Alexa Murray of the University of Findlay (on right) poses with Oilers hunter seat head coach Stephanie Leddy after dismounting following a trip through the intermediate fences during the January 21 Winter Tournament of Champions invitational. Murray went on to win the class and Findlay went on to win the event outright.

UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY CLAIMS HIGH POINT TEAM HONORS AT FIRST OF TWO WINTER TOURNAMENT SHOWS

Weyer's Cave, VA - Jim Arrigon, the IHSA National Secretary and founder of The Tournament of Champions invitational show series began awarding a year-end trophy for the school which faired the best over the course of multiple TOC series shows beginning in early 2001 when Virginia Intermont College took the honor. Though the school known as Virginia Intermont closed down in 2014 their equestrian team captured the TOC series trophy an amazing nine times (one shared) between '01 and '13. All other schools combined have a total of eight series trophies. The runner-up is Savannah College of Art & Design, the TOC series winner each of the three seasons since VI last won in 2013 (Virginia Intermont was coached by Eddie Federwisch from the fall of 1995 through May of 2013, and Federwisch was named Director of Riding at Savannah College of Art & Design in the fall of 2013. Therefore Federwisch had a hand in 12 TOC series championships. Mount Holyoke College in both '08 and '12, the University of Findlay in '02, Virginia Tech in '10 and Miami University of Ohio in '04 have the other TOC series wins. Miami shared the honor with VI in '04 for the record).

If only for their recent run of victories (both in the TOC series and the past two IHSA Nationals) the SCAD Bees were clearly the team to beat headed into the first TOC event in September held on the Campus of Goucher College. To the surprise of few the Bees - fielding two separate teams - earned high point honors courtesy of their "Gold" team scoring 45 points. Randolph College was second that day with 38. The SCAD "Black" team (their school colors are Gold and Black) was sixth at the Pre-Season Tournament on September 17th. However the eventual TOC series championship is based on the top two best Show Scores so the Gold Team's 45 points at what is properly known as the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions would be the score that counted.

The Holiday Tournement of Champions was held at Stonegate Farm in Coolville, Ohio (the training facility for Ohio University) on December 3rd. If you attended the show you would have left Stonegate under the impression that Liberty University (coached by Arrigon) had stunned the field with a 41-37 win over Emory & Henry College. SCAD appeared to be third with 31 points. However a few days later it turned out that one of the Liberty riders had been at a lower level than she should have been due to confusion over her appearance in one non-IHSA show prior to attending college. Once things had been clarified seven points were deducted from Liberty's Holiday TOC total, moving the Flames from first to second. Emory & Henry (which trains at the facility VI used to use as E & H is located less than 20 miles north of where the VI campus was) won a TOC series event for the first time in program history with 38 points. SCAD and Randolph both gained a point as well, tieing for third with 32 apiece.

From Kingsport, Tennessee, Billie Henard of Emory & Henry College (on left) is seen here after winning her intermediate flat class. Wasps head coach Heather McCloud (on right) was trying to make it two straight TOC series show wins in a row, as Emory & Henry won the December 4, 2016 Holiday Tournament event in Ohio though it did not appear they had at the time.

During the current decade Arrigon discovered there was so much interest in the TOC series that he opted to hold not one but two Winter Tournament of Champions shows. These shows are held a week apart during the final two weekends in January. In 2017 the first of the two winter TOC events took place on January 21st, with Bridgewater College hosting.

Bridgewater was third at the Pre-Season TOC with 30 points and did not participate at Stonegate. The Eagles' Gold Team soared higher than nearly everyone on January 21st, scoring 32 points and winning a tie-breaker for second with SCAD's Gold Team.

