Goucher College junior Karli Postel holds "Anne Sullivan" while teammate Addie Jabin (on right) makes sure everyone behaves for the photo. After riding Anne Sullivan to victory in open flat on March 31st Postel became the 36th and final rider into the 2012 IHSA Nationals Cacchione Cup Competition which determines the IHSA's top hunter seat individual rider for the current season.

THE 2012 IHSA NATIONALS CACCHIONE QUALIFIERS

With the addition of Goucher College's Karli Postel the field for the 2012 Cacchione Cup Competition is complete.

Though the field contains at least two freshman (Lauren Powers of Penn State and Rebekah Scharfe of Lafayette are class of '15 at their respective schools) once again seniors lead the way with at least 17 entered. Ten of these 17 seniors are competing for the Cacchione Cup for the first (and likely only) time. 34 are female and two male. Last season the only male in the division, Rob Jacobs of what was then St. Andrews Presbyterian College, finished third overall. This may bode well for Allan Hunter of the University of the South and Ben Miller of Western Michigan University, the latter of whom competed for the cup two seasons ago.

Named for Mario "Marty" Cacchione, whose son Bob founded the IHSA in 1967 and still runs the organization to this day, the Cacchione Cup is presented every season at IHSA Nationals to the top hunter seat open rider. Every open rider who finishes the regular season with the most combined flat and fences points within their region advances directly to IHSA Nationals to compete for the cup (save for when there is a tie at the end of the regular season and a ride-off at Regionals is necessary to break it). Each of the 36 riders who qualify will take part in the jumping phase of the Cacchione (usually during the Friday session, which would be May 4th this year). The top 24 will then compete in one of two flat classes. The judges then have the option to hold a work-off (usually during the Saturday session; This would likely be on May 5th). The number of riders called back for the work off phase varies. Last season when Jacobs was third he was one of only three riders who survived both the flat and fences phases. Usually the number is higher than this, with 12 riders once selected (this since the current Cacchione format went into effect in 2003). The winner will join the ranks of Beezie Patton, Peter Wylde and James Fairclough II as having won the Cacchione Cup, or as some have said 'they can claim to be the best of the best for that season.'

--Steve Maxwell

The 2012 IHSA Nationals Cacchione Cup qualifiers through March 18th, each of whom will compete for the USEF Cacchione Cup May 3rd through 6th in Raleigh, North Carolina. An asterisk * denotes a rider who competed for the Cacchione Cup at 2011 Nationals. Two asterisks ** denotes a rider who competed for the Cup at a prior IHSA Nationals show but not in 2011:

ZONE 1, REGION 1: Lyndsey Burns, Roger Williams University

ZONE 1, REGION 2: Lauren Horth, Endicott College

ZONE 1, REGION 3: Margaret Swanson, Mount Holyoke College

ZONE 1, REGION 4: Casey Lorusso, Stonehill College

ZONE 2, REGION 1: Bronwyn Scrivens, Cornell University

ZONE 2, REGION 2: Brandy Carpenter, Cazenovia College

ZONE 2, REGION 3: Kelly Campbell, Skidmore College

ZONE 2, REGION 4: Kristen Zimmermann, C.W. Post College

ZONE 2, REGION 5: Brittany Johnson, University of Connecticut *

ZONE 3, REGION 1: Lauren Powers, Penn State University

ZONE 3, REGION 2: Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College *

ZONE 3, REGION 3: Cori Reich, Centenary College

ZONE 3, REGION 4: Rebekah Scharfe, Lafayette College

ZONE 4, REGION 1: Karli Postel, Goucher College

ZONE 4, REGION 2: Tamara Morse, Washington & Lee University *

ZONE 4, REGION 3: Katie Hansen, St. Andrews University

ZONE 4, REGION 4: Katie LaDow, University of Delaware

ZONE 5, REGION 1: Allan Palmer, University of the South

ZONE 5, REGION 2: Catherine Billings, Converse College

ZONE 5, REGION 3: Kels Bonham, Savannah College of Art & Design **

ZONE 5, REGION 4: Lauren Fay, Virginia Intermont College

ZONE 6, REGION 1: K.T. Steward, University of Findlay

ZONE 6, REGION 2: Jamie Donovan, Miami University of Ohio

ZONE 6, REGION 3: Lauren Patterson, University of Kentucky

ZONE 6, REGION 4: Ben Miller, Western Michigan University **

ZONE 6, REGION 5: Alexandra Kemp-Thompson, Seton Hill University

ZONE 7, REGION 1: Whitney Mahloch, St. Mary of the Woods College *

ZONE 7, REGION 2: Amy Mitchem, West Texas A & M University

ZONE 7, REGION 3: Emily Walker, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

ZONE 7, REGION 4: Katie Walsh, University of Notre Dame/St. Mary's College (IN) *

ZONE 7, REGION 5: Rori Fiebert, Washington University in St. Louis *

ZONE 8, REGION 1: Claire Margolis, Stanford University

ZONE 8, REGION 2: Camille Pease, University of California at Los Angeles *

ZONE 8, REGION 3: Amanda Gelderman, University of Montana Western *

ZONE 8, REGION 4: Abbie Zanone, Oregon State University *

ZONE 8, REGION 5: Kaley Silipo, University of Colorado at Boulder