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Alex Kukorowski of Penn State University (center) poses with her Father and with Nittany Lions head coach Kerry Kocher (on left) after she won her walk-trot-canter class at the Holiday Tournament of Champions in Long Valley, New Jersey on December 5th. Kukorowski was the only Penn State rider to win a class at the tourney but her first helped PSU's "Blue Team" to place fourth overall with 28 points in a field of 18.

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS RECORD BOOK RE-WRITTEN OFTEN AT HOLIDAY EVENT ON DECEMBER 5TH

(Centenary College, as it has done every other year since December 2007, hosted the annual Holiday Tournament of Champions at their Equestrian Center on Saturday, December 5th. 15 IHSA programs sent a full team to the 2015 event, with three schools entering two teams. Also there were two additional classes, the ETS Medal and the Collegiate Medal. The former is made up completely of high school students while the latter is a two-phased division held in lieu of a ride-off for high point rider. Jim Arrigon, who was recently installed as Executive Director of Riding at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, created the Tournament of Champions series in 1991 and has run the yearly events with wife Gwen ever since. Arrigon also writes a Press Release following each event. From the looks of what Jim wrote about this year's Holiday Tournament one wonders if he raced for the keyboard to start telling the world about the many Tournament of Champions series records that were broken that day. With a few minor changes, here is Arrigon's write-up on what was honestly not just another day at a tournament event - Editor)

Long Valley, NJ - To the casual observer of college equestrian it probably looks like there was nothing out of the ordinary at the 24th Annual Holiday Tournament of Champions at Centenary College on December 5th. Centenary finished on top followed by SCAD – the last two National Champions, right? Penn State and Mount Holyoke after that. Nothing unusual – then Randolph, Del Val, and Goucher. Pretty straight forward.

But take a closer look at the scoreboard and you’ll see why serious followers of collegiate riding were so excited by this particular Tournament.

Centenary College "A" Team scored a 46? Seriously? Highest score ever in the 24 year history of the Tournament! But who was Reserve Champ? Centenary Team "B" (cleverly creative team names) scored a 43 and could have won the horse show with a better ribbon in their final class. Was Centenary good? RIDICULOUSLY good. Savannah College of Art and Design – the 2015 IHSA National Champs – scored a 42, their highest score ever in a Tournament event and placed 3rd. Ridiculous. Centenary could not have been more impressive. In 24 years of Tournament we’ve never seen more than one team each show score in the 40’s and we’ve only seen that high a score three or four times previously. At this show THREE teams scored in the 40’s. Are you kidding? Is the bat corked? The ball juiced? The riders juicing up like Lance Armstrong? Those two programs are just that good.

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27 riders took part in the Holiday Tournament of Champions Medal Division. Everyone flatted, some jumped and ten riders placed. When it was completed Tufts University senior Chase Boggio (center, between TOC founder Jim Arrigon on left and IHSA founder Bob Cacchione on right) won the Medal class. Boggio is now only the second rider to win the medal class on three separate occasions.

Tufts University senior Chase Boggio also set a record. In all of Tournament lore, only a handful of riders have won the Tournament Medal class more than once in their college careers. Twice is impressive. THREE times is legendary! Chase won for the third time at Centenary, narrowly beating out SCAD’s Ryan Genn and Centenary’s Cody Wooten – a triple-slam for the boys! The only other rider in Tournament history to win three Medals is Ciara Menkens, who rode for Delaware Valley College and now is a coach for the recently re-named Delaware Valley University.

There was not a lot of drama in this show, especially compared to the Preseason Classic where five teams went into the final class in position to place someplace in the top six. At the Holiday Tournament both Centenarys took the lead early and decisively, with Cody Wooten and Phillip Williamson winning both sections of Open Fences. Shelby Keefe and Skylar Lasko were first and second, respectively in the Intermediate Fences sections. By the time SCAD won their first class (Tess Mroczka in Novice Fences) Centenary had a half-lap lead on the field. Following the Medal Classes Centenary continued with blue ribbons from Shelby Cashman in Open Flat, Lasko in Novice Fences, Keefe in Intermediate Flat and both Sarah Taylor and Carolyn Brouard in Walk Trot.

SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) got blues from Mroczka, Madison Albano in Intermediate Flat, Quinn Lowsky in Novice flat and Jessica Amsbury in Walk-Trot-Canter. That’s right. If you’re keeping score at home that’s eight blue ribbons for Centenary’s two teams and four for SCAD out of 20 team classes. Can you say butt-whippin’? The only other team with more than one blue was Randolph College, who had two freshman - Madeline Davis and Eliza Gretok – win Novice and Intermediate Fences, respectively. SCAD had a heck of a good horse show and just never quite caught up.