However the high point team turned out to be the University of Findlay with 37 points. Coached by 2010 Findlay graduate Stephanie Leddy the Oilers scored at least one point in all six classes. Alexa Murray, a senior from Crystal Lake, Illinois won her intermediate fences to raise Findlay's total from five points to 12 at the time. Madison Schloemer, a freshman from Batesville, Indiana won her walk-trot class. Though several classes were held in between there were no Findlay riders entered them, so technically Schloemer followed Murray to make it back-to-back blue ribbons. The Oilers only clinched late when Breanna Hertz (freshman, from West Olive, Michigan) was second in the final team class of the day, section B of novice flat. With SCAD Gold and Bridgewater Gold both having completed their classes (due to a section A and a section B being held for each of the eight divisions) Hertz's ability to avoid finishing below sixth meant the High Point Team ribbon was headed back to Findlay, Ohio (unlike regular IHSA shows the lowest score is not dropped at a Tournament of Champions event - Editor).

Bridgewater College's Gold Team had the lead after one class thanks to Emily Thomas (pictured), who won the intermediate flat class which started the day. Bridgewater Gold and Savannah College of Art & Design Gold both scored 32 points yet Bridgewater was awarded the tiebreaker and claimed reserve champion team honors.

Bridgewater's Gold Team had the lead for much of the day. Emily Thomas (senior, Phillipsburg, New Jersey) won the intermediate flat class which started the day while Megan Heffernan (sophomore, Sterling, Massachusetts) won section A of novice flat for the Eagles. Samantha Van Winter (junior, East Greenwich, Rhode Island) was second in both of her open classes. Between five rides involving Thomas, Heffernan and Van Winter Bridgewater Gold scored 27 of their 32 points.

SCAD's Gold Team had 12 points early, then managed to score in each class but only win once more. Both Gold team blue ribbons went to senior Tatum Tatreau. From Long Beach, California Tatreau won both her open flat and fences, making her the only rider to win two team classes at today's show.

Others to win blue ribbons included Rachel Heist of Delaware Valley University, who previously was an Equestrian Talent Search champion at one of the Tournament events which also featured an ETS Medal Class. Heist won her open fences while DVU teammate Emily Wilmot prevailed in her section of intermediate fences. Emory & Henry also sported two blue team class ribbons thanks to Billie Henard and Kelsey Bergman. The former won her intermediate flat while the latter won her walk-trot. Penn State University (the main campus in State College) fielded two teams using the school colors of blue and white. Nicole Wolfe of Penn State's Blue Team was a blue ribbon winner in novice fences. Boston University used the transportation system known as the Airplane to get to the Harrisonburg, Virginia area and Hannah Campbell of the Terriers won them a blue ribbon in walk-trot-canter. It is not clear if the other school from the state of Massachusetts also flew in as Mount Holyoke College has occasionally taken the train to travel to Tournament of Champion events. Whether by plane, train, boat or car the Lyons earned a blue ribbon in the final team class of the day. Mount Holyoke junior Sabrina Fox won the novice flat class which closed out all the scoring. Hannah Engle of the other Bridgewater squad - the Crimson team - won her walk-trot-canter class to help that group of Eagles place eighth overall. Similarly the SCAD Black Team boasted of one winner in Caydee Dickinsheets who prevailed in the first section of open flat. Arrigon pointed out that all but one of the 12 schools entered at the January 21st show currently sits in first place in their respective region. The lone second place team entered was East Carolina University. The Pirates were led by Sarah Jones, a senior from Cochranville, Pennsylvania who won the first section of novice fences. ECU, which may have been making their first-ever appearance at a Tournament of Champions event, trail St. Andrews University by only one point in the Zone 4, Region 3 hunter seat team standings through the fall show dates.

Tatum Tatreau of Savannah College of Art & Design's Gold Team is seen here after winning her open flat class. Earlier in the day Tatreau won her open fences to become the only rider with two firsts at the first of two Winter TOC shows.

Though Findlay did not compete in the Pre-Season Tournament the Oilers were entered in the Holiday Tourney where their total was 30 points following all the changes. This gave the Oilers a 33.5 points per show average prior to the January 28th TOC event to be hosted by Emory & Henry. The Wasps were fourth on January 21st with 31 points which means their top two shows put their average at 34.5 headed into the contest at their own facility. SCAD's scores of 45, 32 and 32 meant that one of the two most recent shows would at least temporarily be their drop score. The Bees average of 38.5 gives them the lead for seven days if not longer. Though Randolph College did not take part on the 21st their scores of 38 and 32 give the Wildcats a 35 average, which is second overall through three tournament events.

In addition to the team competition there were also two Medal classes held. Eighteen riders each competed in the High Medal and low Medal Divisions, with two separate flat heats made up of nine riders held for each. Judge Woody Dykers then selected ten riders to jump. Then after ten riders in each of the two medal levels had their turn eight received ribbons. Though the high level completed their jumping rounds before the low medal the results were read aloud for the low medal competitors before the high medal. Winning the low medal was Tess Mroczka of SCAD, a junior from Virginia Beach, Virginia who won the exact same medal division the previous month at Stonegate. Murray of Findlay was the reserve low medal champion while Wilmot (who had a truly great day despite being under the weather) was third. By coincidence the High Medal champ had also earned the same blue ribbon at Stonegate in December. Nick Martino, an Emory & Henry senior from Bel Air, Maryland made it back-to-back High Medal Championships. Finishing second to Martino was Elle Brady of Findlay. The Oilers must have some serious depth for Brady won the team intermediate over fences class at 2016 IHSA Nationals but was not part of the team competition at today's show. Tatreau was third, narrowly missing out on three blue ribbons for the day.

Stop the (virtual) presses!: A week later Emory & Henry hosted what is known as "Winter Tournament of Champions II" at what they now call "Intermont Equestrian Center" in honor of the school that constructed the facility over 30 years ago. This marked the first time a Tournament of Champions Event had been held there since VI still had a program (i.e. a functioning college). In what was the lowest-scoring TOC event of the season Randolph College Team "Wild" earned high point team honors with 32 points (six fewer than when the Wildcats were second at the Pre-season show). SCAD "Black" scored only 28 points but surprisingly earned reserve high point team honors as ten of 15 teams entered scored between 22 and 27 points! (Goucher College third, Penn State "Blue" fourth and Emory & Henry fifth with 27 each; SCAD "Gold" sixth and Bridgewater "Gold" seventh with 25 each; Bridgewater "Crimson" eighth with 24, Kansas State University next with 23, East Carolina, Mount Holyoke and Randolph College "Team Cat" tied with 22, University of Rhode Island 20, Liberty University 15 and Penn State "White" 13). Randolph scored 32 at both Stonegate and Intermont Equestrian Center which meant one score was dropped. Thus Randolph finished second in the 2016-17 TOC series with either a 35 average or a combined total of 70 points. SCAD's best scores were already in the books in December, so the Bee's average of 38.5 or a total of 77 made them - Tah-Dah - the Tournament of Champions Series champion team for the fourth season in a row.

January 21st Show Incidentals: Mostly Cloudy skies, with temperatures reaching the low '60's. Entire show held indoors. Judge: Woody Dykers, Atlanta, Georgia. Start time: 9:35AM. Finish: 3:35PM. Stewards: Heather McCloud/Emory & Henry College, Cory Kieschnick/Delaware Valley University and Stephanie Leddy/University of Findlay.

She was still Stephanie Springer when she graduated from the University of Findlay in 2010. Findlay hunter seat coach Stephanie Leddy poses with "The Big Board" (the scoreboard) at the January 21st Winter Tournament event hosted by Bridgewater College. This marked Leddy's first time coaching her team to high point team honors at a TOC event. If you read scorekeeper Gwen Arrigon's writing closely you can see the Oilers scored 37 points to both Bridgewater Gold and SCAD Gold's 32.

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

Intermediate Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Emily Thomas, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 2. Emily Wilmot, Delaware Valley University. 3. Amber Gayheart. Liberty University. 4. Austen Goodman, Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team. 5. Kelly Doyle, University of Delaware. 6. Peter Patch, University of Findlay. 7. Caroline Rakip, Boston University. 8. Samantha Hurley, Penn State University - White Team.

Intermediate Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Billie Henard, Emory & Henry University. 2. Madison Albano, Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team. 3. Lizzy Traband, Penn State University - Blue Team. 4. Allee Platanitis, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Caroline Biggs, Vanderbilt University. 6. Megan Escobar, Bridgewater College. 7. Jessie Bakanic, East Carolina University.

Open Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Rachel Heist, Delaware Valley University. 2. Francisco Caba Guil, Emory & Henry College. 3. Marco Polo Uchoa, University of Findlay. 4. Zellie Wothers, Bridgewater College - Crimson Team. 5. Bridget Finnerty, Mount Holyoke College. 6. Abby Johnston, University of Delaware. 7. Lizzy Traband, Penn State University - Blue Team. 8. Kate Morrison, Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team.

Open Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Tatum Tatreau, Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team. 2. Samantha Van Winter, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 3. Clare Bornstein, Boston University. 4. Kendall Burdette, Liberty University. 5. Samantha Hurley, Penn State University - White Team. 6. Charlotte Kwon, Vanderbilt University. 7. Erica Hamilton, East Carolina University.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Alexa Murray, University of Findlay. 2. Melissa Stecklow, Penn State University - Blue Team. 3. Caroline Biggs, Vanderbilt University. 4. Allison Casey, Boston University. 5. Meredith Denny, Savannah College of Art & Design. 6. Emily Holowczak, Mount Holyoke College. 7. Amber Gayheart, Liberty University. 8. Megan Escobar, Bridgewater College - Crimson Team.

Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Emily Wilmot, Delaware Valley University. 2. Caydee Dickensheets, Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team. 3. Rachel Hayes, East Carolina University. 4. Emily Thomas, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 5. Alyssa Kelly, University of Delaware. 6. Madison Halborn, Penn State University - White Team. 7. Madison Bonner, Emory & Henry College.

Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Hannah Campbell, Boston University. 2. Tresa Gunderman, Penn State University - Blue Team. 3. Jordan Criss, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 4. Ally Bates, Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team. 5. Mimi Taylor, East Carolina University. 6. Nikki Weems, University of Delaware. 7. Emma Grace Butler, Vanderbilt University. 8. Kaitlyn Tyler, Liberty University.

Novice Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Megan Heffernan, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 2. Bobbie Jo Adsit, Emory & Henry College. 3. Lilly Reinisch, East Carolina University. 4. Alexandra Hawkins, Vanderbilt University. 5. Grace Crawford, Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team. 6. Olivia Durkin, Penn State University - Blue Team. 7. Kelly Bohnenberger, University of Delaware. 8. Mikaela Lindemann, Boston University.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Madison Schloemer, University of Findlay. 2. Alexandra Friedman, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Madison Stine, Penn State University - Blue Team. 4. Taylor Pattie, Bridgewater College - Crimson Team. 5. Lauren Rainone, East Carolina University. 6. Kendall Sosar, Delaware Valley University. 7. Alexander Neuman, Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team. 8. Jamie Tataila, University of Delaware.

Open Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Caydee Dickensheets, Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team. 2. Samantha Van Winter, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 3. Franny Eremeeva, Mount Holyoke College. 4. Kendall Burdette, Liberty University. 5. Nick Martino, Emory & Henry College. 6. Abby Johnston, University of Delaware. 7. Haley Dutch, Penn State University - White Team. 8. Blair Allan, Delaware Valley University.

Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation On The Flat, Section A: 1. Hannah Engle, Bridgewater College - Team Crimson. 2. Jessie Hood, University of Findlay. 3. Kimberly David, Delaware Valley College. 4. Abigail Watkins, Mount Holyoke College. 5. Peter Werner, Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team. 6. Gabriella Woods, Penn State University - White Team. 7. Catherine Hill, Emory & Henry College.

Walk-Trot Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Kelsey Bergman, Emory & Henry College. 2. Anna Davidson, Liberty University. 3. Vincent Delissio, Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team. 4. Ryan Toole, Penn State University - White Team. 5. Hiva Hosseini, Boston University. 6. Taylor Owens, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 7. Megan Mohundro, Vanderbilt University.

Novice Equitation Over Fences, Section A: 1. Sarah Jones, East Carolina University. 2. Bobbie Jo Adsit, Emory & Henry College. 3. Breanna Hertz, University of Findlay. 4. Tess Mroczka, Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team. 5. Kara Katona, Vanderbilt University. 6. Kristie Stamatis, Penn State University - White Team. 7. Katelyn Dugan, Bridgewater College - Gold Team. 8. Zoe Leppke, Liberty University.

Novice Equitation Over Fences, Section B: 1. Nicolle Wolfe, Penn State University - Blue Team. 2. Lily Benedictis, Mount Holyoke College. 3. Alexis Martin, Delaware Valley University. 4. Caroline Shipe, Bridgewater College - Crimson Team. 5. Zoe Jacobson, University of Delaware. 6. Olivia Horkin, Savannah College of Art & Design. 7. Tyla Gariepy, Boston University.

Tournament of Champions Collegiate High Medal: 1. Nick Martino, Emory & Henry College. 2. Elle Brady, University of Findlay. 3. Tatum Tatreau, Savannah College of Art & Design. 4. Blair Allan, Delaware Valley University. 5. Clare Bornstein, Boston University. 6. Kendall Burdette, Liberty University. 7. Samantha Van Winter, Bridgewater College. 8. Allee Platanitis, Mount Holyoke College.

Open Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Tatum Tatreau, Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team. 2. Zellie Wothers, Bridgewater College - Crimson Team. 3. Alyssa Simin, University of Findlay. 4. Clare Bornstein, Boston University. 5. Erica Hamilton, East Carolina University. 6. Sara Echevarria, Penn State University - Blue Team. 7. Jacqueline Dickey, Vanderbilt University.

Novice Equitation On The Flat, Section B: 1. Sabrina Fox, Mount Holyoke College. 2. Breanna Hertz, University of Findlay. 3. Bailey Boan, Liberty University. 4. Alexandria Willard, Bridgewater College - Crimson Team. 5. Lillian Hilgers, Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team. 6. Emma Bergquist, Penn State University - White Team. 7. Courtney Wance, Delaware Valley University.

Tournament of Champions Collegiate Low Medal: 1. Tess Mroczka, Savannah College of Art & Design. 2. Alexa Murray, University of Findlay. 3. Emily Wilmot, Delaware Valley University. 4. Katie Groomes, Penn State University. 5. Katie Maharis, Emory & Henry University. 6. Katelyn Dugan, Bridgewater College. 7. Caroline Biggs, Vanderbilt University. 8. Megan Heffernan, Bridgewater College.

Team Totals:

University of Findlay - 37 Points (Champion)

Bridgewater College - Gold Team - 32 (official Reserve Champion)

Savannah College of Art & Design - Gold Team - 32 (official third place)

Emory & Henry College - 31 (official fourth place)

Mount Holyoke College - 30 (official fifth place)

Delaware Valley University - 28 (official sixth place)

Penn State University - Blue Team - 27 (official seventh place)

Bridgewater College - Crimson Team - 25 (official eighth place)

Savannah College of Art & Design - Black Team - 21

East Carolina University - 21

Boston University - 19

Liberty University - 19

Vanderbilt University - 12

University of Delaware - 9

Penn State University - White Team - 9

(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.)