Seen here at the December 2005 Holiday Tournament of Champions, Michelle Rizzolo was one of nine Centenary College riders to place inside the top three at Regionals on March 30th. Rizzolo survived two heats to win the walk-trot-canter division.

CENTENARY COLLEGE DOMINATES ZONE 2, REGION 1 REGIONALS

(Drew University senior Nathan Band has written an account of Zone 2, Region 1 Regionals, which took place March 30th at the Centenary College Equestrian Center. Band points out that the alumni divisions were held even though all riders involved were already assured a place at Zones, as the top three in each division advance. Every team in the region save for Marist College had at least one rider qualified to compete at Regionals, which is not as common as one might imagine - Editor)

Long Valley, NJ - Centenary College dominated the competition in their home ring. All ten classes rode, and Centenary riders walked away with blue ribbons in five of them. Kim Kalosy won the novice fences class, Megan Tritsch won the walk trot class, Michelle Rizzolo won walk-trot-canter, Molly Brown won novice flat and Nicole Benesch won the intermediate flat class. Of the 29 riders who advanced to Zones (only two riders rode in alumni fences) eleven were from Centenary. Drew University, Sarah Lawrence College and Pace University each advanced undergraduate riders in three classes, while Stevens Institute and the USMA advanced riders in two classes each.

Despite Centenary’s strong showing, the strongest individual performance came from Liz Stitzel of Sarah Lawrence. She opened the competition by winning the open fences class, and then finished the day by placing second in the open flat class. Liz was one of only three riders to qualify in multiple classes. The others were Kahri Olsen of Stevens Institute of Technology, who placed second in intermediate fences and third in open flat, and Rachel Marcotte of Centenary who placed third in open fences and second in intermediate flat.

Drew Universitys' co-captain Victoria Fredrick won the open flat class and Hillary Quinn of Pace won the intermediate fences, and along with Stitzel accounted for the only undergraduate classes won by riders from schools other than Centenary.

Alumni classes were held, despite having only two riders entered for the alumni fences class and three for the flat. Both classes were won by Kristine Kennedy of Drew. Lisa Tomaselli of Virginia Tech took second in both classes, and Amy Gregonis of Centenary took third on the flat.

--Nathan Band

2008 Zone 2, Region 1 Regionals class results, listed in the order in which they were held, with the top three in each class advancing to Zone 2 Zones on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 in Saratoga Springs, New York:

Open equitation over fences: 1. Liz Stitzel, Sarah Lawrence College. 2. James Fairclough II, Drew University. 3. Jenn Elrod, Centenary College. 4. Kathryn McGhee, Centenary College. 5. Tori Fredrick, Drew University. 6. Genna Centolanza, Centenary College.

Intermediate equitation over fences: 1. Hillary Quinn, Pace University. 2. Kahri Olsen, Stevens Institute of Technology. 3. Rachel Marcotte, Centenary College. 4. Rachel Samuels, Centenary College. 5. Christine Jordan, Centenary College. 6. Ashley Zeruto, State University of New York at New Paltz.

Alumni equitation over fences: 1. Kristine Kennedy, Drew University. 2. Lisa Tomaselli, Virginia Tech.

Novice equitation over fences: 1. Kim Kalosy, Centenary College. 2. Jennifer Stapelfeld, Drew University. 3. Galina Pavel, Sarah Lawrence College. 4. Kaitlyn Lang, William Paterson University. 5. Amy Carter, Centenary College. 6. Melissa Meyers, William Paterson University.

Walk-trot equitation: 1. Megan Tritsch, Centenary College. 2. Amanda Eames, State University of New York at New Paltz. 3. Constance Magalaras, Stevens Institute of Technology. 4. Melissa Hartwell, William Paterson University. 5. Kiah Vidyarthi, Bard College.

Walk-trot-canter equitation: 1. Michelle Rizzolo, Centenary College. 2. Corinne Noble, United States Military Academy. 3. Emily Stangroom, Centenary College. 4. Veronica Branca, State University of New York at New Paltz. 5. Katherine Crane, Stevens Institute of Technology. 6. Sarah Dolber, State University of New York at New Paltz. 7. Jamie Jackson, Centenary College. 8. Paul Sperli, United States Military Academy.

Novice equitation on the flat: 1. Molly Brown, Centenary College. 2. Leah Jones, United States Military Academy. 3. Lexy Lass, Centenary College. 4. Kim Kalosy, Centenary College. 5. Jessica Hilbert, Sarah Lawrence College. 6. Jocelyn Schimmel, State University of New York College at Oneonta. 7. Kaitlin Natoli, Drew University. 8. Nicole Papaioannou, Pace University.

Alumni equitation on the flat: 1. Kristine Kennedy, Drew University. 2. Lisa Tomaselli, Virginia Tech. 3. Amy Gregonis, Centenary College.

Intermediate equitation on the flat: 1. Nicole Benesch, Centenary College. 2. Rachel Marcotte, Centenary College. 3. Caroline O’Connell, Pace University. 4. Jessica Anselmo, Centenary College. 5. Christine Jordan, Centenary College. 6. Rebecca Page, Pace University. 7. Ashley Zeruto, State University of New York at New Paltz.

Open equitation on the flat: 1. Tori Fredrick, Drew University. 2. Liz Stitzel, Sarah Lawrence College. 3. Kahri Olsen, Stevens Institute of Technology. 4. Kathleen Weatherall, Stevens Institute of Technology. 5. Jenn Elrod, Centenary College. 6. Jackie Smith, Pace University. 7. James Fairclough II, Drew University. 8. Rachel Denning, Drew University.