancing to IHSA Nationals May 6th through 9th held inside the 5,000 seat Indoor Equestrian Event Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The high point team from four of these Zones shows won by 12 or more points. Though they lost the first team class West Texas A & M went on to win the remaining seven versus (only) the University of Wyoming at Zone 7 Zones at the Buff's home facility. This gave West Texas A & M a 54-42 win. However this would still make the Buffs a heavy underdog owing to the small size of both their Zone and the Zones competition. West Virginia University had never won a Zones competition prior to April 11th, during which the Mountaineers won the first three team classes at Zone 3 Zones and never trailed. West Virginia finished the day a 49-37 winner over both Delaware Valley College and Lafayette College with Penn State surprisingly in fourth (the 2009 Zone 3 Zones team competition read out the exact oppossite, with the Mountaineers in fourth, Del Val in third, Lafayette second and Penn State winning the blue ribbon for a seventh consecutive season at that time). West Virginia could still be considered an underdog headed into 2010 Nationals, as this was only the second time in Mountaineers program history with a full team at the national show.

Two other programs to win big at 2010 Zones were considered more of a threat going into Lexington. Skidmore College, a five-time IHSA National Champion in the 1990's with Region Titles all but twice since 1990 to their credit had been a huge surprise at Zone 2 Zones on April 10th. The well-named Thoroughbreds won the first two team classes and six of eight in total to score 50 points. The significance was that Skidmore did this at the Centenary College Equestrian Center versus the host Cyclones, who were the defending IHSA National Champions. The fact that anyone could outscore Centenary 50-38 in any environment let along their own building spoke volumes for their chances at winning against the entire field in Lexington. However a day later the University of Findlay made a statement in their host facility. The Oilers, who won 2001 IHSA Nationals in convincing fashion and whom had captured reserve champion honors three times since won all eight team classes at Zone 6 Zones to prevail by what might be an IHSA record 23 point margin for hunter seat. Findlay bested defending reserve national champion University of Kentucky by a 56-33 score (the Wildcats had to sweat out second place into the final team class, edging out Ohio University by one point and Michigan State by two to reach Nationals a fourth consecutive season). With the Oilers consistantly into double figures at each of the National competitions they reached since 2001 their perfect score at Zone 6 Zones could not be taken lightly by serious observers. Others to win Zones shows that weekend were the College of Charleston (in Zone 5), Mount Holyoke College (in Zone 1), St. Mary of the Woods College (in Zone 9), Stanford University (in Zone 8) and Virginia Intermont College, the latter having won three National Titles since 2004 but having to come from behind after a slow start in Zone 4, Region 3 just to advance a full team to Zone 4 Zones. However VI won one of their National Championships after losing Zones to Hollins, so no one would dare write off the school from Bristol, Virginia's chances on the big stage.

Marilyn Cook (center), whose late daughter Michelle Cook showed walk-trot for Mount Holyoke College and Lyons Head Coach C.J. Law (third on left) in the mid-to-late 1980's presents Tracie Sidwell of the University of Findlay (third on right) with the Memorial Trophy named for her daughter. Sidwell won team walk-trot to put Findlay into a tie for second place with Centenary through seven team classes.

In spite of finishing behind Skidmore many who made their way to the Kentucky Horse Park felt Centenary was still the team to beat. The Cyclones had two teams at the Holiday Tournament of Champions on December 6th, with one claiming first and the other reserve champion. Several of the Centenary riders entered in the 2010 team competition had prior IHSA Nationals experience. Other second place Zones teams to advance were the afformentioned University of Kentucky and Delaware Valley College, Stonehill College, University of the South, Oregon State University (making their IHSA Nationals debut with a full hunter seat team), Truman State University (sending a full team of any kind to Nationals for the first time) and Hollins University, the latter surviving Zones for the first time since 2005. It should be noted that the only two times Hollins has ever won the National Championship they did not win their region the season before. In 2009 Sweet Briar College edged out Hollins in Zone 4, Region 2 so the stage was set for history to repeat. But would it?

Two other teams were entered, creating the first 19-team field in the IHSA's 43 year history. Cazenovia College, which remarkably led Centenary through most of Zone 2 Zones only to fall two points behind for third place joined Lafayette from Zone 3 to round out the field. Both of these schools came from Zones made up of over 1,000 registered hunter seat riders, which meant that the top three teams and the top three in each individual class at Zones advanced to Nationals. This will perhaps be the only time 19 teams will compete at Nationals for the championship as the IHSA Board voted to eliminate the 1,000 rider rule for 2010-11 and beyond, with the top two from what will be only eight Zones come the fall of 2010 continuing on to Nationals from future Zones shows.

2010 IHSA Nationals started at 8:47AM on May 6th, though it was not until after 10:00AM that the first team class took place. Team Novice Over Fences was the fourth class of the day and followed all three of the individual over fences divisions. Each of the 20 riders took their turn over the jumps, with the combined scores of Judges Don Stewart and Susie Schoellkopf read aloud by Public Address Announcer Kenn Marash before most riders could exit the ring. After all 19 rides the judges decided to call back the top three for further testing. Following the test all 20 riders returned to the ring for the awarding of ribbons and other gifts. Unlike Nationals held over the past seven seasons ribbons were given out to riders who placed tenth or higher (in recent seasons only the top six in each team class had received ribbons above the participation level). Tenth place went to Morgan Squires of West Virginia University, who was one of the three Mountaineers to win a team class early on at Zone 3 Zones nearly a month earlier. Squires was one of eight riders to earn a score in the '70's, earning a '74' from Stewart and Schoellkopf. Jovanna Haddad, a University of Findlay freshman from Miami, Florida was ninth with a score of '76' while Sarah Jarosinski, a Hollins University sophomore from Powatan, Virginia was eighth with a '77.' Casey Gilligan of Virginia Intermont College was seventh with a '78' while Justine Thomas, a Stanford University sophomore from Sammamish, Washington who was out of the ribbons in this division at 2009 Nationals earned the Cardinal their first point of the 2010 team competition with a sixth. Thomas received a score of '79' while Sarah Gray put Cazenovia College on the board with the first of five scores in the eighties. Gray earned exactly '80' and fifth place. Amy Barrett, a University of Kentucky sophomore from Alpharetta, Georgia who was making her IHSA Nationals debut, was fourth for the Wildcats. Barrett had the lone decimal point in this division, receiving an '81.5.'

Centenary College Co-Coaches Michael Dowling (second on left) and Heather Clark (second on right) pose with junior Julie Connors (center) after she edged out Roberts to win team novice fences on May 6th. Connors would not be the only Centenary rider to win a team class that day.

Up to this point anyone with a pen and a program could have figured out who would have placed between tenth and fourth place. However because the top three were tested it remained to be seen if someone moved up or down in that group. Marash announced Tina Tramontozzi of Stonehill College as the yellow ribbon winner. Tranmontozzi, who had finished second at Zone 1 Zones, earned a score of '82' prior to testing but did not move up or down navigating a few extra jumps. Laura Roberts, a Skidmore College senior from Fairfield, Connecticut who was third in the division at Zone 2 Zones received the Reserve Champion ribbon this time. Roberts had been in second going into the test and remained in second. Suddenly 2010 Nationals seemed like a continuation of 2009 Nationals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Centenary won several team classes late in that competition and started off the 2010 event with a first via Julie Connors. A junior from Hebron, Connecticut, Connors was one of the two Centenary riders to win a team class at Zones on April 10th. Connors received a combined judge's score of '84' to give the defending national champs the early lead. Interestingly three of the top five ribbons went to riders who had comprised the top three at Zone 2 Zones. Would Zone 2 dominate Nationals in Lexington?

Connors' win was actually the Cyclone's third blue ribbon of the day, as teammates Marissa Cohen (in intermediate over fences) and Lindsey Mohr (in open over fences) had won two of the three individual over fences sections prior to the start of team classes. Including the 2009 Cacchione Cup division, this meant that Centenary had won six of the last nine undergraduate hunter seat classes of any kind across the two most recent Nationals shows. Many began to speak openly about Centenary improving on last season's Nationals performance this time around. Nevertheless better than 75% of the hunter seat classes remained so there was still hope for the rest of the field. Following both the individual intermediate and novice flat classes it was time for the second of eight team sections, Team Novice On The Flat. As had been the case for the individual flat classes thus far, riders entered the ring before being asked to walk, trot and canter in each direction. Eventually everyone was lined up and Marash announced the numbers of nine riders who were excused. The remaining riders then went back on the rail for more traditional flatwork. A short time later the remaining riders were asked to line up, pat their horses and dismount. Handlers then entered the ring and escorted the horses back to the holding area. The 'excused' ten were then asked to return to the ring and rejoin the ten riders who only recently dismounted for the presentation of ribbons.

