Caitlin O'Shea of Cornell won her Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter class December 7th. Cornell riders won at least one class in each division save for open fences and novice flat.

CORNELL WINS HIGH-SCORING AFFAIR, HOLDS FIRST PLACE

Ithaca, NY - Cornell University, with six firsts and two seconds on their point card, edged Skidmore 47-45 at the final Region 3 fall show December 7th. The big red machine raised their points-per-show average to 44 and a quarter points, tops in the nation. Skidmore, which entered the day one point behind Cornell in the Region 3 standings, is averaging 43 and a half, likely second in the nation! Though we at Campus Equestrian do not have access to all time records, Skidmore may have set or tied a record by scoring 45 points in a regular-season IHSA show and not placing first!

Six other teams competed, but nine originally planned to: Snow throughout most of Upstate New York wrecked havoc with interstate highways and backroads on Saturday. Though several schools in the eastern part of the state had hoped to drive west to the Oxley Center on Sunday morning, S.U.N.Y. - Cobleskill, Siena and R.P.I. all called and cancelled out between 4AM and 7AM, as the roads were too dangerous. Skidmore drove through the snow on Saturday, with a travel time of six hours for a journey that can be completed in three under normal circumstances. Incredibly, Cornell was able to print an addendum to the original program with a revised class list to reflect the last-minute cancelations.

Save for each alumni division and beginner walk-trot-canter, there were exactly three sections of each division. Save for the alumni, beginner walk-trot-canter and walk-trot divisions (with three to five riders each), Six to eight riders rode in each division. The show got underway at 8:42AM with open flat. Ashley Woodhouse and Jamie Jansen of Skidmore won the first two sections while Alexis Gilbard of Colgate won the last. Jansen won the first section of open fences while Erica Rosen and Asta Torokvei of Cornell won the remaining two. Both Rosen and Torokvei had placed second in their flat classes to Jansen and Gilbard, respectively.

While Cornell had not earned a blue in the open flat division, Skidmore could not stay perfect through the intermediate fences. Megan Gates of Cornell won the first section, while Elisabeth Thayer of Hamilton and Aubrey Graham of Colgate also came away with blue ribbons. No Skidmore rider placed higher than third in the division.

Cornell and Skidmore held serve in novice fences, as Laura Acker of the former won section A while Alyssa Garvin and Insley Julier won sections B and C for the latter. Following Alumni Fences (a three-way affair of Cornell graduates, won by Megan Dines '03) and the lunch break, Gates won the first of three sections of intermediate flat, followed by teammate Gillian Pech doing likewise in section B. Garvin was again pointed for Skidmore and won section C.

The Cornell drop score came from the next section, novice flat. Courtney Clark of Skidmore won section A for the Throughbreds. However Christy House of Hamilton broke the run of blue ribbons for Cornell and Skidmore with a first of her own. Meg Quinlan of Ithaca, a last-minute add to the program, won the third section. No Cornell rider placed above third.

Though there are alumni riding in Region 3 from schools other than Cornell, none showed on this day. Nicole Bowen, who like Dines graduated last season, won the alumni flat. Christie Schneckner, who graduated in '01, was second over fences and third on the flat. However Schneckner leads overall in both alumni divisions, with only another third needed to qualify for Regionals over the jumps.

Caitlin O'Shea of Cornell won for the big red in advanced walk-trot-canter. Moments later Kate Fegan of Skidmore did likewise. The third advanced walk-trot-canter section went to Elizabeth-Jo Carr of Morrisville State College, formerly known as S.U.N.Y. - Morrisville, and third in the region overall at the end of the day.

The lone beginner walk-trot-canter class went to Cornell's Diana Chaffee. The final division in the ring was walk-trot. Up to this point, five of Cornell's pointed riders had firsts, one had a second, and one had a third. Five pointed Skidmore riders had firsts, one had a second and one had a fifth. If both the Skidmore and Cornell riders who were pointed in the walk-trot won then the show would end up a tie and Cornell would hold their one-point lead overall.

Cornell had riders in each of the first two sections, while Skidmore had one in the last section. Both Jes Enes and Krystal Wang of the big red came out on top, assuring Cornell of the lead going into the winter break. However in the last class of the day, Kate Dolan of Hartwick won the lone blue ribbon of the day for the hawks, edging Katie Lerch of Skidmore in the process. The throughbreds settled for 45 points, now three back of the big red overall. Yet with four Spring shows on the horizon both Cornell and Skidmore have a long way to go in a race very much undecided.

We found one!: Some struggle to find an open rider, some with an intermediate and others with a walk-troter. The objective is for each team to fill their point card, that is to have someone showing in all eight divisions. In many regions more than half the cards have at least one empty division. On this day only Colgate did not have a full card, with the raiders in search of a walk-trot rider. If you go to Colgate, and want to learn how to ride a horse, locate the equestrian team ASAP!

Family affair: New to the Morrisville State team this season is Jessica Jansen, a freshman who rides open flat and intermediate fences. If the name sounds familiar, it is because her cousin Jamie rides for Skidmore and is trying to win the region's Cacchione Cup for a second consecutive season. Binghamton has a freshman by the name of Rachel Pech, whose sister Gillian has been a cornerstone with the Cornell team for three seasons.

Almost forgot the Ride-off!: Jansen and Garvin of Skidmore joined Gates in a three-way ride-off for individual high point rider. Jansen won, with Gates reserve. Though Garvin did not get a ribbon here she is undefeated in two novice fences classes so far this season.

Drawing comparisons: Two seasons ago, Ohio University, which had never won their region, lead early against a Miami of Ohio team with a winning streak stretching back to 1997. During the spring shows, Ohio pulled away from Miami, and proceeded to survive Zones (along with then-defending national champs Findlay) en route to the 2002 IHSA hunter seat national championship. The 2003-04 Cornell equestrian team is in a similar situation. If they can stay ahead of Skidmore, and can survive Zone 2 Zones, what else couldn't they do?

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: High Temperature in the upper 20's. Mostly overcast, occassional sun. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 9:24AM. Finish: 3:48PM - includes 58 minute lunch break/coaches & captains meeting and several schooling breaks totaling an additional 50 minutes. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Mrs. Jean Salcedo. Stewards: Eklund/Morrisville State College, Smith/Hartwick College and one other, unknown.

Team Totals: Cornell University (High Point Team) 47; Skidmore College (Reserve) 45; Morrisville State College 28; Hamilton College 28; Colgate University 27; Ithaca College 27; Hartwick College 26 and Binghamton Univeristy 16.

High Point Rider - Jaime Jansen, Skidmore College
Reserve High Point Rider - Megan Gates, Cornell University