Brown University junior Lindsay Wong (on left) did not want to be in a picture by herself. So Brown freshman Amanda Picciotto joined her. Within 30 minutes Wong had won the first section of open fences while Picciotto would later place second in open flat. Brown went on to score 46 points to win the 16th annual Ivy League Invitational at River's Edge Farm in Bethany, Connecticut on April 22nd.

BEARS PREVAIL WITH 46 POINTS, CLAIM SECOND ALL-IVY CHAMPIONSHIP IN AS MANY YEARS

Bethany, CT - Considering that the Ivy League Invitational or All-Ivy's as they have become known have been around since April of 1997 it may surprise some that River's Edge Farm in Bethany, Connecticut is only the fifth location ever to host such an event. Yale and Columbia co-hosted all-ivy's at River's Edge on April 22nd, the second time either school had hosted or co-hosted the show which determines the Ivy League Champion. For the 2011-12 season that champion is Brown University. The Zone 1, Region 1 champions scored 46 points, one of the highest totals ever at an all-ivy show.

Excluding "Championship Classes" (which are unique to the all-ivy's) there were 18 undergraduate classes and Brown riders won eight of them (two classes did not include a single rider from the Providence, Rhode Island school). Hallee Foster, a freshman from Menlo Park, California won both her novice flat and intermediate fences to lead the way for the Bears. Lindsay Wong (junior, Sarasota, Florida) kicked off the day with a win in open fences while Jacqueline Lubrano (sophomore, Glenmoore, Pennsylvania) won the first section of open flat. Foster and Cara Rosenbaum (senior, Bedford, New York) made it a sweep with wins in both sections of intermediate fences. Eleanor Sharp was the first of two Rhode Island residents to receive a blue ribbon. From Saunderstown, Rhode Island Sharpe won novice fences. Freshman Hannah Estlund has the shortest commute. The Providence, Rhode Island resident lives at home and is within walking distance of the Brown campus. Estlund won advanced walk-trot-canter while Laura Kirk (sophomore, Needham, Massachusetts) won walk-trot to close out the Brown blue ribbon barage. Marissa Fuerst (senior, Atlanta, Georgia) was second in both of her novice classes.

The Mahoney sisters (Kate of Dartmouth College on the left and Elizabeth of Brown on the right) were not the only set of identical twins at the All-Ivy's on April 22nd. Later in the day Princeton's Gonzalez sisters would get into the act. While Elizabeth's best ribbon was a fifth in intermediate flat Kate won her open flat to earn one of two blue ribbons for the Big Green on this day.

Cornell University, which last won the all-ivy in 2009, was Reserve Champion for the third season in a row. Emily Kowalchik (junior, Loveland, Ohio) faired the best for the Big Red, earning a first in intermediate flat while placing second to Rosenbaum in intermediate fences. Alyx Cheng (sophomore, Summit, New Jersey) was the only Cornell rider to win over fences, earning the blue ribbon in the second class of the day which was open fences. Georgiana deRham (freshman, Bristol, Rhode Island) won the section of intermediate flat prior to Kowalchik. Grace Bradshaw (sophomore, Syracuse, New York) won the second of three sections of novice flat while Mary Beth Hannon (freshman, Danville, Pennsylvania) was a winner in advanced walk-trot-canter. The Big Red also earned six red ribbons, including one for Katie Rong in walk-trot. Cornell scored 38 points, a total they have reached or exceeded at each of the past four all-ivy competitions.

Dartmouth College was third with 28 points. Kate Mahoney (freshman, Bedford, New York), whose identical twin sister Elizabeth competes for Brown, won the second section of open flat for the Big Green. Gaby Sauza (junior, Atlanta, Georgia) won the traditional novice flat class and then won the novice championship class (made up of the top two riders from each of the three traditional sections of the division). Though she was second to deRham in the traditional section of intermediate flat, Alexa Dixon (freshman, Islamorada, Florida) won the intermediate flat championship class. Olivia Cameron earned many red ribbons for the Big Green, placing second in the traditional open flat and open fences divisions while also receiving a red ribbon for the second-best open fences score (there are no actual championship classes for the over fences divisions at all-ivy's, though the top six judge's scores are determined and championship ribbons are given to those riders).

Why does Chris Mitchell look so happy? Because Georgiana deRham (on right) won her intermediate flat to keep Cornell in the running for first place at the time. Coach Mitchell saw his Big Red finish second at the all-Ivy's for the third season in a row.

Co-host Columbia University had one of their best all-ivy showings in recent times, scoring 23 points without riders in either open division. Even more remarkably the Lions managed only one ribbon has high as second, when Madeline Pantalena was a red ribbon winner in advanced walk-trot-canter. What helped boost their total was that every Columbia rider save for Pantalena and one other earned either a third or a fourth. The Lions may have been kept out of the top two all but once but they were also shut out in the pink ribbon and green ribbon departments as well.

