From left to right are University of Findlay Coaches Cindy Morehead and Clark Bradley, open rider Katie Morehead (on horse), AQHA representative Luann Ulrich, Findlay Coach Jake Bowman and IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione. The scene was the final class of 2009 IHSA Nationals, and Katie Morehead had just won team open western horsemanship to clinch the Oiler's third western National Championship in five seasons. If your region sends their Semifinal Qualifiers to Laurinburg, North Carolina then expect a date with Findlay on March 27th and 28th.

2010 IHSA WESTERN SEMIFINALS: THREE DISTINCT ROADS TO LEXINGTON

The fourth annual IHSA Western Semifinal shows will take place over the final weekend of March at three sites which have all previously hosted a Semifinal event. Eight regions will travel to both Cazenovia, New York and Pomona, California while seven will head for Laurinburg, North Carolina.

Riders who place first through fourth in the individual classes (including the Alumni divisions) will advance to IHSA Nationals in Lexington, Kentucky May 7th through 9th (The riders who competed in these individual classes will have placed first or second at their respective Regional shows to qualify for Semi's). The team classes will be run in similar fashion, with the top three teams at each site advancing to Nationals. If one does the math it turns out that nine out of 23 Region Champion teams will advance to Lexington while the remainder will see their seasons end before the first of April.

Unlike the hunter seat Zones shows, where the team with the most points in their region faces off against two or three others which did the same elsewhere within their zone, Semifinals are essentially a random draw. An example would be that two of the four regions in Zone 6 will send their riders and teams to the Semifinal in Laurinburg, North Carolina while the other two travel to Cazenovia, New York and Pomona, California, respectively.

One of the two Zone 6 teams going to Laurinburg is the defending National Champion University of Findlay Oilers. Not only is Findlay undefeated at Semifinals the Oilers have yet to see an opponent finish closer than ten points out. The 2007 Findlay western team scored 40 of a possible 42 points to defeat reserve champion St. Mary of the Woods 40-22. In 2009 the Oilers defeated West Virginia University 35-20. On both odd numbered years Findlay had home ring advantage. Some may take to heart that the one season Findlay had to leave the state of Ohio for Semi's the score was almost human; The Oilers defeated host West Texas A & M 35-25 in Canyon, Texas two seasons ago.

That 2008 Canyon Semifinal featured six schools which had advanced a full western team to IHSA Nationals a year earlier. The Laurinburg semifinal could be similar in that regard. If Michigan State University stays ahead of Grand Valley State in Zone 6, Region 4 while Black Hawk College can fend off Missouri State in Zone 9, Region 2 then it is likely that six of the seven full western teams taking part in the Laurinburg semifinal will already have a 2009 Nationals team appearance on their resume. If the season ended today the Laurinburg field would be made up of Michigan State, Black Hawk, Morrisville State College (up by 26 on SUNY-Cobleskill in Zone 2, Region 3 and the only school likely headed to Laurinburg that did not take a full western team to Nationals last season), West Virginia University (up by 38 on Bloomsburg in Zone 3, Region 1/3/4 at the break), Berry College (up by 61 on Judson College in Zone 5, Region 2 at the break), Findlay (up by 86 on Miami of Ohio in Zone 6, Region 3 - that is not a typo) and host St. Andrews Presbyterian College (up by 31 on North Carolina State in Zone 4, Region 3). Two seasons ago the weather was surprisingly cold and damp in Laurinburg accoring to those who were there, so do not overestimate the temperature if this is where you are headed. Also worth noting is that St. Andrews also enjoyed home ring advantage in '08, scoring 39 of a possible 42 to defeat Stanford 39-22 for the top spot. The Findlay versus St. Andrews on their own turf is worth the price of admission by itself (and the price to sit inside the St. Andrews covered ring is free).

It should be noted that the last time St. Andrews hosted the vast majority of the field had not taken a full western team to the previous Nationals. This season the same thing could be said of the Cazenovia, New York field. Oregon State University may not be happy to potentially have to travel across country but the Beavers can take solice in that no other team present will be a 2009 Nationals returnee (this of course only if no other Zone 8, Region 4 school rallies to overtake Oregon State. Only two shows have taken place thus far, but the Beavers lead second place Central Washington University by 39 points and have yet to lose the region for western since it was formed in mid-2001). While the University of Nebraska at Lincoln is a safe bet to emerge from Zone 7, Region 1 at least four of the remaining six slots are very much up for grabs. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst leads Mount Holyoke by 14 points through two Zone 1, Region 3 western shows while Morehead State University leads defending Zone 6, Region 2 champion University of Cincinnati by only four points at the break. Florida State University, shooting for a third consecutive Zone 5, Region 3 western title, leads the University of Florida by only one point, 110-109 through the fall. The University of Delaware, which has not taken a full western team to the post-season since 2001, leads Delaware Valley College by a 197-196 margin. The Zone 3, Region 2 team race has seen double-digit leads come and go in the same day! Eventually someone will be the winner on February 28th. Campus Equestrian is still trying to find out what is going on for western in Zone 8, Region 3 and Zone 2, Region 2, the latter ironically the host region for the Cazenovia Semifinal.

The remaining semifinal is the first one in three years to be held at the Fairplex in Pomona, California. And as was the case when Cal Poly - Pomona hosted in '07 the Ohio State Buckeyes will be the odds-on favorite to win. Like Findlay the Buckeyes have yet to loose a Semifinal since the format replaced western Zones. Ohio State was a 34-25 winner over the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in '07, then defeated both Alfred University and West Virginia University 34-23 in Cazenovia in '08 and finally defeated Michigan State 30-23 in Canyon last season. Ohio State has a 34 point lead over Ohio University in the Zone 6, Region 1 western team standings and it would be quite a shock if someone stopped the Buckeye's streak of Region Titles that stretches back to the Reagan Administration. One team that can book their tickets to Southern California is the United States Military Academy. The Black Knights won Zone 2, Region 1 over Centenary College 171-152, closing out that region's western schedule before the start of the new decade. Several other races are considered safe. St. Mary of the Woods College leads Ball State University by 76 points in Zone 9, Region 1 at the break while the University of Minnesota at Crookston is 38 ahead of North Dakota State University in Zone 9, Region 3 with two shows still to come. Stanford leads by 21 over the College of the Sequoias in Zone 8, Region 1 though three shows remain there (Stanford and COS can take comfort in not having to leave the state for Semi's after having traveled to Findlay, Laurinburg and Canyon the past three seasons). The other races that lead to Pomona are very much up in the air. Cal Poly - Pomona has a streak of no less than 11 consecutive western region titles on the line, yet the Broncos lead the University of California at San Diego by only seven points with four Zone 8, Region 2 western shows still to come. Middle Tennessee State University used to be a fixture at Nationals, but Murray State has won the past two Zone 5, Region 1 western championships. With four western shows scheduled for February MTSU is ahead of Murray State by a narrow 65-60 margin, with Western Kentucky very much alive with 57. And through three Zone 7, Region 2 western shows Redlands Community College leads West Texas A & M by a 90-83 margin. Two of the three shows ended in a tie while RCC won the middle contest by a 35-28 score. And believe it or not all three shows were at the West Texas A & M Horse Center in Canyon. Four western shows remain in Zone 7, Region 2, none of which are hosted by WTAMU. This is a race to watch!

In any event the majority of the riders to emerge from each semifinal will actually be the individual entries, and hopefully as many schools as possible send someone on to Lexington. Only up to six team riders from the top three teams (the maximum total thus being 18) will go on to compete in team classes at Nationals. But what if there is a tie for third place?

In the event of a tie for third place team at a Semifinal show the following tiebreakers are used. The first tie-breaker criteria is the total number of first-place finishes. The second tie-breaker is the total number of second-place finishes. The third tie-breaker is the highest total in the reining division. Should there still be a tie, a class from the show will be pre-assigned, and the tied school with the highest placed rider in that pre-assigned tiebreaker class will win the tie (one way this is done is for someone to put the name of each of the six divisions into six separate envelopes, shake them up in a box, and open one of the envelopes following the completion of the team classes; These same tiebreakers are also used for hunter seat Zones shows, though in those situations over fences points replaces reining points as the third tiebreaker. The random envelope is opened and the school with the rider who earned the higher placing in that division advances his or her team on to Nationals).

We hope to revise this story slightly after it is posted, this in order to post start time information and even the name of the host hotels at each of the three sites. There will also be some pomp and circumstance surrounding the shows themselves, for which we hope to learn the details. Will this be the year Findlay or Ohio State sweats it out at Semi's? Will a school which has never fielded a full western team at Nationals make the top three and finally advance? All these questions and more will be answered on March 27th and 28th.

--Steve Maxwell

THE FOURTH-ANNUAL IHSA WESTERN SEMIFINALS WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS, WITH TEAMS AND RIDERS FROM THE REGIONS LISTED BELOW:

REGIONS TRAVELING TO CAZENOVIA, NY (MARCH 27TH AND 28TH TIMES TBA):

ZONE 1, REGION 3

ZONE 2, REGION 2

ZONE 3, REGION 2

ZONE 5, REGION 3

ZONE 6, REGION 2

ZONE 7, REGION 1

ZONE 8, REGION 3

ZONE 8, REGION 4

REGIONS TRAVELING TO LAURINBURG, NORTH CAROLINA (MARCH 27TH AND MARCH 28TH TIMES TBA):

ZONE 2, REGION 3

ZONE 3, REGION 4

ZONE 4, REGION 3

ZONE 5, REGION 2

ZONE 6, REGION 3

ZONE 6, REGION 4

ZONE 9, REGION 2

REGIONS TRAVELING TO POMONA, CALIFORNIA (MARCH 27TH AND 28TH TIMES TBA):

ZONE 2, REGION 1

ZONE 5, REGION 1

ZONE 6, REGION 1

ZONE 7, REGION 2

ZONE 8, REGION 1

ZONE 8, REGION 2

ZONE 9, REGION 1

ZONE 9, REGION 3