From left to right are Regina Woronowicz, Laura Ramsey, Coach Peter Cashman, Kim Cowan, Kalen Lasen, Christine Thebaud, Coach Sherry Cashman and Captain Corinne Noble of the United States Military Academy. The USMA was one of two schools to score 28 points at the November 15th Marist show.

CENTENARY COMES FROM BEHIND TO WIN AGAIN

LaGrangeville, NY - In the early going Bard College had the lead. Later on it looked like SUNY-New Paltz had a chance to win. Drew was impressive throughout while host Marist College did very well without an open rider on their point card.

However when it was all over Centenary College had rallied to win with 38 points at Crosswinds Equestrian Center on November 15th. The Cyclones had faired well individually throughout the day but it was not until the novice divisions were completed that the lead was theirs for good. Kat McGhee led the way for Centenary, winning her open fences while placing third in open flat. Other riders to win classes for the Cyclones were Kelly Arvidson (open flat), Angie Fiori (same), Lindsay Mohr (open fences), Brittany Cunnane (intermediate flat), Sam Whitley (intermediate fences), Julie Connors (novice flat), Ali Krecker (novice fences) and Debbie Smith (advanced walk-trot-canter). Ellen Rauchbach was second in her section of intermediate fences, the only time that Centenary earned a red ribbon over the course of 27 undergraduate classes. With the show more limited than those held at Centenary or Briarwood so far this season, only Arvidson, Fiori, McGhee and Mohr rode twice for the Cyclones. With her seven points earned in open fences Mohr continues to lead the Region 1 hunter seat open rider standings while Centenary appears headed to a 21st consecutive hunter seat region title.

"May I pose with the Colmer twins?" Yes indeed Mollie McGann (on left), you may pose with Drew freshmen Jonas (center) and Sarah (on right) Colmer. Sarah was second in intermediate fences, Jonas was first in novice fences while Ranger teammate McGann was second in open flat.

The State University of New York at New Paltz (one of eleven schools in the SUNY system to field an IHSA team in 2009-10 and one of at least five to use the SUNY prefix in IHSA programs on a regular basis) was reserve champion with 35 points. New Paltz was led by intermediate rider Emilee Raynor, who received seconds in both of her classes. Samantha Marsh, a sophomore from Smithtown, New York won her novice flat while Carolyn Smith's first in open flat sent her to Regionals in the division. Lacey Lohr, a late add to the program, was second in the walk-trot class which concluded the competition.

Drew University missed a tie for reserve by only a point. The Rangers earned two undergraduate blue ribbons, as Jonas Colmer won his novice flat while Christina Karas won her advanced walk-trot-canter. Colmer was not the only member of his family to earn a top two placing. Twin sister Sara was a red ribbon winner earlier in intermediate fences. Also earning red ribbons for Drew were Angelica Veca (in walk-trot), Mollie McGann (in open flat) and Katie Kramer, a sophomore from Los Angeles, California who was second in both of her open classes.

If the show had ended after five classes Bard College may have been the winner. In that short time Otto Berkes won the open fences class which started the day while Rosina Williams and Alexa Wolf won consecutive sections of intermediate fences. From Portola Valley, California Wolf finished second to Cunnane in her intermediate flat and later earned reserve high point rider honors as no other undergraduate rider earned exactly 12 points at today's show. However Bard did not earn another top two placing and eventually settled for fourth on this day with 31 points.

From left to right are Head Coach Andrea Nussinow, Rosina Williams, Otto Berkes, Alexa Wolf, Bethany Richards and Elizabeth Falcone of Bard College. Wolf won her intermediate fences while placing second in intermediate flat to earn Reserve High Point Rider honors while the Raptors scored 31 points to place fourth overall on this day.

Though they had no rider in open flat or fences, host Marist College scored 30 points while earning more blue ribbons than any school entered save for Centenary. Toniann Carlone (in walk-trot), Kerry McDonald (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Caitlin Heller (intermediate flat) each won a blue ribbon while Christina Handshy one-upped everyone. The Red Fox junior from Ridgefield, Connecticut won both of her novice classes to earn High Point Rider honors for the day while also advancing to Regionals in novice fences. Lauren Berdar (in novice fences),Paige Zangogla (novice flat) and Emily Whalen (beginner walk-trot-canter) won red ribbons for the Red Foxes, who easily earned their high score of the season thus far.