Co-Host Yale University scored 21 points without a rider in the intermediate flat division. Through the novice divisions Nadia Amhad's thirds in both open flat and intermediate fences led the way for the Bulldogs. However Charlotte Guertler (sophomore, Dover, Massachusetts) won the long section of beginner walk-trot-canter to provide Yale with their only blue ribbon of the day. A short time later Ayanna Watende was second in her walk-trot class for the Bulldog's only red ribbon.

Princeton University had a full point card but scored only 15 points. The Tigers earned only one point through the first four divisions, putting themselves in a hole early on. However Sara Gonzalez (freshman, Avon, Connecticut) won the second section of novice fences to follow up twin sister Erica's fourth in the first novice fences class. Sara added a third in novice flat while Dora Karagounis won her walk-trot class to earn seven of Princeton's 15 points. Karagounis, who made her Princeton debut at the 2010 all-Ivy's hosted by Dartmouth, was second to Kirk in the walk-trot championship class which ended the day.

The University of Pennsylvania did not have riders in the intermediate flat or walk-trot divisions. The Quakers finished the day with six points. Freshman Rachel Fleszar was third in open fences and as it turned out also the third-best in the two open fences classes combined (Wong, Cameron and Fleszar were apparently each better than Cheng, who won the second section yet was given the fourth-place championship class ribbon).

When she competed at 2010 all-Ivy's she was Theodora Karagounis. When Yale and Columbia co-hosted 2012 all-Ivy's she was listed in the program as simply 'Dora.' Karagounis (on left) faired better with the shorter first name, winning her walk-trot class to lift Princeton University (coached by Ashton Phillips, on right) into double figures 15 points.

Though the divisions are not held at every all-Ivy's there were alumni classes at today's event. Both alumni classes featured the same two riders, each of which is in graduate school on a different Ivy League campus. Though listed in the Program as a Princeton rider, Lauren Hickok actually graduated from Yale. Hickok won the alumni flat division while placing second over fences. Morgan Eisler was listed in the program as a Columbia rider she graduated from Skidmore College. Now in grad school in Northern New York City, Eisler won the alumni fences and finished second in alumni flat. Eisler is not the first alumni rider to have a non-Ivy League undergraduate degree to compete at all-Ivy's. That honor belongs to Princeton head coach Ashton Phillips, who graduated from Virginia Intermont College but has coached the Tigers since 2005 (Phillips did not compete in the alumni divisions on this day, perhaps a good thing as it allowed him to steward the show along with Brown head coach Michaela Scanlon and Cornell head coach Chris Mitchell).

Numbering system at all-Ivy's occasionally makes one see double: Save for Columbia's region (where numbers are drawn fresh at every show) each of the other six Ivy League schools with equestrian teams compete in regions where riders wear the same number at every show throughout the regular season and Regionals. At all-Ivy's these riders get to wear the same numbers they wore during the regular season. However occasionally there is a coincidence where a rider in one region will have the exact same number as a rider in another. This occurred during the second section of novice fences, when both Sara Gonzalez of Princeton and Morgan Taylor of Penn had number 132 on their backs. Apparently there had been plans to give one of the two a different number but things slipped through the cracks. There was a minor delay while the two '132's were clarified with Taylor eventually fourth and Gonzalez first.

What are the odds of two Canadian open riders needing re-rides in the same division and having to flip a coin to determine who drew who for the re-ride? One hundred percent!: Both Cornell senior Bronwyn Scrivens (senior, Spruce Grove, Alberta) and Princeton sophomore Adriana Hugessen (sophomore, Toronto, Ontario) had issues with horses during the second section of open flat. The stewards granted both re-rides which meant there would need to be a horse draw to determine who rides who. The decision was made to flip a coin rather than write down names and draw them out of a hat. After both Scrivens (who was IHSA Nationals-bound as the Zone 2, Region 1 Cacchione Cup rider, the first in Cornell program history) and Hugessen received their re-rides ironically neither faired well. Scrivens was sixth while Hugessen was out of the ribbons.

The Ivy's at Nationals: Less than two weeks later several riders from today's show were entered at IHSA Nationals in Raleigh, North Carolina May 3rd through 6th. Fleszar of the Quakers competed in individual open over fences but finished out the ribbons. deRahm was fifth in individual intermediate over fences while Scrivens just missed the top ten in the Cacchione Cup, earning a combined score that would have meant eleventh place had ribbons been awarded to all 36 riders entered in the division. Brown University faired very well, with Foster and Lubrano into the top ten on five occasions. Foster was fourth in team novice flat and fifth in team intermediate over fences while Lubrano kept getting better with each ride. She was out of the ribbons in individual open over fences, eighth in individual open on the flat, second in team open over fences and champion in team open on the flat. With Foster and Lubrano combining to earn 17 team points the Bears finished third out of 16 teams entered. This was the second time Brown has finished as high as third in the IHSA Nationals hunter seat team competition, having also accomplished the feat in 2002.