While in past seasons riders who made the final ten would usually be called into the middle one at a time, the judges opted to call everyone into the middle at the same time in 2010. Also there was no testing during the team or individual flat classes (such as to ask riders to drop their irons or to pick up a counter-canter) which was met with mixed results by some in attendance. Apparently Stewart and Schoellkopf knew what they were looking for and made their decisions accordingly. For team novice fences the judges selected Hanae Kimura of Skidmore for tenth place. A junior from Seattle, Washington, Kimura won team walk-trot-canter two seasons ago when Nationals were in Burbank, California but had been out of the ribbons in team novice flat in Murfreesboro last season. Mary Hanner of West Texas A & M University was ninth while Amanda Brehm of Truman State University was eight. A junior from Lee's Summit, Missouri, Brehm earned the first IHSA Nationals team ribbon for the Bulldogs in program history. Jordan McMullen, who had not competed in team novice on the flat for Mount Holyoke College during Zone 1 Zones, was seventh in her first post-season ride of the 2009-10 season (and her first at an IHSA Nationals show). Stanford proved to be consistant through two team classes, as Madeleine Sessions was sixth. Hollins received their first team points as Tyne Hovda was fifth. Not to be outdone by their Zone 4 Zones rival, junior Chelsea Dressler was fourth for Virginia Intermont in her third IHSA Nationals appearance. Jessica Browne, a University of Kentucky freshman from Louisville, Kentucky put the Wildcats in good shape through two divisions with a third. Delaware Valley College had won the Winter Tournament of Champions show in Fredericksburg, Virginia on January 30th, and after Kathryn Gibson was second the Aggies had hope that they might make a splash at Nationals as well. A senior from South Seaville, New Jersey it was Gibson's first and only appearance (as an undergraduate) at an IHSA National show. Kelsey Shanley, a Cazenovia College freshman from Williamstown, Massachusetts was best in the field of 19 novice flat riders. Shanley's blue ribbon effort gave the Wildcats the lead overall through two. With six classes still to come it was Cazenovia College 9, Centenary College 7, the University of Kentucky 7, Delaware Valley College 5, Skidmore College 5, Stonehill College 4, Virginia Intermont College 3, Hollins University 2 and Stanford University 2.

Because Cazenovia College brought several horses to IHSA Nationals both Head Coach Amy Sherrick-Von Schiller (on right) and Assistant Coach Liz Pinto (on left) were seen in britches and boots more often than not during Nationals (several IHSA Coaches and Assistants schooled the horses they brought each day). Kelsey Shanley of the Wildcats (center, who assisted Campus Equestrian a month earlier by providing us with the results from Zone 2 Zones) is seen here with her coaches after earning the blue ribbon in team novice flat to briefly put Cazenovia in the lead.

So far Zone 2 schools accounted for both blue ribbons in team classes, and with Alex McGuire of Skidmore winning individual walk-trot-canter following team novice flat Zone 2 had three of five individual blue ribbons thus far as well. This trend would nearly continue during Team Open On The Flat with the best Zone 2 ribbon being the red one. Of the 19 team open flat riders six of them had already competed in individual open over fences earlier in the day while one other showed in individual intermediate over fences. However the extra time in the seat would pay dividends for only three of them (each with a top four placing). Riders in team open flat walked, trotted and cantered each way before the group was split and half were excused. Eventually all 20 riders were standing inside the ring awaiting the placings. Tenth place went to Zone 1, Region 3 Cacchione Cup entry Lindsay Sceats of Mount Holyoke College. Better things were to come for Sceats as 2010 Nationals progessed. Terence Prunty of Delaware Valley College, who represented Zone 3, Region 2 in the Cacchione class, was ninth. Sarah Scharf of Stanford was eighth while Zoe Merritt of the College of Charleston was seventh. Lafayette College got on the scoreboard as sophomore Danielle Miranda was sixth. From Mendham, New Jersey it was Miranda's first ride at an IHSA Nationals show. West Virginia University also scored their first points as Miranda Cain was fifth. From Parkersburg, West Virginia, Cain is technically a junior but has four more semesters of IHSA eligibility remaining. This is because Cain transferred from the University of Tennessee at Martin after only one season where she was a member of their NCAA/Varsity team. Fourth place went to Ashley Miller of Virginia Intermont. A junior from Raritan, New Jersey, Miller placed fifth in individual open over fences earlier and would compete in the Cacchione competition the next day. Ali Cibon of the University of Kentucky was third. A junior from Bannockburn, Illinois, Cibon had now ridden in seven classes over three IHSA National shows with two firsts, a second and three thirds added to her ribbon collection (Cibon is human; She was out of the ribbons in team intermediate flat in Burbank). It was Cibon's second yellow ribbon of the day, as she had been third in individual open over fences. Cibon would compete in three more classes, including her first appearance in the Cacchione Cup competition and the team open over fences class which concluded the team competition.

Kelly Campbell, a Skidmore sophomore from Cohoes, New York was the Reserve Champion. By placing second the Thoroughbreds moved back into second place, one point behind the Wildcats. The Grand Champion in the division was Mary Margaret Fly of the University of Findlay. A senior from Tampa, Florida, Fly had finished out of the ribbons earlier in individual open over fences. Like several others in this class Fly's next appearance would be in the Cacchione jumping phase. Though it was only her second ride at an IHSA Nationals show (she was fourth in team intermediate over fences last season) Fly had put Findlay in striking position for the top spot going into the next division. Through three team classes it was the University of Kentucky 11, Skidmore College 10, Cazenovia College 9, the University of Findlay 7, Centenary College 7, Virginia Intermont College 6, Delaware Valley College 5, Stonehill College 4, Hollins University 2, Stanford University 2, West Virginia University 2 and Lafayette College 1.

