|
||||||
|
IHSA WEEK 7: WILL 2007-08 BE THE MOST WIDE-OPEN SEASON IN AGES? Before we take a look back at last weekend and a look at the first November competitions it should be noted that there are 10 IHSA Western Shows this Saturday (and that is counting double-western shows, or two in one day, as only one show) and only seven hunter seat. This is the first time since 2005 that Western has outnumbered English on any specific day with more than a combined five IHSA shows nationwide. This is important as some feared the lack of several powerful western teams that went NCAA/Varsity-only would corrupt the process of scheduling and fulfilling IHSA western show dates in several parts of the country. We are happy to report that western is alive and presumed well. We even discovered that Zone 2, Region 1 is in fact holding western shows this season, with traditional hunter seat power Centenary College leading a field of four teams through a pair of shows. The Centenary hunter seat team is also off to a strong start. The Cyclones won both shows held over the October 27th/28th weekend, and are undefeated through four shows. Centenary joins Virginia Intermont College, the University of Findlay, Brown University and West Virginia University as hunter seat programs who have either won each show or tied for high point through October 2007, at least that we know of! West Virginia in fact set a school record on the 21st with 47 points and now lead second place Seton Hill College in Zone 3, Region 3 by 49 points. The Mountaineers are on a pace to more than double whoever finishes third in their region. A week after West Virginia scored 47 Dartmouth College did exactly the same, and it too was a school record. IHSA National Steward Sally Batton has the Big Green in first place through three Zone 1, Region 2 shows, though host Mount Ida College stayed close on the 28th with 41 points and only trails by four overall. The University of Vermont, with half their roster made up of newcommers, is 17 behind Dartmouth. Brown University had won each of the first three Zone 1, Region 1 shows outright. On October 27th the Bears earned only a share of first place, as Post University tied Brown with 35 points each. This might be the first time in program history that Post has earned a share of first place at an IHSA show (the school was known as Teikyo Post University for over a decade prior to their name change in 2005). The University of Findlay won at Otterbein on the 27th, raising the Oilers record to three-and-0. Points from this region have yet to reach us, so we can only guess the margin of victory. One thing is for sure: The Oilers lead by at least three points! We finally do have the points from the first three Zone 6, Region 4 shows and it looks as though the University of Michigan is making a statement. The Wolverines won for the second time in a row, a 42-35 win over host Grand Valley State. Michigan has scored 35, 35 and 42 to take a 112-94 lead over both GVSU and Albion College. The Wolverines host the last Region 4 hunter seat shows of the calendar year this weekend. Virginia Intermont College won for the third time in as many tries. The Cobras once again were narrow winners over St. Andrews Presbyterian College, which now trails by 15. After VI won their third National Championship in four seasons this past May, one IHSA coach said Cobras Head Coach Eddie Federwisch is going after Russ Walther's record, referring to the Southern Seminary Head Coach in the early-to-mid 1980's who won five titles in six years. All this may make things sound like most races are already lop-sided, but just you wait... Goucher may have been a day late (their show was postponned from Saturday the 27th to Sunday the 28th due to heavy rain) but not a dollar short. The Gophers won to tie for first place at the moment with Mary Washington within Zone 4, Region 1. The team race in this region has gone down to the final show essentially every season but one this decade. Boston University shook off an awful season-opener to win on the 21st with 38 points. However defending Zone 1, Region 4 champion Stonehill College was the biggest winner. Though the Skyhawks were a point back with 37 their combined points from the first two shows have them in first place, three points ahead of Tufts, which hosted and won the Region 4 season opener. Host Maryville College was the biggest winner in a pair of Zone 5, Region 1 shows on the 27th and 28th, raising their team point total 60 points. However the University of the South is still in first, seven ahead of Vanderbilt and 22 ahead of surprising Murray State. Maryville is now 24 points off the lead. The Tigers usually win this region going away, save for 2005-06, when they were chasing Maryville and two others most of the season. Expect Vanderbilt to stay close to the school often referred to simply as Sewanee. We don't have the details yet, but the University of Delaware won their Zone 3, Region 2 show on the 27th, likely cutting into Delaware Valley College's six-point lead. Could the Fighting Hens have even taken over first