Jessica May (left) of Virginia Intermont College finished second to Sarah Wooley (right) of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the intermediate fences division at the December 3rd Tournament of Champions show. It was the third Tournament of Champions show in a row that Wooley was a winner over fences. May would earn two of six red ribbons for Virginia Intermont, a one-point winner over Cornell for the day.

VIRGINIA INTERMONT WINS DECEMBER TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS SHOW FOR THE THIRD SEASON IN A ROW

Cazanovia, NY - They won at Centenary in December 2004. They won at Saint Andrews in 2005. And in 2006, they rode six red ribbons to yet another mid-season or Holiday Tournament of Champions show victory. They are Virginia Intermont College, the high point college in a field of 21 teams from around the country at the most recent Tournament of Champions show on December 3rd.

The latest tournament victory for VI did not come easy, as their lone blue ribbon of the day won by advanced walk-trot-canter rider Jennifer Kelly in the final class gave them a 37-36 edge over a Cornell team that was red-hot after the jumps were removed. Two firsts, two seconds and a third brought Cornell 28 points in the flat divisions, giving the Big Red their highest placing at a Tournament of Champions show in program history.

For the second time this season a Tourament of Champions show included a Medal Class. Really made up of four separate sections of equitation on the flat followed by sixteen riders getting a callback to jump and six more being tested, the Medal division was an option for both undergraduates and alumni to compete for an award given in lieu of a high point rider ribbon. Though 19 schools had full teams at today's show (two schools had two separate teams entered), riders in the Medal division could be from any IHSA school, regardless of if their full team was in attendance.

The field of 32 riders included five alumni, three riders currently leading the Cacchione/Open Rider Standings in their respective regions and two former Cacchione Cup winners, including Laena Romond of Mount Holyoke, who had not competed in an IHSA show since winning the Cup as a freshman when IHSA Nationals ironically enought took place at Cazenovia in 2002. Could Romond win again at the Cazenovia Equine Center?

From East Hartford, Connecticut, Jesse Vannucci briefly put host Cazenovia College in front with a first in open fences to start the day. Cazenovia actually had two teams competing. One was a 'Gold' team while the other was a 'Blue' team, the latter of which Vannucci competed for and which finished fourth overall with 26 points.

Excluding the Medal division (of which the flat heats were mixed in between the traditional team jumping classes) two sections of each division were held, with ten or eleven riders in each. Jesse Vannucci of host Cazenovia won section A of the open fences to earn the first of two Wildcat blue ribbons at today's show. Vannucci would also compete in the Medal division, and would place seventh overall. Brittany Denton of Virginia Intermont was second in open fences, but she too would compete in the Medal class, coming in two places higher than Vannucci with the pink fifth place ribbon. Section B went to 2005 Cacchione Cup winner Ashley Woodhouse. The Skidmore senior would somewhat surprisingly miss out on the jumping phase of the Medal division but would finish fifth in open flat a few hours later. Woodhouse's first temporarily moved Skidmore into a tie with Cazenovia while the University of Georgia's Lizzie Williams gave the Bulldogs a red ribbon and a tie for the moment with Virginia Intermont. Georgia senior Williams was one of several riders making a sort of homecoming, as she is from nearby Pittsford, New York.

The third class kept at least one streak intact: No rider from outside of Zone 2 could claim to have won a blue ribbon. Centenary College sophomore Nora Christ put the Cyclones on the board with a first in intermediate fences. The blue ribbon meant that one team in Regions 1, 2 and 3 from Zone 2 could each claim a first place ribbon thus far. Courtney Clark of Skidmore was second, giving the well-named Thoroughbreds the lead at this early stage. With no school from Region 4 of Zone 2 fielding a team at this particular T of C show, it was time for another Zone to be represented at the top. Sarah Wooley, a senior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina gave the University of North Carolina at Charlotte the first of two blue ribbons on this day with a first in the second section of intermediate fences. Riders from Zone 4 schools took the top three places in this section, as Virginia Intermont's Jessica May was second while Goucher College's Julie Fink was third. May was one of a small number of current intermediate riders to compete in the Medal classes, eventually placing fourth overall. Wooley has proven to be one of best over fences riders ever when it comes to Tournament of Champions shows. Her T of C debut last December resulted in a first in novice fences while her second appearance delivered a blue over the intermediate jumps at Hollins in the pre-season tourney this September.