Seen here with her Father, Mary Margaret Fly won team open on the flat to put the University of Findlay on the board. Considering that Findlay routinely scores in double figures when they have a full hunter seat team at Nationals it may come as a surprise to find Fly is the first Oiler to win an english team class since 2007.

Following team open flat was Team Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation. Commencing just before 5:00PM each of the 19 riders went through the same routine as the open riders (walk, trot, walk, canter, walk, reverse, trot, walk, canter, walk, line up, nine leave, remaining ten walk, trot, walk, canter, walk and line up). Tenth place went to Gracie Becker of the University of the South, who earned the Tigers their first hunter seat team ribbon of any kind at Nationals since Bradley Waffa was fifth in team walk-trot at 2005 Nationals in Sunbury, Ohio. Danielle Witt, a Truman State freshman from St. Peters, Missouri was ninth while Brittany Callahan of Cazenovia was eighth. From Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, Brittany Callahan tied her twin sister Jennifer (a junior at St. Andrews Presbyterian College who was eighth in individual walk-trot-canter two classes earlier) for Callahan family IHSA Nationals bragging rights on May 6th. Surprisingly Mount Holyoke was not yet on the scoreboard through four classes as Amanda Ross just missed earning the Lyons their first point of the day. Ross was seventh while Caitlin Shipe boosted the Hollins total to three points with a sixth. Lafayette earned points for the second division in a row as Erin Duggan was fifth. For a few moments Findlay moved into a tie for second with Skidmore as Oiler freshman Christie Barnett was fourth. From Skaneateles, New York Barnett assured the Oilers of double figures for a fourth consecutive season and ninth time in ten years. Christa Forsberg, a sophomore from Longmont, Colorado put West Texas A & M on the board with a third.

For the third time in four tries a Skidmore College rider earned second place. Isabella McKeon, a sophomore from Red Hook, New York put the Thoroughbreds into first place outright with a second. During the portion of the class after nine riders were excused Hollins Head Coach Nancy Peterson asked this writer for whom does number 164 compete. I told her she is Nina Crossley of Stonehill College. A sophomore from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, Crossley had impressed Peterson and no doubt the judges as she went on to win the division. Crossley's blue ribbon moved the Sky Hawks into a tie with Kentucky for second with half the team classes completed. Heading into the final team class on May 6th it was Skidmore College 15, Stonehill College 11, the University of Kentucky 11, the University of Findlay 10, Cazenovia College 9, Centenary College 7, Virginia Intermont College 6, Delaware Valley College 5, West Texas A & M University 4, Hollins University 3, Lafayette College 3, Stanford University 2, West Virginia University 2 and six schools still looking to earn their first points of 2010 Nationals.

The final class of the day was Team Intermediate On The Flat. For the first time since IHSA Nationals went to a four-day format in 2004 three consecutive hunter seat team classes were held on one single calendar day. May 6th also marked the first time since the four-day format began that three consecutive hunter seat individual undergraduate classes were held on one day (though at 2000 and 2001 IHSA Nationals the third and and final day was made up entirely of individual classes - Editor). This meant that for the first time in modern day IHSA Nationals history the fortunes of so many teams could change in such a short period of time. Tenth place went to Elizabeth Mirson of Virginia Intermont College, giving VI top ten ribbons in four of five team classes thus far. Ninth place went to Emily Dolan of Stonehill. This would keep the Sky Hawks tied with Kentucky but no longer for second place. Kristin Small of Cazenovia was eighth, equaling teammate Callahan's accomplishment a short time earlier. Another Kristin, this time Kristin Lawrence of Delaware Valley College, took seventh place. It was a good day for McKenzie Armour of the College of Charleston. The Cougar sophomore from Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina was first in individual novice flat earlier in the day and her sixth in team intermediate flat gave Charleston their first point of 2010 Nationals. For the third time in four team classes Hollins earned points as Kristina Sprenkle was fifth. Phillip Flynn, a University of Findlay sophomore from Fort Collins, Colorado was fourth. For a fleeting moment this put Findlay - which entered the stretch of three consecutive team classes scoreless - into second place with 13 points. Stanford's Thomas improved on her sixth in novice fences, placing third to give the Cardinal six points overall.

Skidmore sophomore Chelsea Jones (third from right) won red ribbons on both May 6th and 7th. Jones was Reserve Champion in both team intermediate divisions to give the Thoroughbreds 25 points through six team classes.