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Cloudy skies, with light rain turning to heavy rain in the afternoon. Temperatures in the upper '40's. Start time: 9:13AM. Finish: 2:54PM. Coaches and Captains meeting held very quickly in the middle of the day. Judge: Ann Jamison. Stewards: Scanlon/Brown University, Mitchell/Cornell University and Phillips/Princeton University.

The Class-by-Class results of the 2012 All-Ivy League Championship Horse Show, co-hosted by Yale University and and Columbia University, which was held at River's Edge Farm in Bethany, Connecticut on April 22nd, 2012. Only members of the eight Ivy League Schools were eligible to participate. Points earned in the regular classes and not the Championship classes counted toward the final team totals.

Open Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Lindsay Wong, Brown University. 2. Olivia Cameron, Dartmouth College. 3. Bronwyn Scrivens, Cornell University. 4. Faye Keegan, Dartmouth College. 5. Rebecca McGoldrick, Brown University. 6. Katie Fink, Cornell University. 7. Adriana Hugessen, Princeton University.

Open Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Alyx Cheng, Cornell University. 2. Janna Wandzilak, Dartmouth College. 3. Jacqueline Lubrano, Brown University. 4. Kate Mahoney, Dartmouth College. 5. Allison Dungey, Brown University. 6. Caroline Rusk, Cornell University. 7. Rachel Fleszar, University of Pennsylvania.

Open Equitation Over Fences Championship Class: 1. Lindsay Wong, Brown University. 2. Olivia Cameron, Dartmouth College. 3. Bronwyn Scrivens, Cornell University. 4. Alyx Cheng, Cornell University. 5. Janna Wandzilak, Dartmouth College. 6. Jacqueline Lubrano, Brown University.

Open Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Jacqueline Lubrano, Brown University. 2. Olivia Cameron, Dartmouth College. 3. Rachel Fleszar, University of Pennsylvania. 4. Emily Webster, Cornell University. 5. Faye Keegan, Dartmouth College. 6. Lindsay Wong, Brown University. 7. Alizee Touchot, Cornell University.

Open Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Kate Mahoney, Dartmouth College. 2. Amanda Picciotto, Brown University. 3. Nadia Ahmad, Yale University. 4. Rebecca McGoldrick, Brown University. 5. Katie Fink, Cornell University. 6. Bronwyn Scrivens, Cornell University. 7. Cara Rosenbaum, Brown University.

Open Equitation On The Flat Championship Class: 1. Amanda Picciotto, Brown University. 2. Kate Mahoney, Dartmouth College. 3. Rachel Fleszar, University of Pennsylvania. 4. Jacqueline Lubrano, Brown University. 5. Olivia Cameron, Dartmouth College. 6. Nadia Ahmad, Yale University.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Cara Rosenbaum, Brown University. 2. Emily Kowalchik, Cornell University. 3. Nadia Ahmad, Yale University. 4. Alexa Dixon, Dartmouth College. 5. Anna Baker, Brown University. 6. Morgan Curtis, Dartmouth College.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Hallee Foster, Brown University. 2. Sofia Steinberger, Cornell University. 3. Julie Ahn, Columbia University. 4. Isa Francisco, Dartmouth College. 5. Melissa Kenny, Cornell University. 6. Alison Lee, University of Pennsylvania.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences Championship Class: 1. Hallee Foster, Brown University. 2. Cara Rosenbaum, Brown University. 3. Emily Kowalchik, Cornell University. 4. Sofia Steinberger, Cornell University. 5. Julie Ahn, Columbia University. 6. Isa Francisco, Dartmouth College.

Intermediate Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Georgina deRham, Cornell University. 2. Alexa Dixon, Dartmouth College. 3. Caroline Rusk, Cornell University. 4. Allison Dungey, Brown University. 5. Elizabeth Mahoney, Brown University. 6. Sophie Tyack, Princeton University.

Intermediate Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Emily Kowalchik, Cornell University. 2. Janna Wandzilak, Dartmouth College. 3. Eleanor Sharpe, Brown University. 4. Julie Ahn, Columbia University. 5. Anna Baker, Brown University.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences Championship Class: 1. Alexa Dixon, Dartmouth College. 2. Caroline Rusk, Cornell University. 3. Emily Kowalchik, Cornell University. 4. Janna Wandzilak, Dartmouth College. 5. Georgina deRham, Cornell University. 6. Eleanor Sharpe, Brown University.