The first of two novice fences class would mark the only time at today's show that one of the five Zone 3 schools in attendance would win a blue ribbon. Devan McNamara, a Delaware Valley College sophomore from Setauket, New York won the section, creating an interesting inter-region battle between the Aggies and Zone 3, Region 2 rival team University of Delaware. McNamara's first gave Delaware Valley their first points of the day and a 7-2 lead on Delaware for the time being. Julianne Wilson of Virginia Intermont collected the first of her two red ribbons in this section as well. Section B of novice fences gave Skidmore another blue ribbon, as Katherine Fegan came through for the Thorougbreds. University of Georgia sophomore Emily Middendorf equaled William's effort with another red ribbon for the Bulldogs. Through the team jumping divisions Skidmore led with 19 out of a possible 21, Virginia Intermont sat in second with 15 and Goucher, with three consecutive yellow ribbons, had 12.

When Laena Romond (left) was a freshman at Mount Holyoke, the aspiring A-rider was given a non-riding roomate in Sara Royston (right). Romond convinced Royston to join the team as a walk-trotter. Five years later Romand won the recently-created Tournament of Champions Medal Class while Royston, who graduated last May, is involved with the Mount Holyoke riding program as a part-time instructor for - what else - the walk-trotters!

The team totals would look this way for over two hours as the Medal class would take center stage around lunch time. Half of the field was called back to jump, with six riders then tested and 12 riders ultimately placed. Following the jumping phase Denton and May from VI, Jackie Miller and Liz Redding from Cazenovia, Romond and Holly Fatula of Centenary were asked to perform a test. When all was said and done judge Tony Sgarlata give sixth to Miller, fifth to Denton, fourth to May, third to Redding, the reserve champion ribbon to Fatula (who leads the Zone 2, Region 1 Cacchione/Open Rider Standings) and the champion ribbon to Romond. Romond technically could claim to have won consecutive rides at Cazenovia (Ironically at 2002 Nationals the Cacchione riders qualified had to jump first, then riders with the lower jumping scores had to flat against each other to see in any of the 14 were worthy of being added to the group with the higher jumping scores! Romond scored well in both to secure the Cup). Romond's blue ribbon kept Mount Holyoke undefeated in the Medal class, as Lyon open rider Nathalie Cooper had won the innaugural Medal competition held at Hollins on September 23rd.

Following an unusual halftime show which included Miniature Horses wearing antlers and pulling individual riders in carraiges followed by a visit from Santa Claus, the show continued with the individual open flat. Alex Freeborn became the second University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49er with a blue ribbon with a win in section A. The red ribbon went to Cornell sophomore Dana Kendrick, giving the Big Red 13 points and moving them to within eight of Skidmore, who picked up two more points via Woodhouse. Mount Holyoke, winners of the Pre-Season T of C had been kept out of first save for Romond in the Medal class until Nathalie Cooper came through in section B of open flat. Penn State, the reserve national champion team at 2006 Nationals (by one point to Mount Holyoke) had been held scoreless until sophomore Samantha Pandolfi earned the red ribbon here. Coincidentally, Pandolfi had finished second to Cooper in the pre-season T of C Medal class.

While Cooper had been part of Mount Holyoke's 'Rudolph' team, Marie Hilliard was competing for Mount Holyoke Team 'Frosty' when she was best in a field of eleven to start the intermediate flat. May of VI was second while Megan Moehling added to the Cazenovia 'Blue' total with a third and Wooley added three to the Charlotte ledger with a fourth. The second section of intermediate flat boosted Cornell into the 20's, as Caroline Shulman was the blue ribbon winner. A sophomore from Needham, Massachusetts, Shulman finished one place ahead of Mount Holyoke Rudolph's Christine Gunn, the latter raising her set of Lyons team total to 19.

Katherine 'Kate' Fegan of Skidmore College (left) poses with Head Coach Cindy Ford after winning the second section of novice fences. The champion in each division also received a Tournament of Champions blanket, which Fegan holds along with her blue ribbon.

With three divisions remaining the scoreboard showed Skidmore with 21, Virginia Intermont with 20, Cornell with 20, Mount Holyoke's Team Rudolph with 19, North Carolina at Charlotte with 18, Cazenovia's Blue Team with 17, Goucher with 13, Centenary with 12, Mount Holyoke Team Frosty with 11, the University of Georgia with 10, Delaware Valley with 10 and many others in single digits. Unlike the 2005 mid-season T of C, this was definitely not a Virginia Intermont versus Mount Holyoke two-team race!

Centenary kept a streak going when Molly Brown won the first section of novice flat. A sophomore from Reisterstown, Maryland, Brown became the fifth consecutive Cyclone rider to make the top six. Lindsay Kohl, a University of Delaware junior from Newark, Delaware (just like the school she attends) took second in section A, moving the Hens a point ahead of Delaware Valley, Georgia, Morrisville State and Saint Lawrence with ten points each. Morrisville State had joined the ten-point club via a fourth for Meghan Hathaway while Holly Davis did likewise for Saint Lawrence with a fifth in this same section. Section B was won by Jen Mondazzi of the Cazenovia Blue Team. The sophomore from Shirley, Massachusetts had almost given the Wildcats the lead. However Wilson won her second red ribbon of the day for VI, giving the school from Bristol, Virginia a 25-24 lead over the hosts and Cornell, the latter of which earned the yellow ribbon via junior Kendall Banks. The Zone 3, Region 2 battle also went back in favor of Delaware Valley, thanks to a fifth from Lauren Vile.

Walk-trot was the seventh division to take place, and for the first time all day Cornell took over first place. Erika Oziemina, a senior from Apalachin, New York did as well as anyone who did not canter on this day to win section A of the walk-trot. Jaime King of Virginia Intermont kept it close, earning the second-place ribbon to make it a 31-30 deficit. Emily Janosko delivered a third for Delaware, moving their total to 15 while Susan Martelle's fourth closed out the scoring for Charlotte, which now had 21 points which would be good enough for eighth overall. Saint Lawrence made a late rally to jump over a few teams, with Melissa Cole winning the second walk-trot class to give the Saints 17 points at that moment. Nina Sysko closed out the Goucher scoring with a second, as the Gophers finished with 19 points. Jenna Boyd's third brought Stonehill College to double digits with 10, while Michal Adut (whose older brother Omri rides in the Zone 2, Region 4 open division for Stony Brook University) added three more points to Skidmore's total with a fourth. Mount Holyoke Team Rudolph earned two more points via Kate Miller but with 21 the Lyons were not going to catch Cornell or Virginia Intermont and win a second consecutive T of C show. The schools with a real chance at the Holiday Tournament Championship were Cornell with 31, Virginia Intermont with 30 and both Skidmore and Cazenovia with 24. In the event of a tie there had been pre-determined tiebreaker classes sealed up in envelopes, so there would in fact be a champion ribbon for one specific team.

Caroline Shulman (center, between Coaches Martha and Chris Mitchell) won her section of intermediate flat for Cornell. The Big Red had finished second to Zone 2, Region 3 rival Skidmore at all four fall regular season shows, but at the Tournament Cornell edged the Thoroughbreds for second by a 36-31 margin.

Many wondered where the envelopes were after Laura Roberts of Skidmore proceeded to win section A of the advanced walk-trot-canter. Temporarily Skidmore moved into a tie with Cornell one point ahead of VI pending the results of their riders in section B. Second place went to Adelle Rivera of Saint Lawrence, who raised the Saints' total to 22 which would eventually mean a sixth place-overall finish for the school from Canton, New York which had put on a regular season show three hours north and one day earlier. Emily Coler's third put Mount Holyoke Team Frosty at 20 points for the day while Karen Eng finished the University of Delaware scoring with a fifth to bring their tally to 17.

Section B held high drama, as it was possible for a four-way tie in actual points, and with the results announced in reverse order there was even more suspense. Sixth went to Heather Johnstone of Mount Holyoke Team Rudolph, which turned out to be the higher-scoring of the two Mount Holyoke teams with 22. Fifth went to Charla Englerth of the Cazenovia Blue Team, which finished with 26 points and fourth place. Fourth went to Erin Evans of Centenary, thus putting the Cyclones in a tie with Saint Lawrence and Mount Holyoke Team Rudolph with 22. The Tiebreaker classes favored Mount Holyoke, which earned fifth while Saint Lawrence was sixth and Centenary seventh. Katherine Devine of Delaware Valley was third, which raised the Aggies total to 16, one point behind the University of Delaware. Good news for Del Val is that they are tied overall with Delaware in their region headed into the spring shows.

Second place meant everything. Lauren Wu, a junior from Fort Worth, Texas earned the red ribbon for Cornell, giving them 36 points and for a few more seconds, the lead. However Jennifer Kelly did what no Virginia Intermont rider had done all day. The sophomore from West Palm Beach, Florida won a blue ribbon and not a red one! With Kelly's seven points, Virginia Intermont had prevailed by a 37-36 margin over Cornell. This means that Virginia Intermont has won four of the last five Tournament of Champions shows dating back to December 2004 and has won or tied for first in four of the past five Holiday or December Tournament of Champions shows. For the first time since the 2002-03 season there will be three Tournament of Champions shows in one school year, as the University of Georgia will host a winter Tournament of Champions show on January 27th. Virginia Intermont will be in Athens along with 20 other schools including Vanderbilt, Michigan, Fairfield, College of Charleston and Cal Poly - Pomona. Will anyone be able to stop them from making it five championships over the past six Tournament shows?

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Partly Sunny Skies, High Temperature in the mid 30's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 9:53AM. Finish: 6:07PM - Several schooling breaks and another break for removal of jumps and dragging of the ring took place in this time. Judge: Tony Sgarlata, Syracuse, New York. Stewards: Chris Mitchell/Cornell University, Andrea Wells/Centenary College and Kelly Lamont-Francfort/Rutgers University. This show was Hunter Seat or English only.

Team Totals: Virginia Intermont College (High Point Team) 37; Cornell University (Reserve) 36; Skidmore College 31; Cazenovia College - Blue Team 26; Mount Holyoke College - Team Rudolph 22; Saint Lawrence University 22; Centenary College 22; University of North Carolina at Charlotte 21; Mount Holyoke College - Team Frosty 20; Goucher College 19; University of Delaware 17; Delaware Valley College 16; Morrisville State College 14; Stonehill College 10; University of Georgia 10; Cazenovia College - Gold Team 7; Penn State University 5; University of Wisconsin at Madison 5; Xavier of Ohio 5; Princeton University 4 and Rutgers University 3.

Class-by-class results, in the order in which they were held:

Open equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Jesse Vannucci, Cazenovia College - Blue Team. 2. Brittany Denton, Virginia Intermont College. 3. Dana Kendrick, Cornell University. 4. Ashley Yardley, Morrisville State College. 5. Monica Sakurai, Mount Holyoke College - Team Frosty. 6. Alex Freeborn, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Open equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Ashley Woodhouse, Skidmore College. 2. Lizzie Williams, University of Georgia. 3. Brittany Martin, Goucher College. 4. Cassie Herman, Mount Holyoke College - Team Rudolph. 5. Megan Spilatro, University of Delaware. 6. Britton White, Saint Lawrence University.

Intermediate equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Nora Crist, Centenary College. 2. Courtney Clark, Skidmore College. 3. Elizabeth Kozakiewicz, Cornell University. 4. Erin Cecchini, Cazenovia College - Gold Team. 5. Alyce Simons, Saint Lawrence University. 6. Suzannah Cornue, Morrisville State College.

Intermediate equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Sarah Wooley, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 2. Jessica May, Virginia Intermont College. 3. Julie Fink, Goucher College. 4. Allison Hritz, Xavier of Ohio. 5. Kirsten Kasper, Mount Holyoke College - Frosty Team. 6. Lauren Sabo, Rutgers University.

Novice equitation over fences - Section A: 1. Devan McNamara, Delaware Valley College. 2. Julianne Wilson, Virginia Intermont College. 3. Lauren Satterfield, Mount Holyoke College - Team Rudolph. 4. Alexis Collatos, Princeton University. 5. Alexa Lass, Centenary College. 6. Holly Davis, Saint Lawrence University.

