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CENTRAL CONNECTICUT MAKES TEAM HISTORY WHILE BROWN HOLDS OVERALL LEAD Storrs, CT - Before we begin our story on the November 14th, 2009 University of Connecticut show we want to rewind to 2008 Zone 1 Zones for a moment. During the individual intermediate over fences class early that day University of Rhode Island senior Tara Hinds had one of her best rides ever. The 2008 Ram graduate was one of the first to show in the division and was called back first to test. However there was one problem: Hinds had jumped an additional fence early on in the course! Hinds knew it. URI Head Coach Pam Maloof knew it. However neither the Judge nor the Stewards seem to notice. The round was so good that many forgot to notice it was longer than the other trips. When Hinds heard she was called back she and Coach Maloof wanted to do the right thing. Though a similar incident happened at another IHSA Zones show a few years earlier (in another part of the country) Hinds told the Stewards and the Judge exactly how she had gone off course and excused herself from the ride-off. Hinds' selfless act (in what was her final IHSA appearance) likely allowed another rider to move on to Nationals. Hinds was recognized over the PA System during a break in the action later that day for her good sportsmanship. Wise decisions such as this one make for good karma down the road. Fast Forward to the second Saturday of November 2009 and the University of Rhode Island enters the day 18 points behind defending region champion Brown University and two points behind host University of Connecticut for second. The Rams have stayed close to the Bears for first each of the past two seasons, eventually falling out of the race in the next-to-last or third-to-last show. This fall Brown is further ahead than usual through only three shows. Could the Rams or Huskies or some other school close the gap with the Bears? As usual when UConn hosts, the first 25 classes were flat classes, and were completed in four hours and four minutes. The first four classes were open flat, and in the first open flat class Brown got off to a good start with Elise Fishelson earning the blue ribbon. From Cold Spring Harbor, New York, Fishelson would be the first of six Bears to win a class but the last to do so until 17 classes later. Roger Williams junior Shannon O'Keefe was second for the Hawks, who were without Head Coach Eliza Davis on this day though assistant Michelle Greim was on hand. The Rams came up a winner in the second class as Mariel Saccucci earned the blue ribbon. A sophomore from Wakefield, Rhode Island Saccucci edged out Brown senior Josephine Nash for the top spot. Be it Greim, Davis or someone else guiding the troops Kayla Waskiewicz was first for Roger Williams in section C. The senior from Bristol, Rhode Island was one placing above Brittany Johnson of the host school. The final section of open flat went to Central Connecticut State Captain Liz Benfield. A junior from Weathersfield, Connecticut, Benfield assured CCSU of no worse than a tie for first through one division as she was the blue devils' point rider. Second in the section was Chelsea Bartscht of UConn, who spent much of the day as the Public Address Announcer (Barscht deserves at least a red ribbon for her announcing skills - Editor).
A trend continued in intermediate flat. Gabrielle Jehle, a Wesleyan University junior from Wading River, New York won the first section. This meant that though only ten schools were entered in today's show, five different schools had a blue ribbon in as many classes. Mark Haberland was second to give Connecticut College their first top two placing of the day. The hosts finally broke into the blue ribbon column as Libby Fedorko won section B. A junior from Trumbull, Connecticut (who was also today's Show Secretary) Fedorko would be the first of eight riders to win a class for UConn, giving the Huskies more blue ribbons than any other school on this day. Chelsea Weiner of Roger Williams was second, earning the second of the Hawks' six red ribbons. Katie Lynch became the first freshman to win a class. From South Dartmouth, Massachusetts Lynch was also the first of three Connecticut College riders to win, finishing one place ahead of Brittany McLaughlin of UConn in section C. The final section of intermediate flat saw UConn become the first school with more than one blue ribbon. Jessica Fall, a junior from Suffield, Connecticut won the final intermediate flat class for the Huskies while Tasha Houghton was second to earn Johnson & Wales their first top two placing. It would hardly be the last time in the top two for the Wildcats. The Huskies then proceeded to go on a streak. Isabel Arguelles, a senior who recently moved to Fairfield, Connecticut won the first section of novice flat. Kelly Masari, a senior from Milford, Connecticut won the second section. Roger Williams riders were runner-ups both times, with Brittany Cornell earning a red in section 3A while Jacqui Allred did likewise in section 3B. Johnson & Wales (referred to as 'Jay-Woo' by many in these parts) proceed to go on a win streak similar to that of the Huskies. Allie Leonard, a freshman from Amston, Connecticut was the first Wildcat to win a blue ribbon. Sophomore and teammate Kaitlyn McBrien followed with the same. From Centerville, Massachusetts McBrien may have qualified for Regionals with her first in section 3D. Rebecca Underwood, a sophomore from Gales Ferry, Connecticut rounded out the streak. Cara Rosenbaum of Brown, Courtney Levitsky of Roger Williams and Noelle Chandler of Central Connecticut State had to settle for red ribbons in that order. From Simsbury, Connecticut, Chandler was high point rider at the Brown show a month earlier, which was coincidentally the first IHSA show for the CCSU freshman. The final section of novice flat did not go to a UConn rider or a JWU rider. Instead Karen Quinn of Roger Williams reined supreme in section 3F. A sophomore from Berkley, Massachusetts, Quinn was actually listed in the program as an advanced walk-trot-canter rider four classes later (a mix-up over pointing up at the last show no doubt). Jenn Hilton of URI was second. The point sheets showed Brown, UConn and URI to be in the best shape through three divisions. Before the walk-trot-canter riders could strut their stuff, five alumni took to the ring. Four were from the University of Connecticut, including 2006 Huskie graduate Nicki Hunsicker. Hunsicker was the alumni flat champion for the day, while former teammate Debbie Kaufman was second. Kaufman serves as a good reminder that it does not matter how long you competed as an undergraduate as long as you showed at least once. Kaufman rode for only one semester at UConn (the fall of 2005) and will likely have more points by the end of the 2009-10 season than she did as an undergrad.
There were five sections of advanced walk-trot-canter. The Huskies were the first school into the winner's circle for AWTC as Amanda Theriault was tops in section A. From Norwich, Connecticut Theriault finished one place ahead of URI junior Abby Mayou. The Rams improved by a placing in section B. Nicolette Conti, a freshman from Cortland, New York won it for Rhode Island while Amber Kalolo of Johnson & Wales was second. Brown won for the first time since Fishelson did so to start the day. Anna Baker, a sophomore from Washington, District of Columbia won section C while the Wildcats made it two straight red ribbons via Jillian Loomis. Though Kalolo and Loomis just missed out their teammate Eliana London would not be denied. A senior from Cleveland, Ohio London won section D while Alicia Torres of Rhode Island College was second. Torres would be the only RIC rider (they call Rhode Island College "Rick" in some of these parts) to earn a top-two placing on this day. Brown won what would be their second of three blue ribbons over the course of four classes as Kona Shen won the final advanced WTC section. A senior from Seattle, Washington Shen was one placing higher than Carol Crabtree of Johnson & wales. The Wildcats had two riders in four of the five advanced sections and came away with a first and three seconds in that span. There were only three sections of beginner walk-trot-canter. Rebecca De Sa, a so-called 'Super Senior' from Rye, New York made it two straight and three of four for the Bears with a win in section A. Rebecca Schwartz, a Wesleyan University sophomore from New York, New York had a very successful IHSA debut. Schwartz won the red ribbon in section A. Like Roger Williams, Connecticut College was without Head Coach Richard Luckhardt at today's show. Nevertheless Amanda Jones of the Camels was likely taught well during team lessons leading up to today's show. The Conn College freshman from Columbus, Ohio won section B while Kyle Alexander of Roger Williams was reserve champion. The final section of beginner walk-trot-canter went to Allie Doolan of host UConn. Just like Schwartz it was the IHSA debut for Doolan, a freshman from Newington, Connecticut. Helen Mou of Brown University was the red ribbon winner. After only three sections of beginner walk-trot-canter there were only two sections of walk-trot to close out the flat divisions. UConn made it two straight wins as Alexandra Raleigh won section A. The sophomore from Norwalk, Connecticut was the sixth Huskie undergraduate of the day to win outright. Zoe Lillis of URI was the red ribbon winner. Central Connecticut State won for the second time as Ana Kopec took section B. A junior from Marlborough, Connecticut Kopec was also pointed. UConn earned no worse than five points in the walk-trot as Rebecca Trueman was reserve champion in section B. With all the flat classes completed Brown, UConn, URI and CCSU were the leaders, the latter surprisingly in such good shape.
Following a one hour and three minute break to remove jumps, school horses and feed the audience the open fences began at 2:28PM. Brittany Johnson, the UConn sophomore from Farmington, Connecticut who had placed second to Waskiewicz in open flat became the first rider with a first and a second. Johnson's win in section 8A for the moment it seemed put her in line for high point rider. Melissa Groher of Connecticut College was second, earning the Camels' second of four red ribbons. Elizabeth Gilberti won second 8B, the Brown senior becoming the second member of her team to hail from Washington, DC and coincidentally win a blue ribbon. Paula Foohey of URI was second, but the senior from Glastonbury, Connecticut would be outdone by teammate Josh Corriveau one class later. A junior from Blackstone, Massachusetts, Corriveau won the third and final section of open fences, relegating Waskiewicz to second. For the moment Waskiewicz and Johnson each had a first and a second. Would this be the ride-off for high point? For reserve? Jenny McMahon, a University of Rhode Island freshman from Medway, Massachusetts was the first of three riders to win a section of intermediate fences. Runner-up to McMahon was Lynch of Conn College, who thus joined Johnson and Waskiewicz for high point if only temporarily. Devon McLaughlin, a Camel teammate of Lynch's won the next section. Unlike 90 percent of the winners at today's show, McLaughlin was not from a Northeast state. The freshman from Paradise Valley, Arizona trailed only Shen of Brown in the 'distance from her front door' department. The potential ride-off grew even larger as Jehle was second, joining Lynch, Waskiewicz and Johnson in the 'I added 12 points to my resume' department. Central Connecticut State had only one rider in several divisions, including Ashley Miniucci in intermediate fences. The Blue Devils sophomore from Andover, Connecticut won the third section, giving CCSU a chance to capture high point team honors for the first time in program history if they could hold on through the novice fences. Connecticut College freshman Kim Klepacki was second, and for the first time in a while no one joined the ride-off from a given section of over fences. There were five sections of novice fences and two riders remaining who could get two firsts. There were at least four riders with prior red ribbons on this day who could make the ride-off even bigger! While Rachel Cohen of URI (a sophomore from Boonton, New Jersey if you are keeping track of year and hometown) taking first did not effect the ride-off, Leonard of Johnson & Wales taking second did. For Leonard would have been high point with a first. Instead she joined four others to make it a five-way ride-off at this point (and with five different schools represented no less!). Levitsky, who had finished second to McBrien 22 classes earlier, won section 4B. From Douglasville, Pennsylvania the Roger Williams junior could at least claim a teammate (Waskiewicz) in the ride-off with her. URI's Samantha Epright was second. Section 4C did not add anyone to the ride-off, as Eleni Healey earned Wesleyan's second blue ribbon of the day. A junior from New York, New York Healey finished one place ahead of Amanda D'Ambra, the last of six Rhode Island riders to earn a red ribbon. D'Ambra's teammate Jenn Hilton had better luck in section 4D, the freshman from Tiverton, Rhode Island joining Levitsky, Leonard, Jehle, Lynch, Waskiewicz and Johnson in the ride-off thanks to a blue ribbon in this class. Lauren Donahue earned Post University's best ribbon of the day by placing second to Hilton, while Massari's bid to become the only rider with two firsts ended with a white ribbon. The ride-off for high point was thus set at seven riders, as the final section of novice fences was made up of six riders who had not finished inside the top two earlier in the day. In the 35th and final undergraduate class Brown University earned their sixth and final blue ribbon. The official Brown University athletics web site lists Rebecca McGoldrick as a sophomore from Virginia Water, England but this writer would swear she told us she was from someplace in the contiguous 48 on a prior occasion. In any event McGoldrick won while Samantha Taylor of Roger Williams was second. Third went to CCSU sophomore Melanie Richard, who clinched high point team honors for the Blue Devils. Like Roger Williams and Connecticut College, Central Connecticut State was without Coach (and former Blue Devil) Kayla Blanchette at today's competition. In any event all the pieces fell into place and CCSU claimed their first, first place showing since the program made its' IHSA debut in the fall of 2005.
The 37th and final regularly-scheduled class of the day was alumni fences. While Kaufman (who graduated in 2008) repeated her red ribbon it was former Huskie Tara Lynch earning top honors. Also a member of the class of '08, Lynch did not flat earlier in the day, choosing only to jump at today's show. Continuing the alumni fences placings it was former UConn rider Karen Stryker in third, former Huskie Amy Kriwitsky in fourth, Hunsicker in fifth and the lone non-UConn alum Christine Skibski of Rhode Island College in sixth. Earlier '09 graduate Skibski was third in alumni flat. The Ride-Off: Judge Ann Jamieson had each of the seven riders line up at one point to perform specific flat work. When it was over Jamison selected Leonard of the Wildcats as the winner and Jehle of the Cardinal as reserve high point. If CCSU won, then who was second?: Central Connecticut State scored 37 points in victory, a far cry from the six points earned at URI on opening day (when was the last time an IHSA team could claim high point team and last place at shows held in the same semester?). The URI Rams were reserve, perhaps bolstered by six blue and six red ribbons (and the good karma from Hinds' 2008 Zone 1 Zones honesty). Rhode Island (with 33) was followed by host UConn. It was perhaps a case of the Huskies beating themselves; UConn had riders in all but four undergraduate classes and two or more in better than a dozen. The Huskies earned eight blue and six red ribbons while scoring 30 points. Johnson & Wales earned to date their 2009-10 season high with 28 points and fourth place while Brown was held under 30 points for the first time this season with 27. We thought we saw the Wesleyan point sheet add to 20 points when we left but on the official e-mail of points from the President College the Cardinal was credited with 26. Connecticut College received 23 while Rhode Island College (without an open rider) earned 16. Roger Williams was a complete enigma, earning three blues and six reds but scoring only 13 points despite multiple riders in all levels (RWU seems to alternate between high and low scores so far, having gone from 32 on opening day to 18 then back to 32 and then down to 13 today). Post University has also been up and down, having scored 27 on opening day, 10 points at the Brown show, 23 at Conn College's halloween show and 10 again today (Trinity College did not take part in today's show, the third time this season that the Bantams have not entered a Region 1 show. Trinity is scheduled to host a spring show however).
In the Glastonbury area the baby and a saddle are seen in the ultrasound!: This writer has often wondered which town nationwide produces the most IHSA riders. Somewhat unsurprisingly the five boroughs of what makes up New York City appears to have the lead. However with nearly eight million residents this is not a huge surprise. For a traditional town the verdict is wide open, but when Glastonbury, Connecticut and South Glastonbury, Connecticut are seen as one this might be the place for IHSA Coaches to pound the pavement for new recruits. O'Keefe and Foohey are from Glastonbury, as was Fall until recently moving to Suffield. Groher is from South Glastonbury, while many riders in the other New England IHSA regions (and a few regions elsewhere) also make their off-season homes in these horsey communities slightly southeast of Hartford. Raising funds for Jasper Howard's family: The Huskies held a raffle at today's show to raise funds for the Jasper Howard Foundation. Known as "Jazz" on the Storrs, Connecticut campus, Jasper Howard was a UConn Football player and one of the best cornerbacks and return men in the Big East Conference. Only hours after recovering a huge fumble in the Huskies' 38-25 win over Louisville on October 17th the junior from the Little Haiti section of Miami, Florida was stabbed to death outside a dance (a sad case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; A friend of Howard's was also stabbed but recovered. This is the only time in the 128 year history of the Storrs campus that anyone has been murdered - Editor.). The first person in his family to go to college, Howard left behind a girlfriend who was soon to have their first and sadly only child. The Foundation was started to raise money for this child and for Howard's siblings and Mother, the latter of which holds down several jobs to support her children. The raffle was organized by senior and former Alfred University rider Erin Callanan, with the winners receiving everything from gift certificates to Subway and Applebee's to autographed pictures of legendary UConn Men's Basketball Head Coach Jim Calhoun and the even-more-successful Women's Basketball Head Coach Geno Auriemma. This writer has seen many raffles held at IHSA shows over the years and this was the most well-run raffle bar none. For more information or to donate to the Jasper Howard Foundation, visit http://www.ourmoment.uconn.edu/stories-of-giving/2009-10-howard.html. ---Steve Maxwell Show Incidentals: Occasional rain, with temperatures in the low '40's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 9:21AM. Finish: 5:33PM - includes 63 minute schooling/lunch break. Coaches and Captains meeting held prior to start of show. Point cards posted in this region? Yes, but with no rider names (class names listed only). Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Ann Jamieson. Stewards: Fogg/Johnson & Wales University, Maloof/University of Rhode Island and Johnson/Post University. Team Totals: Central Connecticut State University (High Point Team) 37; University of Rhode Island (Reserve) 33; University of Connecticut 30; Johnson & Wales University 28; Brown University 27; Connecticut College 23; Wesleyan University 20; Rhode Island College 16; Roger Williams University 13 and Post University 11. High Point Rider - Allie Leonard, Johnson & Wales University
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