She was Reserve High Point Rider in her IHSA debut! From Eugene, Oregon, Mount Holyoke College freshman Madeline Shortt (on left) won her novice fences while placing second in novice flat to join three others in a ride-off. Lyons Head Coach C.J. Law (on right) saw Shortt finish second to teammate Alexa Lohrer (not pictured) in the ride-off while Mount Holyoke tied for high point team honors on October 8th.

UMASS, MOUNT HOLYOKE PLAY TO A 41-ALL TIE IN THEIR REGULAR SEASON OPENER

Northampton, MA - Two weeks after going head-to-head at the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions invitational, Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst competed in the 2011-12 Zone 1, Region 3 season opener hosted by Smith College. Although the Lyons had a 10-6 advantage in blue ribbons the point cards eventually showed the Minutemen to have made it a 41-all tie for high point. In Zone 1, Region 3 ties for high point team are not broken, and in fact when two teams tie for the honor the school who was closest receives the Reserve High Point Team ribbon. On October 8th that honor belonged to host Smith College, which earned a very impressive 34 points while three Pioneers won blue ribbons.

Two weeks after being outscored 26-23 by the Minutemen (in a show where the points don't count towards the regular season) Mount Holyoke appeared on paper to be having the best day. Alexa Lohrer (sophomore, from Carlisle, Massachusetts) won her open fences while placing second in open flat to lead the Region 3 open rider standings through one event. Felicia Harrsch (sophomore, from Lansdale, Pennsylvania) was second to Lohrer in open fences but later won the second section of intermediate flat. Madeline Shortt, a freshman from Eugene, Oregon won her IHSA debut in novice fences while placing second in novice flat to join Lohrer and Harrsch in the ride-off. Hannah Thornton (freshman, from Seattle, Washington, in open flat), Jordan McMullen (junior, from Clinton, New Jersey, in novice flat), Flynn Vickowski (sophomore, from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, also in novice flat), Jasmine Haddad (senior, from Manchester, Connecticut, in novice fences), Sally Gibb (junior, from Princeton, New Jersey, also in novice fences), Sarah Clinchy (sophomore, from Brooklyn, New York, in beginner walk-trot-canter) and Paulina Erni (junior, from Cresskill, New Jersey) were the other seven blue ribbon winners for the Lyons. Erni continued a remarkable streak in that she has won five walk-trot classes in five tries! With the IHSA rule change over the summer Erni still needs one more point to qualify for Regionals. Both McMullen and Gibb advanced to Regionals with their blue ribbons. Allison O'Neill (in intermediate fences), Abby Raucher (in intermediate flat) and SoJin Lee (in walk-trot) brought the Mount Holyoke red ribbon total to six for the day.

IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione (on left) was on hand from start to finish on October 8th. Cacchione poses with Smith senior Lucy McAuliffe (second on left), Smith Head Coach Sue Payne (second on right) and Sue's husband Bill Payne (who tallies the Region 3 point sheets behind closed doors throughout the day). McAuliffe was a winner in intermediate flat as the Pioneers scored an impressive 34 points at their home show.

Though Mount Holyoke had a clear-cut advantage in individual ribbons the University of Massachusetts at Amherst earned points when they needed to keep it even. Kari Searls, a junior from Coralville, Iowa won her intermediate fences while placing second to McMullen in novice flat to join three Mount Holyoke riders in what was a four-way ride-off. Jaclyn Mazzarella (sophomore, from Gilford, Connecticut) won the section of intermediate fences prior to Searls. Courtney Bryggman (junior, from Huntington, New York) won her open flat to deny Lohrer a pair of firsts while placing third in open fences to trail Lohrer by a point in the open rider standings through one show. The blue ribbon count between the Minutemen and Lyons was close through 12 undergraduate classes, with Michayla Marcil (sophomore, Fitchburg, Massachusetts) and Margaux Sarin (senior, Fairfield, Connecticut) each winning a section of advanced walk-trot-canter. However the final seven classes produced only one blue for the Minutemen. Chelsea Dowling's win in novice flat kept Shortt from a double-blue afternoon. The freshman from Blackstone, Massachusetts brought the UMass blue ribbon count to six while Elizabeth Hart (in beginner walk-trot-canter) and Aly Murphy (in intermediate flat) were red ribbon winners in consecutive classes to raise the second place total to three.

Host Smith College was at their best late in the day, earning a pair of blue ribbons and a pair of red ones over the final seven classes. However in the second class of the morning the Pioneers earned their first blue ribbon of the season thanks to Caitlin Hunter. A junior from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Hunter won the second section of open fences. It was not until much later that Smith reached the top two again (at least at the undergraduate level - Editor), when Lucy McAuliffe won the first intermediate flat class. The senior from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey was followed into the winner's circle by teammate Ellen Margolis, a senior from Rockville, Maryland who won the first section of walk-trot. Susan Liang was second to Erni in the section walk-trot class while Adrienne Szamotula was second to Vickowski in the novice flat section directly before the ride-off.

Let's go inside to get out of the sun and perhaps give a plug to a famous riding helmet manufacturer! Westfield State University co-captain Caitlin Conley (on right, with the other co-captain Nicole McLaine) was one of four Owl riders to win a red ribbon on October 8th. Conley's second in novice fences helped Westfield State score 22 points for fourth place at the very warm season opener.

Westfield State University entered the day without riders entered in walk-trot or open fences. However Catherine Connor solved part of the problem with the Owls' first ride of the day. A junior from Barre, Massachusetts Connor was second to Mazzarella in intermediate fences to point up into open. Three other Westfield State riders would follow suit. Stephanie Pelletier (sophomore, from Schituate, Massachusetts) was second to Gibb in novice fences. Paige Hendrickson, a freshman from Oakham, Massachusetts was second to Thornton in open flat in her IHSA debut while co-captain Caitlin Conley (senior, from North Granby, Connecticut) was second to Haddad in novice fences. If the Owls can find a walk-trot rider to fill their card it would be very surprising if the team did finish as high as fourth overall for the season considering their nice effort in the ring on opening day. Westfield State starts the season in fourth, having scored 22 points without the benefit of a blue ribbon.

Fifth place went to Springfield College with 18 points. While no member of the Pride earned a first or second on opening day, Natalee Rolince (senior, Attleboro, Massachusetts) was third in open flat, Kelli Arsenault was third in walk-trot and Hira Byrne (senior, Amherst, Massachusetts) was third in novice flat. Despite having only five riders present, Head Coach Allison Guerin had seven of eight divisions filled on the Springfield point card.

Amherst College lacked an intermediate rider, meaning six of eight divisions were filled for the Lord Jeffs. Sarah Vickery, a freshman from New York City led the way for Amherst. Vickery was second in novice fences in her IHSA debut ride. Aubrie Campbell was third in advanced walk-trot-canter as the Lord Jeffs scored 12 points. It was the first IHSA appearance for co-coach Beth Manning since she led her IEA team (Hopkins Academy/Biscuit Hill Farm) to an Upper School National Championship last May 1st.

Due to a scratch Williams College was without a rider in the over fences classes. Therefore the Ephs had to wait patiently for the flat classes to arrive. From left to right are Hannah Matheny, Sarah Rosenberg, Head Coach Linda Orton, Austin Brown and Wei Li. Of the four Williams riders entered, Brown would chart highest with a second in advanced walk-trot-canter.

Williams College faired well with only four riders spread out over just two divisions. The Ephs scored nine points, with Austin Brown earning better than half of them. The senior from Thousand Oaks, California was second in advanced walk-trot-canter. Wei Li, the only walk-trot rider for Williams on this day earned the other four points with a third.

Both Williams and Landmark College saw riders scratch at the eleventh hour which would have each filled multiple divisions. Landmark had riders in both novice divisions and walk-trot-canter. Laura Cleveland, a sophomore from Columbia, Maryland was fourth in novice flat and fifth in novice fences to earn five of Landmark's eight points. Freshman Sara Fradkin earned the other three with a fourth in advanced walk-trot-canter.

Rounding out the team totals was Hampshire College with one point. Though they have riders in other divisions, Hampshire only had walk-trot-canter riders present at the season opener. Sonya Greenberg, a junior from Brooklyn, New York won the second section of advanced walk-trot-canter to earn Hampshire's first blue ribbon under new Head Coach Stacy Iacono (the previous Hampshire Coach, Mara Keith-Hunter, is the new University of Massachusetts at Amherst Head Coach. Keith-Hunter succeeds Jerry Schurink, who is now the Head Coach at Bridgewater College in Virginia). Hampshire was one of only four schools with a blue ribbon winner at today's show.

"Harley" poses between UMass Head Coach Mara Keith-Hunter (on left) and Minutemen sophomore Jaclyn Mazzarella (on right). Mazzarella won the first 'official' blue ribbon for UMass in 2011-12 with a first in intermediate fences on October 8th. It was Keith-Hunter's official UMass Coaching debut. Counting the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions Keith-Hunter had not lost to Mount Holyoke (at the time) since the final 2010-11 regular season show last March. And at that time Keith-Hunter was coaching Hampshire College.

Humphreys the early alumni leader: 2002 Smith graduate Claire Hey Humphreys, who led the region in alumni flat points each of the past two seasons kicked off the new year by winning both alumni divisions. Smith assistant coach Lizzy Jacobson was second over fences and fourth on the flat while 2000 University of California at San Diego graduate Sara Sandstrom was second in flat and fourth over fences in her IHSA alumni debut. Originally from Marina del Rey, California, Sandstrom now works for Smith College on their campus. Third in both divisions was 2010 UMass graduate Lauren Kolodzinski, who tied Humphreys for the most alumni over fences points last season.

The Ride-Off: Judge Fifi Schmidt had the four riders in the ride-off do some work without irons. Eventually Lohrer, who was riding 'Waylon' in the ride-off, was declared the winner while Shortt (aboard 'Bailey') was reserve champion (Novice rider Shortt trains in Oregon at Christus Farm in Jasper with a trainer by the name of Amy Gau).

Eh? There is only one high point team blue ribbon!: While there was a ride-off to settle who received the individual high point and reserve high point rider ribbons, the high point team ribbon situation was a bit more complicated. There was both a high point ribbon and a high point team trophy, and a coin toss determined which item went with which team. IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione threw a quarter up in the air. Keith-Hunter called 'Heads.' The quarter came up tails. Mount Holyoke Coach C.J. Law elected to take the ribbon leaving UMass with the trophy. Smith received the Reserve High Point Team ribbon without any drama whatsoever.

Don't get too attached to 'Sox' or 'Waylon!': With only four riders it turned out that Williams equestrians rode a total of two different horses at today's show. Initially two riders were to ride 'Sox,' one rider would be on 'Elvis' and yet another on 'Waylon.' However Elvis was pulled. It is unclear if two riders each rode on a combination of 'Sox' and 'Waylon' or if three riders rode the same horse and one rode the other.

Can anyone touch the Lyons at home?: On October 15th Mount Holyoke hosted and won at their Equestrian Center for the eighth straight time in regular season competition dating back to the fall of 2008. The Lyons defeated both UMass and Smith by a 42-27 score. Surprisingly this is Mount Holyoke's lowest high score at a Region 3 show on their own property since early 2009, when the Lyons scored only 36 points (on that occasion UMass scored only 17 points but Smith had 33 and Becker College 31 prior to the latter being moved into Zone 1, Region 1). With Mount Holyoke receiving their customary 'bump' from being at home the question now becomes can UMass pull off the same feat seven days later and keep it a race in Zone 1, Region 3?

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny skies with temperatures reaching the low '80's. Start time: 9:34AM. Finish: 2:49PM - Includes 38 minute break for schooling and jump removal (Coaches and Captains meeting held prior to start of show). Point Cards posted in this region? No. Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Fifi Schmidt. Stewards: Law/Mount Holyoke College, Guerin/Springfield College and Keith-Hunter/University of Massachusetts.

Team Totals: Mount Holyoke College (TIE-High Point Team) 41; University of Massachusetts at Amherst (TIE-High Point Team) 41; Smith College (Reserve) 34; Westfield State University 22; Springfield College 18; Amherst College 12; Williams College 9; Landmark College 8 and Hampshire College 1.

High Point Rider - Alexa Lohrer, Mount Holyoke College
Reserve High Point Rider - Madeline Shortt, Mount Holyoke College