place? Mount Holyoke College was up 110-98 on the University of Massachusetts headed into a Zone 1, Region 3 show at the Mount Holyoke Equestrian Center on October 27th. It would be one thing for UMass to shave a point or two off the lead by upseting the Lyons in their own building, but something far less believible happenned. UMass won with 38 points, while Becker College was reserve with 30. You may have read how the Becker program has made strides over the past three years, and it is true the Hawks are now at 127 points, which is only nine from first place. However the shocker is that Hampshire College was third with 28 points. Though first-year Head Coach Mara Keith Hunter did not have a full card Hampshire managed to score four more than Mount Holyoke! The host Lyons were fourth with 24 points and now find themselves in second place going into November for the first time in eight years. Having seen this region compete at Becker earlier this season, and having seen Mount Holyoke win at the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions on September 22nd, this writer cannot fathom what could have happenned for the Lyons to score so low at their own show. One can only guess that many Lyon riders blocked their own people, and the pointed riders on Hampshire, Becker and UMass came through. UMass holds a narrow 136-134 edge over Mount Holyoke, with the next Region 3 show not until November 10th at Amherst, a show which Mount Holyoke has won or tied for high point every year since 2002. Though some might see a cause for alarm remember Mount Holyoke Head Coach C.J. Law has seen it all and prevailed in it. In 1997-98 Mount Holyoke won their region by 97 points. A year later with many of the same riders, UMass had a ten-point lead going into the final 1998-99 show at Smith only to lose the region to the Lyons (this show is also remembered for perhaps the greatest Cacchione comeback, when the Lyon's Wynatte Chu overcame an 11-point deficit to Amherst's Annie Reinish - who managed only a fifth to Chu's two blue ribbons - to represent the Region at Cazenovia for 1999 IHSA Nationals). UMass had a big lead at the break in 1999-2000 only to see the Lyons go younger in the Spring and not only win the region but capture the second of their three National Championships. And C.J. Law has even seen UMass Win their region three years in a row in the mid-1990's. Anything is possible, and the top three in this region (and four through seven) are all good teams. Perhaps Becker can win the next show by ten and have first place all to themselves through the holiday season! And what is on the schedule this week? College of Charleston, Savannah College of Art & Design and the University of Florida travel to separate Zone 5, Region 3 shows each day with first place overall up for grabs. Stanford will try to stay unbeaten in Zone 8, Region 1. Their Red Barn Equestrian Center should be a huge home field advantage but then look what happenned at Mount Holyoke! All of Zone 3 competes hunter seat, with Lafayette trying to stay in first place further into the season than ever before in Region 4 on Saturday while Penn State and West Virginia in Regions 1 and 3 respectively will try to move even further ahead in one-sided races on Sunday. Region 2 is Delaware versus Delaware Valley, but don't count out West Chester, only eight behind Delaware Valley before the last show. Both Bridgewater College (Zone 4, Region 2 on Saturday) and Bridgewater State College (Zone 1, Region 4 on Sunday) host hotly-contested team races. We told you about Stonehill and Tufts in Region 4 but we left out that UMass at Dartmouth is five out while Endicott College is only nine points off the lead. We really are unsure of what is going on in Zone 4, Region 2 though Hollins had the lead going into their own show on the 20th which the University of Virginia won. If you see the team points posted in Central Virginia please let us know what they say at the end of the day. Zone 2, Region 4 holds their sixth show in seven weekends. Can New York University keep qualifying two-to-three riders for Regionals each week and still be in a position to win the region come spring? And one day we will really talk about western, more so that simply telling readers that Zone 7, Region 1, Zone 4, Region 3 and Zone 6, Region 3 begin their western seasons this weekend. It will be interesting to see how Findlay performs in their first competition since slamming the entire field at 2007 Nationals. Can Miami of Ohio, themselves a region winner last season before the Zone 6 realignment, hold the Oilers under 38 points? Miami is the host, so you might get your money's worth! Enjoy the shows, and if this is the correct weekend, remember to set your clock back one hour on Sunday morning. ---Steve Maxwell
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
HOME
| CONTACT US |
||||||
Zone 4,
Region 3 St. Andrews Presbyterian College (Host) at St. Andrews
Equestrian Center, Laurinburg, NC 5:00PM WESTERN ONLY
Zone 3,
Region 4 Rutgers University (Host) at Briarwood
Farm, Readington, NJ 8:30AM ENGLISH ONLY