The United States Military Academy was one of two schools with 28 points. The Black Knights heated up during the novice fences, as Joseph Curtin was second to Jonas Colmer in the first section while Corinne Noble was second to Handshy in the second. Raquel Rascon, a senior (or 'Firstie,' as the seniors are known at West Point) from Dallas, Texas then won the third section of novice fences outright. Cadie Steele was second in novice flat while the first three advanced walk-trot-canter classes yielded red ribbons for Naomi Fuhrman, Jessica Huggins and Christine Thebaud. Aryn Davis, a junior (or 'Cow' in West Point jargon) from Klickitat, Washington who is in her first year on the USMA team earned their second and final blue ribbon of the day with a first in section A of walk-trot.

William Paterson University was the other team with 28 points. It was not until the 19th undergraduate class of the day that William Paterson earned their first top-two placing. Renee Filipelli won the fourth and final section of novice flat while Liz Chew won the second section of beginner walk-trot-canter five classes later. Annmarie DeAngel was second to Chew, marking the only time all day that any school earned the top two ribbons in a single class.

While she only earned a fourth in novice fences, Pace University junior Mary Beth Dixon (on left) advanced to Regionals in the division. First year Setters Head Coach Sam Miller (on right) is one of three Region 1 Head Coaches to have competed in IHSA competition as an undergraduate. Miller was an open rider for Goucher College a few seasons back.

Competing without a walk-trot-canter rider, Stevens Institute of Technology was next with 17 points. The Ducks earned their lone blue ribbon of the day in the eleventh hour, as Julia Cederroth won the third and final section of walk-trot to conclude the event at 3:36PM. Red ribbons were awarded to Madalyn Kulas (also in walk-trot) and Kahri Olsen (second to Arvidson in open flat much earlier in the day). Angela Parriott's fifth in novice fences made her a Regional Qualifier in that division.

Like Stevens, Vassar College also had to wait until late in the day to earn their lone blue ribbon. Courtney Kaess, a junior from Westport, Connecticut won the first of two sections of beginner walk-trot-canter. Lina Kavaliunas' third in novice fences was their best ribbon prior to Kaess's ride.

Vassar was one of two teams to score 13 points while Sarah Lawrence College was the other. Gryphon riders earned a pair of red ribbons via Lara Eder in novice fences and Aya Matsumoto in novice flat.

Pace University rounded out the scoring with 11 points. Like Sarah Lawrence, Pace riders received a pair of red ribbons. Caroline O'Connell was second in open fences while Hatshu Tashirko was second in novice flat. Mary Beth Dixon, a senior from Little Rock, Arkansas qualified for Regionals with a fourth in novice fences.

What would 'Smudge' say? Marist junior Caitlin Heller (on left, with Red Foxes Coach Claire Knapp) submitted her horse Smudge into today's show, then had to ride against him in intermediate flat. And to much surprise Heller won the class to earn her first IHSA flat class since joining the Marist team a few seasons back! Marist won five blue ribbons for the day, trailing only Centenary in that category.

Kennedy, Posner swap placings: The alumni fences nearly did not happen at today's show, as two of the four riders were nowhere to be found when the class began. 2009 Marist graduate Maria Sanner was drafted at the last moment to fill the division. Sanner, who was not in traditional show clothes simply entered, approached the first fence, refused and was exused. SUNY-Oswego graduate Lindsey Posner won it while 2006 Drew alum Kristine Kennedy earned the red ribbon. Later on Kennedy won the alumni flat while Posner was second. Manhattanville College graduate Lauren Napoli-Green was third while her former teammate Cheryl Maloney was fourth. Maloney hopes to not only ride alumni in early 2010 but also coach, as Manhattanville will hopefully field their first team in three seasons when William Paterson hosts at Briarwood on February 20th (it should be noted that Napoli-Green and Maloney do not jump and were not the M.I.A. riders in the first alumni class - Editor).

You don't see this happen every day: When Caitlin Heller mounted up on 'Tucker' to compete in the second section of intermediate flat the Marist junior from Dover Plains, New York knew she would see a familiar face in the ring. Heller allowed use of her horse 'Smudge' in today's show, and another rider drew Smudge in this class. When the placings were announced Heller, who has an eventing background, had won an IHSA flat class for the first time since joining the Marist team two seasons earlier (There is no proof that Smudge and Tucker talked about Heller's situation before or during the class, nor can we confirm Tucker or Smudge told 'Stewart' to help Handshy win both of her classes, as the high point rider drew the horse with a name associated with a drive-in known for its' root beer for both rides - Editor).

Go east, young woman: Horace Greeley, who in 1872 lost a Presidential election to U.S. Grant, is best known for saying "Go west, young man." However in 2009 perhaps the reverse is true. This writer has encountered more West Coast residents competing for IHSA schools on the East Coast than ever before. Region 1 had it's share of Californians in the top two today, including Wolf, Kramer and McGann (from Laguna Hills) while Berkes and Davis represented the Pacific Northwest.

Crosswinds Equestrian Center features a fiberglass bubble-style indoor as evidenced by this photo of SUNY-New Paltz's Samantha Marsh. Marsh was one of two Hawks to win a class, earning a blue in novice flat. SUNY-New Paltz was Reserve High Point Team with 35 points, three fewer than Centenary.

Centenary fairs even better against rest of country in December: While the likes of SUNY-New Paltz, Bard, Drew and William Paterson have either come very close to defeating or actually did defeat Centenary at a Region 1 show this fall, the rest of the country took a beating from the Cyclones when they hosted the Holiday Tournament of Champions on December 5th. 25 schools took part (including Drew, William Paterson and SUNY-New Paltz from Region 1) with three schools bringing a second team of eight riders. Centenary was one of the three teams and their "Team Jacob" won with an incredible 43 points (out of a possible 56 as the lowest score is not dropped at a Tournament event - Editor). The runner up was 18 points behind, and the Reserve Champions were in fact the other Centenary entree. "Team Edward" scored 25 to finish three points ahead of two Mount Holyoke College teams and Lynchburg College to secure the red ribbon. Mohr, Connors and Sami Davis swept the fences divisions for Jacob. Candice Schober was a winner in novice flat while Emily Hawley won walk-trot-canter for Jacob after the fences were moved to the side. Defending Cacchione Cup Champion Lindsay Clark won open fences for Edward while freshman Jessica Pabst won her novice flat. If this was a preview of what is ahead in Lexington this May then the Cyclones will prove that good things come in 'twos.' Centenarys' only other IHSA National Championships prior to last season were in 1978 and 1979, respectively.

They blinked & we missed them!: At the Marist show it came to pass that we took only one photo of a Centenary rider all day, and that photo of Katie Smith has already been used on our Regional Qualifiers page. By presenting this story without any Centenary photos it marks the first time since we started posting more than one photo in our Region 1 stories that no Cyclone picture can be found here. For some time this writer has heard how good the competition is here in Region 1, so it is only fair that for once we recognize most of the other ten or so schools by posting photos pertaining to their success in LaGrangeville on November 15th.

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny skies, with temperatures in the upper '50's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 8:51AM. Finish: 3:36PM - includes one hour lunch break/Coaches & Captains meeting. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni Classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Todd Karn. Stewards: P. Cashman/United States Military Academy; Clopp/Vassar College and Dowling/Centenary College.

Hunter Seat Team Totals: Centenary College (High Point Team) 38; State University of New York at New Paltz (Reserve) 35; Drew University 34; Bard College 31; Marist College 30; United States Military Academy 38; William Paterson University 28; Stevens Institute of Technology 17; Vassar College 13; Sarah Lawrence College 13 and Pace University 11.

High Point Rider - Christina Handshy, Marist College
Reserve High Point Rider - Alexa Wolf, Bard College