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YOUR YEARLY LIST OF IHSA ALUMNI REPS One thing that sets the IHSA apart from other college sports organizations is the alumni divisions. In no other sport can someone graduate and come back to compete in game competition with something on the line such as an individual or team national championship. We should all be grateful to the late Hugh Cassidy, a 1970 Stony Brook University graduate who had this unusual idea of a class which allowed riders who had received their diplomas the opportunity to compete in a class at IHSA shows. When Cassidy came up with the idea in 1970 the IHSA was only three-plus years old and was made up of one big region barely extending beyond the New York Metropolitan area. At that time adding one class (a flat class) in which riders who had shown in the IHSA as undergraduates could ride at the novice level seemed like a novelty. Little did everyone know that the IHSA would grow to over 8,600 hundred riders by the time the organization turned 45. And little did everyone know that the alumni divisions would still be around 30 years after their inception. Better than 20 of the IHSA's 36 regions will offer alumni divisions of some kind in 2011-12. Already at least one region which did not have hunter seat alumni classes in 2010-11 has them once again. Zone 3, Region 3, which in actuality is the original IHSA region (Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione competed for Fairleigh Dickinson University against several of the schools still showing in Region 3 today) held their first hunter seat alumni classes in two seasons on October 2nd. It was only fitting that Zone 3, Region 3 alumni rep Rachel Denning won both classes. Denning went to Drew University, and not only is the 2011 Drew graduate the third consecutive Drew alumni to serve as the region's alumni rep the IHSA's National Alumni Director is Drew Head Coach Karen Sykes, who coached every one of the Drew riders who went on to become alumni reps. Depending on the region the IHSA offers four alumni divisions: Alumni on the flat, Alumni over fences, Alumni Western Horsemanship and Alumni Reining. The two hunter seat alumni divisions are usually judged at the novice level, though in some cases the alumni will request the intermediate level as all the entries competed at that level or higher as undergraduates. Alumni Western Horsemanship is usually judged at the novice level, while Alumni Reining should be judged at the open level.
While undergraduates must ride in the region in which the team they intend to graduate from is located, alumni have a little more freedom to decide where they wish to compete. An alumni can move to another part of the country and sign up to compete in their new surroundings. If a rider who graduated from Virginia Intermont College moves to the Washington, DC or New York Metropolitan area (or came from that area before going off to college) they can sign up to show alumni in these areas. Sometimes several regions offer alumni in close proximity to one another. No better example exists than to site the number of Regions which use Briarwood Farm in Readington, New Jersey for their shows. All four regions within Zone 3 will host at least one fall 2011 show at Briarwood, and each offers hunter seat alumni. However once you start the season riding alumni in a specific region you cannot switch to another (unless you move a great distance, in which case some exceptions are made). If someone starts out in Zone 3, Region 2 they cannot ride there one weekend and then enter a Zone 4, Region 4 show a few miles to the south. This rider would be bound to Zone 3, Region 2 for the entire 2011-12 regular season, just like the undergraduates who go to school there. But until they decide on a region there is flexibility to survey the neigboring geographic area. Once someone decides which region they wish to ride in the next step is to contact that region's alumni rep. The official IHSA web site, IHSAinc.com lists these reps as does Campus Equestrian at the end of this story. The rep will explain how to register on the IHSA web site (there are specific guidelines involving timeliness in getting monies and paperwork to the IHSA prior to competing in a show. Alumni should be able to indicate when they competed within the IHSA as an undergraduate as the alumni divisions are only open to those who actually competed in at least one IHSA show while in college). Then when the show date arrives the alumni rider travels to the competition and shows. Like open riders an alumni rider needs to reach 28 points in one of the four divisions to qualify for Regionals in that division. The earlier one signs up to compete the more opportunities to earn points towards Regionals exist. ---Steve Maxwell The following is a list of the current IHSA Alumni Reps by Region (only Regions currently offering alumni classes are listed; An asterisk * indicates the region is hunter seat only at this time. During the 2011-12 season some regions which normally offer English and Western to undergraduates may not offer both to alumni. Please check with the rep in your area for more information). In most cases Alumni Reps have been elected to the position in each IHSA region (a very small number are appointed the position when less than two candidates for the honor exist). Two regions listed below may hold alumni classes but as of 11/13/11 we were unaware of a specific rep who had been elected in these regions (nor had any alumni classes been held so far this season in these locations). On these occasions the Region President's contact information is included instead: ZONE 1, REGION 1*: Nikki Layne - nicole.layne@becker.edu ZONE 1, REGION 3: Elizabeth Jacobson - ejacobso@smith.edu AND elizabethrjacobson@gmail.com ZONE 1, REGION 4*: Cecilia Pontoriero - cdpontoriero@gmail.com ZONE 2, REGION 1: No Rep at the moment - Contact Chris Mitchell at cpm25@cornell.edu ZONE 2, REGION 2: Alicia Fereday - theshilands@gmail.com ZONE 2, REGION 3: Angela Netoskie - asncdhjc@nycap.rr.com ZONE 2, REGION 4: Jess Nichols - jn2106@gmail.com ZONE 2, REGION 5: Amy Kriwitsky - amy.kriwitsky@gmail.com ZONE 3, REGION 1: Kristi Jacobsen - kej001@lvc.edu ZONE 3, REGION 2: Samantha Cronce - samanthacronce@gmail.com ZONE 3, REGION 3: Rachel Denning - rachelad89@gmail.com ZONE 3, REGION 4: Lena Andrews-Licata - Lena.Licata@yahoo.com ZONE 4, REGION 1*: Kristen Marley - z4.r1.IHSA.alumni@gmail.com ZONE 4, REGION 4: Jamie Windle - orangeUBU@aol.com ZONE 5, REGION 1: Marianne England - wubbie3me@yahoo.com ZONE 5, REGION 2: Samantha Gunnison - samgunnison@gmail.com ZONE 5, REGION 4: Samantha Erwin - samantha.erwin@gmail.com ZONE 6, REGION 2: Melanie Baker - baker.756@osu.edu ZONE 6, REGION 3: Megan Carter - mecarter3@gmail.com ZONE 6, REGION 5: Sarah Wells - trolleybelle@yahoo.com ZONE 7, REGION 1: Deborah Shahadey - deb@firstlovefarms.com ZONE 7, REGION 2: Misty Hobbs - dothetruffleshuffle@gmail.com ZONE 7, REGION 3: No Rep at the moment - Contact Nicky Overgaard at novergaa@crk.umn.edu ZONE 7, REGION 4: Kelley Douglas Mallery - kelleyduck@gmail.com ZONE 7, REGION 5: Emily Costello - ecostello@truman.edu ZONE 8, REGION 2: Hailey Quirk - haileyquirk@gmail.com ZONE 8, REGION 3: Meghan Sederholm - horsesgalore84@yahoo.com ZONE 8, REGION 5: Kristina Harkin - harkin@colorado.edu
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