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On September 26th Alexandria Willard won the Equestrian Talent Search (ETS) Medal Class at the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions hosted by Randolph College. The high school senior was much closer to home when she repeated as ETS Medal Champion as Centenary College hosted on December 5th. A high school senior, Willard is seen here with Arrigon, who hosts ETS clinics across the country that are a prerequisite to participate in the Medal Classes at TOC events.

Alexandra Willard of Pittstown, NJ tied a record as only the second rider to win more than once in the Equestrian Talent Search Medal championship. The ETS Medal is entered by riders who have completed the ETS (Equestrian Talent Search) clinic weekend, a series of instructional clinics held at major riding colleges like SCAD, St. Andrews, Mount Holyoke, Randolph, Del Val, etc. A high school senior, Willard won previously on September 26th at Randolph College-hosted Pre-Season Tournament of Champions and thereby is the only rider to win ETS medals at consecutive Tournament shows. The only other rider to win twice in ETS Medal is Mollie Kowalchik, who competed this weekend in the collegiate Medal class for Mount Holyoke College. Fun fact about Equestrian Talent Search: Of the 12 finalists in the Tournament Medal – the best of the best – Seven of those riders had been ETS riders as high school students, and three of them (including Laakso) had won the ETS medal previously.

Mary Drueding judged the 24th annual Holiday Tournament. An IHSA head coach, Drueding was at the helm when Colby-Sawyer College won the 1994 National Championship (with George Morris judging) and again when St. Lawrence University won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 (the latter shared with Skidmore College). Her current St. Lawrence team did not compete today but is leading the Zone 2, Region 2 standings with two shows remaining.

The Tournament series is now half complete. The champion will be the team with the highest score in TWO of the four shows, so averages are more important than totals at this point. The series will continue January 23rd at Hazelwild Farm in Fredericksburg, Virginia with the University of Mary Washington serving as host. It will conclude the following week with Ohio University hosting at Stonegate Farm in Athens, Ohio on January 30th.

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Riders from Savannah College of Art & Design - also simply called "SCAD" - won four times. Junior Quinn Lowsky (pictured) was a winner in novice flat to help the Bees score 42 points. Just about any other time 42 would easily put a team in first place. Since the school year began the defending National Champions have won all five Zone 5, Region 5 shows (including three 49 scores!), finished second at the Pre-Season Tournament and Third at the Holiday Tournament.


(Editor's additional notes: For those wondering how there would be 20 team classes instead of 16 if each division held two sections there is a simple answer for this. In order to keep the class size slightly smaller for the lowest two levels there were three sections each of walk-trot and walk-trot-canter. The other six divisions were split into two sections of usually nine riders...Only two schools entered in the team competition could not claim they are currently in first place within their IHSA Region. The University of Delaware is in second place in Zone 3, Region 5 while Marist College is perhaps second in Zone 3, Region 3. UDel trails Villanova by under ten points while Marist is a ways behind Centenary with two Region 3 shows remaining...Though the field for the Ohio Winter Tournament is still a work in progress the field for the Virginia Winter Tournament is likely set. 14 schools will field at least one team while four - SCAD, Penn State, Mount Holyoke and host Mary Washington - will field a second team to bring the total to 18 as was the case in New Jersey on December 5th. Other schools returning from the Holiday Tournament are Delaware Valley, Goucher, Randolph and Virginia Tech. Schools headed to Fredericksburg that were not present in Long Valley are Bridgewater College, St. Andrews University, Sweet Briar College, University of Connecticut, Kansas State University, Emory and Henry College and the host school. Kansas State will be making their first Tournament of Champions appearance since re-joining the IHSA last season after a seven-year gap when K-State was Varsity/NCEA-only. It will be the first-ever appearance for Emory & Henry, which joined the IHSA last season after a deal was struck so that E&H took over the facility which had been the Virginia Intermont College equestrian center for over three decades. Many of the Emory & Henry riders who are juniors or seniors were students at Virginia Intermont before that school ceased operations in mid-2014.)

Show Incidentals: Cloudy skies, with temperatures reaching the lower '50's. Entire show held indoors. Judge: Mary Drueding, Canton, NY. Stewards: Sara McCoy/Villanova University, Clare Knapp/Marist College and Eddie Federwisch/Savannah College of Art & Design.