No team saw their fortunes change so much over the course of three classes up to this point as Skidmore. Going into the stretch the Thoroughbreds had five points. Chelsea Jones, a sophomore from Kailua, Hawaii who had finished third in team novice fences at '09 Nationals made it three red ribbons in a row and four in five divisions by placing second here. Skidmore was thus assured of spending the night in first place. However the defending champions suddenly were in the game again. Ali Krecker, a sophomore from both Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts and Aiken, South Carolina (one parent in each) won the division for Centenary. This was an improvement over her tenth place showing in individual novice fences earlier in the day and over her IHSA Nationals debut last season. Krecker was fourth in the exact same team intermediate flat division in Murfreesboro. Overall Centenary had the best first day at 2010 Nationals when blue ribbons were counted, as the Cyclones earned four between team and individual rides. On the scoreboard Skidmore held a six point lead, which was an improvement over 2009 when the Thoroughbreds held a 14-10 lead over Centenary after one day and five team classes (the University of Kentucky was ahead with 16). Through day one and five team classes it was Skidmore 20, Centenary 14, Findlay 13, Kentucky 11, Stonehill 11, Cazenovia 9, Stanford 6, Virginia Intermont 6, Hollins 5, Delaware Valley 5, West Texas A & M 4, Lafayette 3, West Virginia 2, College of Charleston 1 and the rest still looking to avert a shutout. It was hard to believe how much things had changed in roughly two hours time.

May 7th marked day two of 2010 IHSA Nationals, the first day of the Cacchione Cup Competition, the first day of alumni classes, the first day of western classes and a day on which the sixth and seventh hunter seat team classes would take place. While the day started with alumni fences, the second class of the morning was Team Intermediate Over Fences. While only two riders had been common to both team novice flat and team novice fences (Tramontozzi and Haddad), six riders in team intermediate over fences were holdovers from team intermediate flat (Krecker, Jones, Flynn, Sharon Frankhouser of West Virginia, Whitney Mahlock of St. Mary of the Woods and Allison O'Neill of Mount Holyoke). Also Shanley was back from team novice flat to jump at a moderately higher level. At least two others had ridden in individual classes on day one, meaning that nine of the 19 riders already had ridden at least once at '10 Nationals. It is questionable if time in the seat made a difference, as half the top ten including the champion were riding at 2010 Nationals for the first time.

As was the case during all the jumping classes, the placings for riders who were not tested could be determined by writing down all the judge's scores and then reviewing the list from bottom to top. However in total contrast to the flat classes six riders were tested in intermediate fences, the most from any team or individual class at 2010 Nationals. When it was time to pin the class tenth place went to Flynn with a score of '71' while ninth place went to Michela Torchio of Lafayette College with a '72.' Natalie Baker, a West Texas A & M junior from the town of Austin, Texas who had placed ninth in individual intermediate flat received a score of '77' and moved up a place to eighth here. Amanda Shamer was one of only five riders in the '70's. Strangely enough the Virginia Intermont junior was sixth in team novice fences last season with a score of '75' but fell back to seventh place at the higher level in '10 despite a better judge's score of '79.'

Testing changed the final placing for all but two of the riders in the top six. Rachel Foster, a Stonehill College senior from Townsend, Massachusetts received a score of '83' prior to testing. Though this was the third best score at that time the additional jumps brought Foster back to sixth. Jessica Buck suffered a similar fate. A Delaware Valley College freshman from Harrisonburg, Virginia, Buck received an '84' for the second highest total but eventually earned the pink ribbon. O'Neill, a freshman from Windsor, Connecticut received a score of '82' which was good for fourth place both before and after the test. More importantly Mount Holyoke was on the board for the first time. Krecker had been sixth with a score of '81' prior to testing but turned out to be third when Marash made the announcements. Though this was big for the defending champs it was not enough to boost her in front of Jones. The Skidmore sophomore from the 50th state received an '81.5' (the only score in the division that was not a round number) and improved from fifth to second. Jones' second red ribbon in less than 17 hours moved Skidmore further into the lead. Hollins University reached double digits as Meredith McDonnell won the division. A sophomore from Culpepper, Virginia, McDonnell received an '86' score and her test did nothing to jepardise her chances of a blue ribbon. Hollins stayed alive mathematically with the win, something that could be said for only six of the 19 schools entered. Through six divisions it was Skidmore 25, Centenary 18, Findlay 13, Hollins 12, Stonehill 12, Kentucky 11, Cazenovia 9, Delaware Valley 7, Virginia Intermont 6, Stanford 6, West Texas A & M 4, Lafayette 3, Mount Holyoke 3, West Virginia 2, College of Charleston 1 and four others tied with 0.

Riders who reside in seven different states won team classes at 2010 Nationals, including Meredith McDonnell of Hollins University. Seen here holding the Russ Walther Sr. Trophy, the Culpepper, Virginia resident won team intermediate over fences to boost Hollins into double figures with 12 points.

Eight classes later in the afternoon came the penultimate hunter seat team class of 2010 Nationals, Team Walk-Trot Equitation. Save for the fact that riders did not have to pick up a canter the division was run much the way all the other flat classes had been up to that time. After everyone was done riding in walk-trot all 19 riders, nearly all of which were showing at IHSA Nationals for the first time, lined up against the rail inside the ring for Marash's placings. Tenth place went to Alisha Wielgozinski of Stonehill College while ninth went to Jane Rademacher of Truman State. Charles Saidel, a Cazenovia sophomore from Governor, New York took eighth place. The Wildcats could claim five top ten placings in seven tries but only two of which earned any team points. Seventh place was important in the team race, as Cecilia Culp of Skidmore earned this ribbon. This gave several teams a chance to gain ground at the eleventh hour. Rebecca Kaczmarek raised Virginia Intermont's total to seven points with a sixth. Beth Jonas of Centenary was fifth, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania resident increasing the Cyclone's total to 20. Sharon Percival, a College of Charleston junior coincidentally from the town of Charleston, South Carolina, moved the Cougars in front of three different teams with a fourth. Melissa Milligan, a Delaware Valley College junior from Holland, Pennsylvania raised the Aggies total to eleven points and a (technical) tie with Kentucky for fifth at the moment.

Yet one moment later the Aggies had company. Elise DeBuysser, a Stanford freshman from South Bend, Indiana was the Reserve Champion, giving the Cardinal eleven points overall. There was even more cheering for DeBuysser's second coming from the Findlay fans than from the Stanford faithful, this owing to the large number of Findlay riders and parents - both English and Western - now in the stands. Tracie Sidwell, a junior from Zanesville, Ohio became the second Oiler in two days to win a team class. Sidwell's effort put Findlay in a tie for second with Centenary at 20 points each. Both schools were the only ones left with a mathematical chance to catch Skidmore. All the Thoroughbreds needed were three points to lock up a title. Could they miss out on points in the final class while either Centenary or Findlay would win outright? Through seven team classes it was Skidmore 25, Centenary 20, Findlay 20, Hollins 12, Stonehill 12, Delaware Valley 11, Kentucky 11, Stanford 11, Cazenovia 9, Virginia Intermont 7, Charleston 4, West Texas A & M 4, Lafayette 3, Mount Holyoke 3, West Virginia 2 and four others 0.

Team Open Over Fences was the first class held at IHSA Nationals on Saturday, May 8th and the final hunter seat team class of the 2009-10 season. The division started at 8:37AM, with Miller of VI not only the first rider into the ring but also the one to earn the highest score prior to testing. Miller received a score of '90.' Third into the ring was Elizabeth Kigin of Skidmore. A senior from St. Paul, Minnesota who was one of eight riders in the division to coincidentaly compete for the Cacchione Cup (and one of four in the division who would compete in the Cacchione work-off phase immediately afterward), Kigin was very smooth and nearly equaled Miller, receiving a score of '89.' Many of the scores that followed were also into the 80's, with all ten riders to receive an '80' or higher placing in the ribbons. One of these ten was Lindsay Clark of Centenary College. A senior from New Paltz, New York, Clark was the big hero for the Cyclones on day three of 2009 Nationals, winning the team open fences to secure Centenary's first National Championship in 30 years and following it up with a Cacchione Cup Championship. This time around Clark looked good but received only an '85.' Testing would mean everything to where Skidmore and Centenary placed in the division, this provided Clark's '85' was good enough to qualify for the test.

2009 Ohio University graduate (and four-time Cacchione Cup Competitor) Kati Cibon was a spectator at 2010 IHSA Nationals. Her sister Ali (on right) was competing in her third Nationals and her first as a Cacchione qualifier. While Ali Cibon was only eighth in the Cacchione the junior from Bannockburn, Illinois won the eighth team class, open over fences, to lift her Kentucky Wildcat team to third place overall behind three schools.

Fly went sixteenth in the division and sadly for the Oilers received only a '50.' This assured Findlay would finish no higher than tied for second or lower than third. By the time all 19 rides were in the books Kigin was third behind Miller and Cibon, the latter of who received an '89.5.' Clark stood in eighth place, as seven riders earned scores between '90' and '85.5.' Would Clark be tested under the circumstances?