Alumni Equitation Over Fences: 1. Morgan Eisler, Skidmore College (but going to graduate school at Columbia). 2. Lauren Hickok, Yale University (in graduate school at Princeton).

Novice Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Eleanor Sharpe, Brown University. 2. Maddie Breen, Cornell University. 3. Linda Crowley, Columbia University. 4. Erica Gonzalez, Princeton University. 5. Mackenzie Merkel, Yale University.

Novice Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Sara Gonzalez, Princeton University. 2. Marissa Fuerst, Brown University. 3. Edwina Kolomanski, Columbia University. 4. Morgan Taylor, University of Pennsylvania. 5. Amanda Sevcik, Cornell University. 6. Emily Estelle, Dartmouth College.

Novice Equitation Over Fences Championship Class: 1. Eleanor Sharpe, Brown University. 2. Maddie Breen, Cornell University. 3. Linda Crowley, Columbia University. 4. Erica Gonzalez, Princeton University. 5. Sara Gonzalez, Princeton University.

Alumni Equitation On The Flat: 1. Lauren Hickok, Yale University (but in graduate school at Princeton). 2. Morgan Eisler, Skidmore College (but in graduate school at Columbia).

Novice Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Hallee Foster, Brown University. 2. Erica Hooker, Cornell University. 3. Morgan Curtis, Dartmouth College. 4. Linda Crowley, Columbia University. 5. Lisa Erwin, University of Pennsylvania. 6. Mackenzie Merkel, Yale University.

Novice Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Grace Bradshaw, Cornell University. 2. Marissa Fuerst, Brown University. 3. Sara Gonzalez, Princeton University. 4. Edwina Kolomanski, Columbia University. 5. Maya Johnson, Dartmouth College. 6. Natalie Colaneri, Dartmouth College. 7. Rachel Ruden, Cornell University.

Novice Equitation On The Flat, Section C: 1. Gaby Sauza, Dartmouth College. 2. Nazanin Behzad, Cornell University. 3. Natalie Sikorski, Columbia University. 4. Andrea Martinez, University of Pennsylvania. 5. Morgan Taylor, University of Pennsylvania. 6. Erica Gonzalez, Princeton University.

Novice Equitation On The Flat Championship Class: 1. Gaby Sauza, Dartmouth College. 2. Erica Hooker, Cornell University. 3. Nazanin Behzad, Cornell University. 4. Hallee Foster, Brown University. 5. Marissa Fuerst, Brown University. 6. Grace Bradshaw, Cornell University.

Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Hannah Estlund, Brown University. 2. Madeline Pantalena, Columbia University. 3. Rochelle Brown, Dartmouth College. 4. Zofia Hilton, Cornell University. 5. Sunny Shen, University of Pennsylvania. 6. Catherine Padhi, Yale University.

Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Mary Beth Hannon, Cornell University. 2. Sarah Gonzalez, Brown University. 3. Renee Botelho, Cornell University. 4. Tasha Bock, Dartmouth College. 5. Caresse Yan, Princeton University. 6. Becca Trietch, Yale University. 7. Jeannette Sharpless, Columbia University.

Beginner Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat: 1. Charlotte Guertler, Yale University. 2. Sarah Arn, Yale University. 3. Dawn Wang, Princeton University. 4. Charmaine Tan, Cornell University. 6. Morgan Johnson, Brown University.

Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat Championship Class (Riders from both Beginner and Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter are eligible to compete): 1. Hannah Estlund, Brown University. 2. Mary Beth Hannon, Cornell University. 3. Sarah Gonzalez, Brown University. 4. Madeline Pantalena, Columbia University. 5. Sarah Arn, Yale University. 6. Charlotte Guertler, Yale University.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Laura Kirk, Brown University. 2. Ayanna Watende, Yale University. 3. Hyun Ji Lee, Yale University. 4. Madeline Hirshan, Columbia University. 5. Amanda Duchesne, Dartmouth College.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Dora Karagounis, Princeton University. 2. Katie Rong, Cornell University. 3. Courtnie Crutchfield, Dartmouth College. 4. Alexandra Krause, Yale University.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat Championship Class: 1. Laura Kirk, Brown University. 2. Dora Karagounis, Princeton University. 3. Katie Rong, Cornell University. 4. Ayanna Watende, Yale University. 5. Hyun Ji Lee, Yale University. 6. Courtnie Crutchfield, Dartmouth College.

Team Totals: Brown University (2012 All-Ivy Champion) 46; Cornell University (Reserve) 38; Dartmouth College 28; Columbia University 23; Yale University 21, Princeton University 15 and the University of Pennsylvania 6.