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Centenary College set the record for the highest score ever at a Tournament of Champions event. Even more impressive is that they did so with two teams entered. Team "A" won with 46 while Team "B" was reserve champion with 43 (a record for a runner-up). After the show was over teams A and B were joined by everyone else on the Centenary team that did not show. The Cyclones are so deep that they could have fielded teams C, D and E had the rules allowed for it.

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

Open Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Cody Wooten, Centenary College - Team B. 2. Daniella Carrisimo, Penn State University - Blue Team. 3. Alexandra Carlton, University of Vermont. 4. Cary Hundley, Goucher College. 5. Bridget Finnerty, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 6. Chase Boggio, Evermore/Tufts. 7. Morgan Schneider, Virginia Tech. 8. Mollie Kowalchik, Mount Holyoke College - Team C.

Open Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Phillip Williamson, Centenary College - Team A. 2. Tess Lee, Penn State University - White Team. 3. Ryan Genn, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. McKenna Coyne, West Virginia University. 5. Kim Koenig, Marist College. 6. Nicole Adams, Rutgers University. 7. Anna Cardelfe, Villanova University. 8. Abigail Johnston, University of Delaware.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Shelby Keefe, Centenary College - Team B. 2. Maddy Skrak, Mount Holyoke College - Team C. 3. Alison Radgowski, Goucher College. 4. Jenny Schmidt, University of Delaware. 5. Allison Bienas, Delaware Valley University. 6. Katie Groomes, Penn State University - Blue Team. 7. Emilie Bromley, Evermore/Tufts. 8. Liz Harriman, University of Vermont.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Eliza Gretok, Randolph College. 2. Skylar Laakso, Centenary College - Team A. 3. Julia Robinson, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 4. Lindsey Johnson, Virginia Tech. 5. Lily Hickey, Marist College. 6. Meredith Denny, Savannah College of Art & Design. 7. Kimber Stieber, Villanova University. 8. Ashley McNally, Penn State University - White Team.

Equestrian Talent Search High School Medal: 1. Alexandria Willard, Pittstown, NJ. 2. Caroline Devincenzo, Armonk, NY. 3. Jenny Leddy, St. James, NY. 4. Lexie Sendro, Flemington, NJ. 5. Allison Bauer, South Salem, NY. 6. Cheryl Wickizer, Chappaqua, NY. 7. Kylie Katz, Northford, CT. 8. Madison Spinelli, Frenchtown, NJ.

Tournament of Champions Collegiate Medal: 1. Chase Boggio, Evermore/Tufts. 2. Ryan Genn, Savannah College of Art & Design. 3. Daniella Carrisimo, Penn State University. 4. Bridget Finnerty, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Alexandra Carlton, University of Vermont. 6. Meaghan Hynes, Randolph College. 7. Cody Wooten, Centenary College. 8. Renee Russo, Delaware Valley University. 9. Alexa Echevarria, Penn State University. 10. Sara Echevarria, Penn State University (Unlike the other divisions, this division was pinned down to tenth place).

Novice Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Madeline Davis, Randolph College. 2. Alyssa Kelly, University of Delaware. 3. Danielle Sagliano, Centenary College - Team A. 4. Anna Rzchowski, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 5. Jo Phippin, Virginia Tech. 6. Clea Lerner, Goucher College. 7. Charlotte Harrison, Marist College. 8. Olivia Duncan, Penn State University - White Team.

Novice Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Tess Mroczka, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Caroline Norton, Centenary College - Team B. 3. Lauren Ecock, University of Vermont. 4. Hannah Schwartz, Evermore/Tufts. 5. Emily Wilmot, Delaware Valley University. 6. Delia Condon, Penn State University - Blue Team. 7. Kelly Hogan, Rutgers University. 8. Daisy Sears, Mount Holyoke College - Team C.

Open Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Shelby Cashman, Centenary College - Team A. 2. Daniella Carrisimo, Penn State University - Blue Team. 3. Alexandra Carlton, University of Vermont. 4. Cary Hundley, Goucher College. 5. Grace Tice, Mount Holyoke College - Team C. 6. Kim Koenig, Marist College. 7. Rachel Schneider, Villanova University. 8. Isabella Schmidt, Rutgers University.

