You could attend 100 Regionals shows and never see this. On March 3rd all eight riders in the same class - Open Flat - were from the same team, Centenary College. Each of the eight pose with IHSA Executive Director Bob Cacchione (on far right). Closest to Cacchione are Kathryn Haley (holding red ribbon) and Kelsey Bernini (holding the blue one), both of which advanced to Zone 3 Zones nearly a month later.

NO MATTER HOW YOU EXAMINE THE NUMBERS CENTENARY DOMINATES REGIONALS

Long Valley, NJ - It was likely the earliest hunter seat Regionals had ever been held within the region, taking place exactly one month earlier than 2011 Regionals. For only the second time since the turn of the century Regionals took place at the Centenary College Equestrian Center rather than Briarwood Farm. But at the end of the day (which was early, at ten minutes after 3:00PM) the result was comparable to nearly all the Regionals over the past ten seasons.

On April 3rd Centenary riders secured 11 of a possible 16 rides for the region at Zone 3 Zones. The Cyclones produced the blue ribbon rider in six of the seven divisions in which they had a rider entered. Centenary was in the top three 15 times, the top five 20 times and in the open flat they had all eight of the riders who qualified during the 2011-12 regular season.

Kathryn Haley, a sophomore from Orchard Park, New York won the open fences section which started the day and later placed second in open flat. Cyclone teammate Natasha Klingenstein did Haley one better. The senior from Torrance, California won both her intermediate fences and novice flat classes to become the only double-blue winner on this day. Haley and Klingenstein were the only Region 3 riders to secure two undergraduate rides at Zone 3 Zones to be hosted by Delaware Valley College on Sunday, April 1st.

SUNY-New Paltz coaches Susan (on left) and Gary Clark (on right) had to wait until the next-to-last class of the day to see one of their riders advance to Zones. That rider turned out to be Abaigeal Flannery (center) who survived the second heat and a callback to place second in walk-trot-canter. The fortunate Clarks saw another Hawk (Kerri Sheridan, not pictured) win the walk-trot class which followed.

The top two only: Prior to the start of Regionals the belief was that the top three in each division advanced to Zone 3 Zones. One of the reasons for this rationale was that the top three made it to Zones last season when Centenary hosted. Another was that this region was in Zone 2 prior to the fall of 2010 and all the Zone 2 Zones shows in the previous decade took at least the top three from Regionals. However all the Zone 3 Zones shows held from 2002 through 2010 permited only the top two from each Regional to compete. Centenary in effect did everyone a favor last season by allowing three individual riders from each of the four regions instead of two to compete at Zones. Within a week of the conclusion of Zone 3, Region 3 Regionals it was announced that only the riders who placed first and second on March 3rd would be allowed to compete at the Zones show, which was probably not easy for at least six of the eight third place riders to learn.

Had everyone known this prior to the start of Regionals it probably would have effected the way some of the testing was done. In the open fences class which started the day Judge Todd Karn asked two riders (Kelsey Bernini of Centenary and Katie Kramer of Drew University) to return to the ring. Karn then tested these two riders On The Flat. When it was over everyone learned that Karn would in fact test for second or third as both Haley (the winner) and Cori Reich of Centenary finished above Bernini (in third) and Kramer (fourth). Reich, a junior from Ivyland, Pennsylvania, will represent the region at 2012 IHSA Nationals in the Cacchione Cup competition. Though Bernini (sophomore, from York, Pennsylvania) would be one of the riders to lose her place at Zones so to speak she would later win the open flat outright to guarantee a ride at the Zones show.

The intermediate fences class was not tested, with Karn choosing Klingenstein the winner and Centenary teammate Trevor Hawthorne (freshman, from Wilmington, Delaware) second. Carley Mattucci of Stevens Institute of Technology was third.

Karn did test the novice fences, likewise doing so on the flat. Katie Walker of Drew University, Alexa Policari of Stevens Institute of Technology and Catherine Steele of the United States Military Academy were tested, with Steele third, Policari fourth and Walker fifth. Karn had already picked Centenary's Brendan Williams (sophomore, Stratford, Connecticut) as reserve champion and Kalen Larsen of the United States Military Academy as champion. A senior from North Stonington, Connecticut, Larsen would be the only rider to compete against a Centenary rider and win a class outright all day.

After years of wearing grey coats and black britches at IHSA hunter seat shows the United States Military Academy debuted new attire at Regionals. Catherine Steele (second on left, beside coach Peter Cashman) and Kalen Larsen (center, next to coach Sherry Cashman) wore britches that were a darker gray than what most riders wear. Also the new USMA coats have a gray collar. Steele was third while Larsen was the winner in novice over fences.

There was a longer break than usual to accomodate some schooling and for the presentation of year-end awards. Over 90 minutes passed between the placings in novice fences and the first rider entering the ring for open flat. This writer has been attending IHSA shows since March of 1991 and he had never seen the situation which existed for today's open flat class. All eight riders who qualified for Regionals in the division were from the same school - Centenary College. Reich, Haley, Bernini and Ali Krecker were qualified in both open divisions while Angela Fiori, Nicole Mandracchia, Candice Schoeber and Samantha Whitley rode only in this one division. There was no testing in this class, just some very good open flat riding. When everyone lined up Fiori was third, Haley second and Bernini the winner. Someone could attend 20 Regional Shows over 20 years and never see a class with so many riders all from only one school.

For the intermediate flat Karn opted to excuse half the ten riders after everyone had their chance to walk, trot and canter in each direction. After the remaining five riders were put through a few additional paces, everyone was lined up and the results were announced. Centenary had only two riders in the division, but both made the top three. Williams was third (no harm, no foul as he was second in novice fences) while Jessica Pabst was intermediate flat champion. A junior from Oak Ridge, New Jersey Pabst finished one place ahead of Jessica Spanier of Stevens Institute. Spanier, a freshman from Chester, New Jersey would not be the last member of the Ducks to place as high as second at today's show.

Novice flat was divided into two heats, with seven riders in the first heat and six in the second. Karn called back four riders from the first heat (Klingenstein and Vivian DiSesa of Centenary, Meghan Slavin of Marist College and Alli Arnell of Sarah Lawrence College) and two from the second (Debbie Smith of Centenary and Christina Karas of Drew). The callback class resulted in Centenary riders earning three of the top four ribbons. Klingenstein won, Smith (junior, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania) was reserve champion and DiSesa fourth. Third went to Slavin (sophomore, Middletown, New Jersey), who was nearly the first Marist rider in the past four years to qualify for Zones. Slavin's third was the Red Foxes top ribbon at Regionals during Claire Knapp's first four years as head coach at Marist.

Stevens Institute of Technology had four riders entered and each made the top four. From left to right are Coach Patti Zwaan, Carley Mattucci (third in intermediate fences), Jessica Spanier (second in intermediate flat), Michelle Plotzker (second in walk-trot), Alexa Policari (fourth in novice fences) and Cacchione, who seemed to be in every photo today.

The walk-trot-canter division produced the most regional qualifiers in 2011-12 with 16. These riders were split evenly into two heats of eight. Karn decided to call back four riders from each, with five of six Centenary riders making the callback. Three of the top five were ultimately Centenary riders, with Courtney Billings (sophomore, Millis, Massachusetts) third and Kayla Felstedt (sophomore, Brielle, New Jersey) the champion. In between was Abaigeal Flannery of the State University of New York at New Paltz. The freshman from New York, New York made it four Region 3 schools with at least one rider advancing to Zones.

The final class of the day was actually the most dramatic simply because not one Centenary rider qualified for Regionals in the division. Seven different schools had riders entered in the walk-trot class, with William Paterson University claiming two of the eight entries. Karn did not test this group and eventually the class was lined up and the final results of the day were announced. Lance Barrow of the USMA (freshman, Marietta, Georgia) was third, Michelle Plotzker of Stevens Institute (senior, Fairport, New York) was the reserve champion and Kerri Sheridan of the State University of New York at New Paltz (senior, Woodbourne, New York) was the winner. This gave both the Ducks and the Hawks a second ride at Zones to go along with one for USMA and 11 for the Cyclones.

Though there were no alumni classes at today's Regional show there will be Region 3 alumni competing at Zone 3 Zones on April 1st. SUNY-New Paltz graduates Amanda Bender and Brooke Bologna both cleared 28 points over alumni fences while Bender was the only Region 3 rider to qualify in alumni flat. Both earned a pass straight to Zones since the alumni classes were not necessary.

Do you need a second Judge?: Todd Karn was not the only judge in the announcer's booth. Tim Cleary, who was today's public address announcer, judged a show for Lafayette College in Zone 3, Region 4 on February 19th. