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DELAWARE VALLEY STARTS NEW STREAK, BEATS BERKS BY 38-31 Readington, NJ - When examining the history of the IHSA it is important not to fall into the trap of refering to "the good old days." For in some cases 'today' might be the good old days. A good example of this would be what the Delaware Valley College riding program is going through. Last season the Aggies had perhaps their best season ever, winning every hunter seat show and capturing a region title by over 60 points. Though they proved to be human on October 23rd, as Penn State - Berks defeated them 34-33 on their Doylestown campus, a win at the November 5th Rider University show put the Aggies 33 ahead of Berks through four shows. Meanwhile defending Region 2 Cacchione qualifier Ciara Menkens won twice on the 5th, giving her 43 of a possible 56 open level points. Menkens holds a 43-28 lead in her bid to return to the Cacchione class at IHSA Nationals. On top of all this it seems as though Delaware Valley has become an 'in-demand' school for high school-aged riders. At each of the Equestrian Talent Searches held so far in 2011 at least one participant listed Delaware Valley as a College or University of interest.
At today's show the Aggies scored the most points (38) and had the most blue ribbons (nine). Besides Menkens' firsts blue ribbons were awarded to Cara Benedetto (sophomore, from Long Island, New York, in walk-trot), Melissa Eaton (freshman, from Brick, New Jersey which is also Menkens' hometown, in advanced walk-trot-canter), Samantha Picheco (sophomore, Long Valley, New Jersey, also in advanced walk-trot-canter), Cassie Clark (sophomore, from Flemington, New Jersey, whose win in novice flat marked her IHSA debut), Skylar MacDonald (junior, Doswell, Virginia, in novice fences), Grace Smith (sophomore, Rumson, New Jersey, in intermediate fences) and Jessica Katz (sophomore, West Hartford, Connecticut, in open flat), who was listed in the show program as both "Jess" and "Jessica" depending on where you looked. Smith was a red ribbon winner in intermediate flat while Allison George (in open fences), Samantha Butti (in novice flat), Alyson Brink (in advanced walk-trot-canter) and Karin Gasparini (also in advanced walk-trot-canter) also claimed seconds in their appearances. It should be noted that Delaware Valley had 35 different riders entered in at least one class though only six of these riders competed in multiple divisions. Penn State - Berks has made the best of having to face the Aggies from week-to-week over the past season-and-a-half. Though Berks could not run their win streak to two they did earn 31 points to narrowly take reserve high point rider honors while earning five blue ribbons and eight red ones. Leading the way for Berks was freshman Haley Korejwo (pronounced "Kor-Ay-Voe"). From Oley, Pennsylvania Korejwo won her novice flat while placing second to MacDonald in novice fences. Makenzie Danton (junior, from Effort, Pennsylvania) and Frannie King (junior, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) gave Berks a sweep of the intermediate flat classes. For King it was only her second flat win in IHSA competition and her first since October 9th of last year. Caitlin Kirchoff (sophomore, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was a winner in advanced walk-trot-canter while Sara Hall (freshman, Fleetwood, Pennsylvania) won the first of two sections of beginner walk-trot-canter. Danielle "Dannie" Musselman (sophomore, Honey Brook, Pennsylvania) was second in both of her novice classes while Amanda Sager (sophomore, Dillsburg, Pennsylvania) was second to Menkens over fences and Katz on the flat to stay tied with the latter for second in the Region 2 Cacchione race. Katie Shemonski (in advanced walk-trot-canter), Laura Keller (in novice fences) and Ellen Blum (the Team President, also in novice fences) also placed second as Berks won eight red ribbons to lead the way for that particular color.