Novice Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Skylar Laakso, Centenary College - Team A. 2. Mika McKinney, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 3. Lauren Ecock, University of Vermont. 4. Katie Jordan, Penn State University - Blue Team. 5. Madeline Davis, Randolph College. 6. Hannah Schwartz, Evermore/Tufts. 7. Laine Feller, Villanova University. 8. Holly Dragunas, University of Delware.

Intermediate Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Shelby Keefe, Centenary College - Team B. 2. Rachel VanDemark, Rutgers University. 3. Genevieve Couldwell, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 4. Natalie Vayda, Marist College. 5. Haley Dutch, Penn State University - White Team. 6. Lucy Anderson, Villanova University. 7. Justine Cianci, University of Delaware. 8. Emilie Bromley, Evermore/Tufts.

Open Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Chase Boggio, Evermore/Tufts. 2. Ryan Genn, Savannah College of Art & Design. 3. Cody Wooten, Centenary College - Team B. 4. Meaghan Hynes, Randolph College. 5. Renee Russo, Delaware Valley University. 6. Bridget Finnerty, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 7. Morgan Schneider, Virginia Tech. 8. Tess Lee, Penn State University - White Team.

Novice Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Quinn Lowsky, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Caroline Norton, Centenary College. 3. Emily Wilmot, Delaware Valley College. 4. Clea Lerner, Goucher College. 5. Sara Verghis, Virginia Tech. 6. Sabrina Fox. Mount Holyoke College - Team C. 7. Julia Leeds, Rutgers University. 8. Angie Sorine, West Virginia University.

Intermediate Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Madison Albano, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Eliza Gretok, Randolph College. 3. Michael Andrade, Centenary College - Team A. 4. Oliva Gardner, Delaware Valley University. 5. Jo Phippin, Virginia Tech. 6. Sara Echevarria, Penn State University - Blue Team. 7. Liz Harriman, University of Vermont. 8. Mollie Kowalchik, Mount Holyoke College - Team C.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Sarah Taylor, Centenary College - Team A. 2. Julia Carter, West Virginia University. 3. Mikayla Colson, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Madison Roos, Penn State University - White Team. 5. Maddie Parris - Bacon, Goucher College.

Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Alex Kukorowski, Penn State University - Blue Team. 2. Sveta Kargina, Centenary College - Team A. 3. Amanda Collins, Virginia Tech. 4. Sarah Vanderwerf, Marist College. 5. Kate Hollenbeck, University of Delaware. 6. Eliza Held, Rutgers University.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Carolyn Brouard, Centenary College - Team B. 2. Matthew Bouldry, Penn State University - Blue Team. 3. Stephanie Lewis, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 4. Candace Smith, Evermore/Tufts. 5. Avalon Greene, University of Delaware.

Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Sarah Lummis, Goucher College. 2. Cat Lamond, Mount Holyoke College - Team C. 3. Olivia Cundari, Villanova University. 4. Michelle Smith, Randolph College. 5. Morgan Howlett, University of Vermont. 6. Kristi Meibauer, Centenary College - Team B.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat, Section C: 1. Abigail Gess, Delaware Valley University. 2. Simone Moore, University of Vermont. 3. Illianna Termuehlen, Mount Holyoke College - Team C. 4. Rhiannon Long, Rutgers University. 5. Anne Marie Betz, Villanova University. 6. Gretchen Bechard, Marist College.

Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat, Section C: 1. Jessica Amsberry, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Sierra Thomas, Mount Holyoke College - Team J. 3. Kimberly David, Delaware Valley College. 4. Alex Davidson, West Virginia University. 5. Gabby Woods, Penn State University - White Team. 6. Tess Deegan, Evermore/Tufts.

Team Totals:

Centenary College - Team A - 46 Points (Champion)

Centenary College - Team B - 43 (Reserve Champion)

Savannah College of Art & Design - 42 (official third place)

Penn State University - Blue Team - 28 (official fourth place)

Mount Holyoke College - Team J - 28 (official fifth place)

Randolph College - 27 (official sixth place)

Delaware Valley University - 24 (official seventh place)

Goucher College - 23 (official eighth place)

University of Vermont - 23

Mount Holyoke College - Team C - 17

Evermore/Tufts - 16

Virginia Tech - 13

Marist College - 12

University of Delaware - 12

Penn State University - White Team - 12

West Virginia University - 11

Rutgers University - 10

Villanova University - 7

(For more info about the Tournament of Champions series or the Equestrian Talent Search, please e-mail JimArrigon@hotmail.com or visit www.BeckettRunRiding.com or visit the Equestrian Talent Search page on Facebook.)

 


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