Novice equitation over fences - Section B: 1. Katherine Fegan, Skidmore College. 2. Emily Middendorf, University of Georgia. 3. Sarah Pandolfini, Goucher College. 4. David Sookey, Morrisville State College. 5. Jen Mondazzi, Cazenovia College - Blue Team. 6. Lexey Booth, Rutgers University.

Medal Division: 1. Laena Romond, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Holly Fatula, Centenary College. 3. Liz Redding, Cazenovia College. 4. Jessica May, Virginia Intermont College. 5. Brittany Denton, Virginia Intermont College. 6. Jackie Miller, Cazenovia College. 7. Jesse Vannucci, Cazenovia College. 8. Amanda Pettingill, Mount Holyoke College. 9. Quinn Traendly, Stonehill College. 10. Tiffany Neidhardt, Centenary College. 11. Samantha Pandolfi, Penn State University. 12. Clara Hall, Cornell University.

Open equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Alex Freeborn, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 2. Dana Kendrick, Cornell University. 3. Alexa Weinert, Cazenovia College - Blue Team. 4. Kaitlyn McLaughlin, Delaware Valley College. 5. Ashley Woodhouse, Skidmore College. 6. Jennifer Januzis, Centenary College.

Open equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Nathalie Cooper, Mount Holyoke College - Team Rudolph. 2. Samantha Pandolfi, Penn State University. 3. Britton White, Saint Lawrence University. 4. Quinn Traendly, Stonehill College. 5. Ceilia Barenfanger, University of Wisconsin at Madison. 6. Sarah Krings, Xavier of Ohio.

Intermediate equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Marie Hilliard, Mount Holyoke College - Team Frosty. 2. Jessica May, Virginia Intermont College. 3. Megan Moehling, Cazenovia College - Blue Team. 4. Sarah Wooley, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 5. Heather Marban, Stonehill College. 6. Allison Hritz, Xavier of Ohio.

Intermediate equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Caroline Shulman, Cornell University. 2. Christine Gunn, Mount Holyoke College - Team Rudolph. 3. Jennifer Windish, University of Delaware. 4. Carly Swatek, University of Wisconsin at Madison. 5. Rachel Samuels, Centenary College. 6. Julie Fink, Goucher College.

Novice equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Molly Brown, Centenary College. 2. Lindsay Kohl, University of Delaware. 3. Liz Graves, Cazenovia College - Gold Team. 4. Meghan Hathaway, Morrisville State College. 5. Holly Davis, Saint Lawrence University. 6. Kelsey Hill, Stonehill College.

Novice Equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Jen Mondazzi, Cazenovia College - Blue Team. 2. Julianne Wilson, Virginia Intermont College. 3. Kendall Banks, Cornell University. 4. Caroline Nobo, Mount Holyoke College - Team Frosty. 5. Lauren Vile, Delaware Valley College. 6. Sarah Pandolfini, Goucher College.

Walk-trot equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Erika Oziemina, Cornell University. 2. Jaime King, Virginia Intermont College. 3. Emily Janosko, Delaware Valley College. 4. Susan Martelle, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 5. Caitlyn McInerny, Mount Holyoke College - Team Frosty. 6. Christina Butler, Morrisville State College.

Walk-trot equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Melissa Cole, Saint Lawrence University. 2. Nina Sysko, Goucher College. 3. Jenna Boyd, Stonehill College. 4. Michal Adut, Skidmore College. 5. Kate Miller, Mount Holyoke College - Team Rudolph. 6. Jennifer Johnson, Princeton University.

Walk-trot-canter equitation on the flat - Section A: 1. Laura Roberts, Skidmore College. 2. Adella Rivera, Saint Lawrence University. 3. Emily Coler, Mount Holyoke College - Team Frosty. 4. Lauren Lasher, Morrisville State College. 5. Karen Eng, University of Delaware. 6. Caitlin Belding, Rutgers University.

Walk-trot-canter equitation on the flat - Section B: 1. Jennifer Kelly, Virginia Intermont College. 2. Lauren Wu, Cornell University. 3. Kathleen Devine, Delaware Valley College. 4. Erin Evans, Centenary College. 5. Charla Englerth, Cazenovia College - Blue Team. 6. Heather Johnstone, Mount Holyoke College - Team Rudolph.