With the points sheets under wraps in Region 2 a spectator keeping the results might think that West Chester University had a shot at high point team honors for most of the day. The Golden Rams were neck-and-neck with Delaware Valley for blue ribbons two-thirds of the way through the show. In the end West Chester scored 30 points to finish one point behind reserve champion and a point ahead of fourth. Kendall Gearren (senior, Mount Laurel, New Jersey) started the blue ribbon barage with a first in open fences. Erika Cloud (junior, Unionville, Pennsylvania) and Justine Conte (junior, Cherry Hill, New Jersey) placed first and second, respectively, in the second section of intermediate fences. After four straight classes without a blue ribbon Nicole Ligon (sophomore, Glenmoore, Pennsylvania) won the first section of novice fences while Christina Kapsimalis (senior, Columbus, New Jersey) won the fourth and final novice fences section. Brittany Thatcher (freshman, Durham, Pennsylvania) was a winner in advanced walk-trot-canter while Christina Pavia (sophomore, Ocean Township, New Jersey) was a winner in beginner walk-trot-canter. But the rider who had the best day for the Golden Rams was Caitlin O'Connor. A sophomore from nearby Flemington, New Jersey, O'Connor won her novice flat while placing second to Kapsimalis in novice fences to join Smith and Korejwo in the ride-off for Reserve High Point Rider. Becca DeWald (in intermediate flat), Lauren Selin (in advanced walk-trot-canter) and Alex Miller (in walk-trot) added red ribbons for West Chester. Franklin & Marshall College was fourth with 29 points. The Diplomats were led by Morgan Yandow, a sophomore from Glastonbury, Connecticut who won her novice flat while placing third in novice fences. Kaitlyn DelDuca was the first F & M rider of the day to win a class, as the senior from Moorestown, New Jersey won the third section of novice fences. Maxwell Sechzer, a sophomore from Princeton, New Jersey won the final class of the day. It was Sechzer's second consecutive win in walk-trot. Patrick McGinnis, a freshman from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, was second to Menkens in open flat for the Diplomat's only red ribbon of the day.
While the top four teams at today's show each had a full point card the other five did not have such a luxury. As a result there was a large drop-off in the point totals between fourth and fifth place. York College of Pennsylvania had scored exactly nine points at each of the first three shows but on November 5th the Spartans scored 11 without riders in three divisions. The stars aligned around 3:00PM for York as Erin Hanlon was second to Clark in the final section of novice flat just before Jamie Price was second to Hall in the first section of beginner walk-trot-canter. Though the Spartans had tied for fifth on October 9th this was the first time York was an outright fifth-place team in 2011-12. With only four riders present Gwynedd - Mercy College had the smallest roster in today's program. The Griffins had a rider in both novice flat and fences, one in advanced walk-trot-canter and two in walk-trot. One of the two walk-trotters, Kellie Delhagen (junior, Hamilton, New Jersey) finished second to Benedetto for the Griffins' top ribbon. Though Gwynedd - Mercy is in their first season of IHSA competition the Griffins are in eighth place in the ten-team region after scoring ten points at today's show. Bucks County Community College also scored ten points. Competing with five of eight spaces filled on their point card the highlight of the day occured early, when Katelyn Kopenhaver (freshman, Doylestown, Pennsylvania) was second to Smith in intermediate fences. Arcadia University had their best day of the season so far. After having scored five, five and four the Knights scored eight points. This is not as easy as one might imagine, as Arcadia had eight riders present but seven were in either the beginner or advanced walk-trot-canter divisions (and despite there being four sections of advanced walk-trot-canter all three Arcadia riders in that level were in the same section). Ruth Stetler was third in the second section of beginner walk-trot-canter while Vanessa Bartolotta was third in the first section of walk-trot. The pointed Knight riders came through with the best ribbons for the school located in Glenside, Pennsylvania. If you are Rider University this would not be the show you would want to put into a time capsule from a 'results' standpoint. As the host school the Broncs put on a fine show that was well-run so that much would be time capsule-worthy. However despite having riders in five divisions Rider apparently scored only four points. Kaitlyn "Kate" Weindorfer finished second to Pavia in beginner walk-trot-canter for the Bronc's only top-two placing. In spite of the off-day (Rider was averaging 18 points per show coming in) the Broncs remained in fifth place overall.
While some might be surprised that Rider scored so few points the real shocker of the day took place when the results were announced in one single class. The alumni divisions took place later than usual for an event at Briarwood, with all the novice fences completed before alumni fences and alumni flat were held back-to-back. 2011 West Chester University graduate Emily Rosen was the alumni fences winner. Rosen had placed second in each of the previous two alumni fences classes (on October 9th and 23rd). 2011 Arcadia graduate Rebecca "Becki" Del Pizzo, who had one point over fences and no points on the flat through the first three shows, was second in alumni fences and later placed fifth in alumni flat. Del Pizzo was visably the happiest alumni at Briarwood that day. The alumni flat results threw a curve at many. Chrystal Wood, the Penn State - Berks coach who was Chrystal Coffelt as an undergraduate at Kutztown University, was third in alumni fences but then finished out of the ribbons in alumni flat. This was the first time Coffelt Wood had ever failed to make the top six in an IHSA regular season flat class. However this only came to light when Wood overheard that another rider in the division had not placed. That rider, 1989 Virginia Intermont College graduate Ashton Phillips, was not happy with his round but was hardly the only one shocked when he didn't receive a top six placing. This ended an even longer streak, as Phillips had placed in every IHSA Non-Zones or Nationals class since he was an undergraduate in the mid-1980's. So who were the riders who kept Phillips and Wood out of the top six? 1995 Beaver College graduate Beth Ann Clark Mulford won, 2011 West Chester University graduate Stephanie Wardius was second, University of Findlay graduate Erika Bender Kurtz was third, 2010 Temple graduate Samantha Cronce was fourth, Del Pizzo fifth and Rosen sixth. Cronce had placed fourth in novice fences while Gwynedd - Mercy coach and former Kutztown rider Amanda Enwright was fifth in alumni fences. Mulford, who did not ride a single time in an alumni class between graduating in '95 and September 24th of this year, was sixth in alumni fences to round out the 11/5 alumni ribbons. Mulford and Wardius took over first and second place, respectively in the alumni flat while Phillips (who did not serve as Princeton's head coach today as the Tigers were on fall break) remained tied for third with 2010 Delaware Valley graduate Terrence Prunty (at 12 points each) as the latter did not compete at today's event. The Ride-Off: The tie for Reserve between Smith, Korejwo and O'Connor was broken by way of a question-and-answer session with Judge Stephanie Siegel. When it was over Korejwo was chosen as the Reserve High Point Rider. More Delaware Valley: All eight Aggie blue ribbon winners at today's show were from out-of-state. Though Del Val does attract plenty of quality riders from the Keystone State (intermediate rider Chelsea Koerper, from Southampton, Pennsylvania and who won classes at Zones and Nationals last season, is a good example), the pool of potential Aggies could be from anywhere along the eastern seaboard at the moment. Even more Delaware Valley: Nearly a month after this show took place, Delaware Valley placed third at the Holiday Tournament of Champions in Long Valley, New Jersey on December 3rd. Beaten only by defending National Champion (and host) Centenary College and a strong Mount Holyoke College team, Del Val scored 31 points for third place. This gives the Aggies two firsts, a second and a third at the past four Tournament of Champions events they have entered. When placed on a National stage in recent times it is hard to keep Delaware Valley from earning at least one blue ribbon if not an even greater challenge to defeat them on the scoreboard. ---Steve Maxwell Show Incidentals: Overcast skies early, then sunny but cool, with temperatures reaching the low '50's. Parts of the show held indoors. Start Time: 9:17AM. Finish: 3:53PM - Includes 33 minute schooling break. Coaches & Captains meeting held prior to start of show. Point cards posted in this region? No. Alumni classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Stephanie Siegel. Stewards: Amber Jewell/Bucks County Community College and Arcadia University; Orem/West Chester University; Kieschnick/Delaware Valley College (prior to the alumni classes) and Kurtz/University of Findlay alumni rider (following the alumni classes). Team Totals: Delaware Valley College (High Point Team) 38; Penn State - Berks Campus (Reserve High Point Team) 31; West Chester University 30; Franklin & Marshall College 29; York College of Pennsylvania 11; Bucks County Community College 10; Gwynedd - Mercy College 10; Arcadia University 8 and Rider University 4. High Point Rider - Ciara Menkens, Delaware Valley College
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