University of Rhode Island Head Coach Pam Maloof poses between Amanda Tustian (right) and Tara Hinds (left). Tustian had just won a ride-off for high point versus Hinds. The Ram teammates helped Rhode Island pull out a narrow victory on September 30th.

URI BEATS BROWN BY A POINT, LEADS REGION FOR FIRST TIME

Exeter, RI - Three different teams have ended the season as Zone 1, Region 1 high point team over the past four seasons. In 2002-03 it was Brown University, winning the region a fourth consecutive season at the time. Then Roger Williams rose up to win the Region 1 title in 2003-04. The past two seasons have belonged to the University of Connecticut, which rode to a perfect score at the third show of the 2005-06 season and never relinquished the lead.

One team that never held the lead during that time is the University of Rhode Island. The Rams have had their moments, but in most cases this was after one of the other teams had already built up a substantial lead in the team standings.

However there is always a first time. And on September 30th the Rams won the first three classes and held the lead, albeit precariously at times, from start to finish. When the show at Faith Hill Farm was over the University of Rhode Island could claim their first-ever lead in the Zone 1, Region 1 team standings.

The Rams were led by Amanda Tustian, a winner in both of her open classes as well as the ride off. The self-described 'Sort of Senior' from Easton, Connecticut was competing in her first ride-off since opening day at Faith Hill Farm three seasons earlier. The victory was quite impressive given the fact that Tustian had suffered a broken leg in May. "My Horse reared up and landed on me," said Tustian, who was only able to start riding again in mid-August.

With five points earned in her novice fences class, Connecticut College senior Nicole Moin (left, with Camels Head Coach Richard Luckhardt) needs only one point in the division to advance to Regionals. Connecticut College finished with 28, giving the Camels the most points of any Connecticut school competing at today's show.

Rhode Island Ram teammate Tara Hinds was the only other rider with two firsts. From Grovelands, Massachusetts, Hinds won a pair of intermediate divisions. Also winning a class for URI was freshman Paula Foohey. From South Glastonbury, Connecticut, Foohey had won the first section of open fences to start the day. Though three Rams won second-place reserve ribbons, only Tustian, Foohey and Hinds took home the blues, this despite Hinds sharing her supposedly 'Lucky' or 'Magical' gloves with her teammates (hey, they work! URI won the show, didn't they? - Editor).

Brown University nearly caught the Rams, finishing behind by the slimmest of margins, 39-38. Bear senior and Captian Grace Peloquin won the fourth class of the day (the first not won by URI), earning the blue in intermediate fences and pointing into open. Courtney Pope, a self-described 'junior and a half' won the novice fences class immediately after Peloquins' turn, while Cody Auer won in open flat and Stephanie Syc won in walk-trot. Open rider Whitney Keefe, the 2006 Region 1 representative in the Cacchione Cup competition at IHSA Nationals, earned a second on the flat and a third over fences in her first IHSA appearance since placing ninth in the Nation at Nationals on May 6th.

Connecticut College earned 28 points to lead all schools from the Nutmeg state. Though Steph Gollobin (open fences), Nicole Moin (novice fences), Emily Winslow (novice flat) and Mark Haberland (also novice flat) all won second-place ribbons it was not until the third-to-last class of the day when Sahra Wallace won the lone blue ribbon of the day for the Camels. Though it was not the first IHSA show for second-year Head Coach Richard Luckhardt, it was his first time coaching a team on opening day. Luckhardt was not the only coach who was not yet serving in that capacity one year ago almost to the day.

When this photo was taken, Post University freshman Melissa Meyers (right) had just placed second in her novice fences. Some time later teammate Jamie Salveson (left) would win her open flat, Meyers would win her novice flat and Post would place fifth overall with 27 points.

On opening day 2005-06 Briana King was a senior who finished out of the ribbons in open flat for Janice Callahan's eventual Region 1 Region Champion University of Connecticut Huskies. Callahan retired at the end of the season, leading to one of the most anticipated Coaching Openings anywhere in the IHSA. The new University of Connecticut Head Coach turned out to be Meg Dinger, an exceptional polo player who was elected to the 1997 All-American Woman's Polo Team. While Dinger made her debut with UConn, King made her debut as the Head Coach of Post University, taking over for Gerrie Giunta.

Though the University of Connecticut had history on their side, Callahan's last hurrah had also been the (undergraduate) swansong for King, Meghann Jones, Nicole Hunsicker, Karen Cooper, Maura Kenny, Caroline Gottschalk and many others who graduated from UConn in Spring 2006. As the day progressed, one wondered if the recently-graduated King would get more points out of her Eagles than Dinger would get out of a very different Huskies team than competed only six months earlier.

It was not until the ninth undergraduate class of the day that either of these schools earned a blue ribbon. Post junior Jamie Salveson won the second section of open flat, giving Post a seven point lead over UConn through half the divisions. Post freshman Melissa Meyers, who had placed second in novice fences, won her novice flat. The Huskies then closed the gap slightly, aided by a blue ribbon from one-time St. John's University equestrian team member Tracy O'Connor. Incredibly, O'Connor's first in novice flat was the only (undergraduate) class of the day won by the Huskies. The walk-trot nearly brought the Huskies even, but at the end of the day King had pulled her Eagles into fourth place ahead of UConn by a 27-25 score. It should be noted that UConn may be deep in several divisions while Post may have to be wary of class-ups creating shortages. Still many of the UConn riders and the Post Coach learned from one of the best, so the race to have the best team in Connecticut (at least of those teams who compete in Zone 1 - Editor) could be something to keep an eye on.

Central Connecticut State senior Kayla Blanchette sets up the camera to work on a documentary for school. The Blue Devils finished with a healthy 19 points while Blanchette placed third in her section of novice flat.

The head coaching debut of 2005 Roger Williams graduate Eliza Davis was more of a success than we at Campus Equestrian originally thought. It you read this story before 10PM on October 16th you would have thought Roger Williams won six classes, the most of any school competing at the September 30th show but that the Hawks finished sixth with 23 points. It appears however that this writer mis-read the point sheet, seeing '23' when in fact the Hawks scored 33! Carolyn Pickett (intermediate flat), Courtney Fraser (same), Lauren Rarich (novice flat), Meg Gardner (novice fences), Jackie Urankar (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Alicia Milch (walk-trot) all won classes for Rogers Williams. (The Hawks would score 26 at the October 14th show hosted by Post, leaving them only ten points off the lead through two shows.) Davis was an important member of the 2003-04 Hawk team and one wonders if she could soon claim to have ridden for and coached a Region Champion team.

Rhode Island College also cracked the 20-point barrier with 21. Eleven of RIC's points came from sophomore Kelsey Kanoff, who won her novice fences and placed third in novice flat.

Central Connecticut State was next with 19 points Elana Hapis earned the best ribbon of the day for the Blue Devils, placing second in intermediate flat. Senior Kayla Blanchette grabbed some attention by setting up a video camera on a tripod as part of a project for school. "There are three parts to (the project)," said Blanchette. "The first part is a documentary with slides. The second part is an interview and the third part is 'The final video' which will be on the IHSA. Originally it was supposed to be a music video!" This could be an interesting time piece and makes one wonder how many others through the years compiled video/film projects using the IHSA as the background. If you have old IHSA footage from the '70's and '80's please let us know!

The 2006-07 season marks ten years that the Brown University equestrian team has had varsity status. Four Brown graduates commemerated this by competing in the alumni divisions. From left are Heather McCrea '02, Cindy Wilner '04, Elissa Aminoff '01 and Amanda Forte '02. Though Forte won over the jumps, Karen Cooper (not pictured), the lone University of Connecticut alumni rider at today's show, won on the flat.

It was not one of the better Johnson & Wales appearances in recent memory. Several J & W riders rode well, but only Jennifer Troncone scored a blue ribbon. The Wildcats finished with 16 points. This writer wants to go on record that he stated before the show that Johnson & Wales would be in the top three within Region 1 when the seasons ends, and he is sticking with that statement despite this particular performance.

Rounding out the scoring were Wesleyan University with 15 points and Trinity College with five points. Wesleyan senior Penelope Essoyan won an IHSA class for the first time, providing her team with their lone blue ribbon of the day (won in advanced walk-trot-canter). Freshman Noelle Bessette placed fourth over the novice fences in her IHSA debut for Trinity while teammate Catherine Condella earned the same placing in novice flat.

Happy Anniversary, Brown Bears: The majority of teams within the IHSA have what is called 'Club Status,' meaning that the team is funded by either the schools student activities department or their club sports department. It was ten years ago this fall that the Brown University Equestrian Team moved from Club Status to Varsity Status, meaning the team was now funded by the Athletic Department in much the same way the Basketball or Football team is. When a team gains Varsity status they also have funding for recruiting, and since 1996 the Bears have picked up the likes of Auer, Keefe, Jamie Peddy, Elizabeth Quattros and Amanda Forte. The move also allowed for a paid Head Coach. Michaela Scanlon had coached Roger Williams for nine seasons when she became the Brown Coach in the fall of '96. Ten years later Brown has won four Region titles, finished second in the region three times and can claim six of the last seven Region 1 Cacchione qualifiers.

To mark the anniversary, several Brown alumni were on hand for the season opener, and four of them took part in the alumni classes. Elissa Aminoff, a 2001 Brown graduate, was second in alumni fences but was the envy of the other Brown alumni for "Being Published." Forte, who was third in the class, has also been published but feels Aminoff is more of a leader in her field (this field is unclear, nor is it known exactly what of theirs is published). Heather McCrea '02 was fourth over the jumps while Cindy Wilner, the youngest of the group having graduated in 2004, was fifth. Non-Brown alumni Lauren Hytinen of the University of Rhode Island was sixth in fences but would place third on the flat. Following a Pie-Eating Contest (won by Brett 'The Bottomless Pit' Hobson of Roger Williams) and a Vaulting Demonstration, Forte won her first alumni class since Zone 1 Zones last April. The 2002 Brown alum and three-time Cacchione qualifer (winning it all in 2001) took the blue in alumni flat while 2006 University of Connecticut graduate Karen Cooper was reserve. Cooper had beaten the entire field of Brown riders over the fences. The recent UConn graduate hinted that more of her former teammates may compete at the next show, as some were surprised at the fact that Cooper was the lone UConn alumni rider after the Huskies dominated the Region 1 alumni entries the past three seasons.

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Mostly sunny skies, with temperatures in the mid '60's. Start time: 9:26AM. Finish: 4:29PM - includes 54 minute Lunch Break/Pie-Eating Contest/Vaulting Demonstration. Point cards posted in this region? Yes, but with no rider names (class names listed only). Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Jennifer Bradley. Stewards: Fogg/Johnson & Wales University, Scanlon/Brown University and Luckhardt/Connecticut College.

Team Totals: Rhode Island University (High Point Team) 39; Brown University (Reserve) 38; Roger Williams University 33; Connecticut College 28; Post University 27; University of Connecticut 25; Rhode Island College 21; Central Connecticut State University 19; Johnson & Wales University 16; Wesleyan University 15 and Trinity College 5.

High Point Rider - Amanda Tustian, University of Rhode Island
Reserve High Point Rider - Tara Hinds, University of Rhode Island