As it turned out only the top four were asked to return for further testing. This assured Skidmore of their first IHSA National Championship in eleven years and that Centenary and Findlay would tie for second. Following the test all 19 riders re-entered the ring and the placings were revealed. Tenth place went to Lindsay Maxwell of the University of the South, the senior from Atlanta, Georgia earning the Tigers' second tenth-place ribbon of the competition. Maxwell, who is not related to this writer, received a score of '80.' Katie Furches, a Hollins senior from the town of Oley, Pennsylvania who competed in every team and individual open class as well as the Cacchione Cup at 2010 IHSA Nationals, surprisingly earned her lone ribbon above the participation level at Lexington with a ninth. Furches, who received a score of '83' thus earned her best ribbon at an IHSA National show. Furches rode at two prior Nationals and was tenth in individual open on the flat in West Springfield, Massachusetts in 2007. Clark ended her legendary two-year run at Centenary (plus an additional year riding for Bridgewater College) with eighth place. Stonehill College senior Quinn Traendly ended her undergraduate era with a score of '85.5' and seventh place. Kathleen Simon, better known as 'K.C.' earned Stanford their third sixth place ribbon. From Palo Alto, California (one town over from the Stanford campus), Simon received a score of '86.' Crystal Threlfall, a College of Charleston junior from Ridgefield, Connecticut closed out the Cougars' scoring with an '87' and fifth place. This writer cannot recall any IHSA Nationals class over the previous decade where a combined judge's score of '87' came out to a ribbon below white prior to this one (though a open over fences class at the December 2002 Tournament of Champions did feature five scores in the '90's! - Editor).

Four riders remained in the ring (Sceats, Kigin, Cibon and Miller). Kigin actually dropped one place during testing, earning the white ribbon. Though this broke the Thoroughbreds' run of red ribbons there was little if any pouting as their total of 28 points made them a comfortable eight point winner over Centenary and Findlay. Kigin would even send the Thoroughbreds back to Saratoga Springs with a first in individual open on the flat later in the Day. Miller slipped from the top spot, receiving third to earn VI's top team ribbon at '10 Nationals and boost their total to eleven points. Sceats, who had received a score of '88' jumped up two places to become the Reserve Champion. A short time later Sceats would win the Cacchione Cup outright, becoming the third Mount Holyoke rider in program history to win that honor. Cibon, who was an intermediate rider into her sophomore year, moved up one placing to claim yet another blue ribbon at an IHSA Nationals event. Cibon's seven points easily put Kentucky ahead of three other teams that finished with 12 and behind only Skidmore, Centenary and Findlay overall. Though the Wildcats are probably not happy that they went from Champion in 2008 to Reserve Champion in 2009 and now technically third place in 2010 nearly every IHSA program save for a pair that were located in Zone 2 during the 2009-10 season would happily trade for their final numbers.

For the sixth time in program history and fifth under Head Coach Cindy Ford (on left), Skidmore College captured the Collegiate Cup. Cacchione presents Ford with the Cup after Skidmore bested both the University of Findlay and Centenary College by a 28-20 score on May 8th.

Following the Cacchione Cup work-off phase, the Cacchione Cup presentation, a schooling break, a western reining class and the final two individual hunter seat classes of the 2009-10 season (one an alumni division) it was time for the presentation of the hunter seat team ribbons. Because the IHSA does not break ties in team competitions at Nationals there were many schools which received top ten ribbons that would not have been so fortunate during the regular season. Lafayette College, which earned only three points and finished ahead of only five teams (four of which were shut out) received the tenth place ribbons. Ninth went to West Texas A & M while Charleston was eighth with six points. Mount Holyoke, still buzzing over Sceat's Cacchione victory, was seventh with a total of eight points. Cazenovia, unable to add to their early total of nine, still managed to earn sixth place all to themselves.

Then there were the ties. Virginia Intermont College and Delaware Valley College shared fifth place with eleven points each. Though Del Val perhaps has equaled or exceeded eleven points at a prior IHSA National show it is believed fifth place is their new 'best team ribbon' at Nationals. Hollins, Stanford and Stonehill can claim to have faired the best from their respective Zones at 2010 Nationals, with Hollins a point better than VI, Stonehill four points better than Mount Holyoke and Stanford 12 better than Oregon State (though Stanford won Zone 8 Zones, both Hollins and Stonehill had been bested by the schools they finished ahead of here while competing at Zones five weeks earlier). All three finished with 12 points and a share of fourth place. Kentucky earned 18 and the yellow ribbon while Findlay and Centenary shared the Reserve Champion red ribbons. The Oilers can now claim to have tied for Reserve honors at three of the past four IHSA National shows.

When the ribbons were awarded each school walked up to IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione and several other dignitaries while carrying their respective team banners. Cacchione and several others presented them with their respective ribbons. Finally it was Skidmore's turn. Head Coach Cindy Ford, Assistant Coach Belinda Colgan, Kigin, Campbell, Jones, Roberts, Kimura, McKeon and Walk-Trot rider Cecila Culp joined Cacchione and others in the middle of the arena as the Thoroughbreds received not only their ribbons but also the Collegiate Cup. After a few photos were taken of the winning team several Skidmore riders who competed in individual classes or were simply in attendance posed for additional photos. Out of over 350 schools the Thoroughbreds had won the grand prize. Perhaps there is something to winning big at Zones after all.

---Steve Maxwell

The 2010 IHSA Nationals Hunter Seat Team Class-by-Class Results. The first five classes listed were held Thursday, May 6th, the next two were held Friday, May 7th and the final class on Saturday, May 8th. The Judges for all 2010 IHSA Nationals hunter seat classes were Don Stewart and Susie Schoellkopf.

Team Novice Equitation Over Fences: 1. Julie Connors, Centenary College. 2. Laura Roberts, Skidmore College. 3. Tina Tramontozzi, Stonehill College. 4. Amy Barrett, University of Kentucky. 5. Sarah Gray, Cazenovia College. 6. Justine Thomas, Stanford University. 7. Casey Gilligan, Virginia Intermont College. 8. Sarah Jarosinski, Hollins University. 9. Jovanna Haddad, University of Findlay. 10. Morgan Squires, West Virginia University.

Team Novice Equitation On the Flat: 1. Kelsey Shanley, Cazenovia College. 2. Kathryn Gibson, Delaware Valley College. 3. Jessica Browne, University of Kentucky. 4. Chelsea Dressler, Virginia Intermont College. 5. Tyne Hovda, Hollins University. 6. Madeleine Sessions, Stanford University. 7. Jordan McMullen, Mount Holyoke College. 8. Amanda Brehm, Truman State University. 9. Mary Hanner, West Texas A & M University. 10. Hanae Kimura, Skidmore College.

Team Open Equitation On the Flat: 1. Mary Margaret Fly, University of Findlay. 2. Kelly Campbell, Skidmore College. 3. Ali Cibon, University of Kentucky. 4. Ashley Miller, Virginia Intermont College. 5. Miranda Cain, West Virginia University. 6. Danielle Miranda, Lafayette College. 7. Zoe Merritt, College of Charleston. 8. Sarah Scharf, Stanford University. 9. Terence Prunty, Delaware Valley College. 10. Lindsay Sceats, Mount Holyoke College.

Team Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation: 1. Nina Crossley, Stonehill College. 2. Isabella McKeon, Skidmore College. 3. Christa Forsberg, West Texas A & M University. 4. Christie Barnett, University of Findlay. 5. Erin Duggan, Lafayette College. 6. Caitlin Shipe, Hollins University. 7. Amanda Ross, Mount Holyoke College. 8. Brittany Callahan, Cazenovia College. 9. Danielle Witt, Truman State University. 10. Gracie Becker, University of the South.

Team Intermediate Equitation On the Flat: 1. Ali Krecker, Centenary College. 2. Chelsea Jones, Skidmore College. 3. Justine Thomas, Stanford University. 4. Phillip Flynn, University of Findlay. 5. Kristina Sprenkle, Hollins University. 6. McKenzie Armour, College of Charleston. 7. Kristin Lawrence, Delaware Valley College. 8. Kristin Small, Cazenovia College. 9. Emily Dolan, Stonehill College. 10. Liz Mirson, Virginia Intermont College.

Team Intermediate Equitation Over Fences: 1. Meredith McDonnell, Hollins University. 2. Chelsea Jones, Skidmore College. 3. Ali Krecker, Centenary College. 4. Allison O'Neill, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Jessica Buck, Delaware Valley College. 6. Rachel Foster, Stonehill College. 7. Amanda Shamer, Virginia Intermont College. 8. Natalie Baker, West Texas A & M University. 9. Michela Torchio, Lafayette College. 10. Phillip Flynn, University of Findlay.

Team Walk-Trot Equitation: 1. Tracie Sidwell, University of Findlay. 2. Elise DeBuysser, Stanford University. 3. Melissa Milligan, Delaware Valley College. 4. Sharon Percival, College of Charleston. 5. Beth Jonas, Centenary College 6. Rebecca Kaczmarek, Virginia Intermont College. 7. Cecilia Culp, Skidmore College. 8. Charles Saidel, Cazenovia College. 9. Jane Rademacher, Truman State University. 10. Alisha Wielgoszinski, Stonehill College.

Team Open Equitation Over Fences: 1. Ali Cibon, University of Kentucky. 2. Lindsay Sceats, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Ashley Miller, Virginia Intermont College. 4. Elizabeth Kigin, Skidmore College. 5. Crystal Threlfall, College of Charleston. 6. K.C. Simon, Stanford University. 7. Quinn Traendly, Stonehill College. 8. Lindsay Clark, Centenary College. 9. Katie Furches, Hollins University. 10. Lindsay Maxwell, University of the South.

2010 IHSA Nationals Hunter Seat Team Totals: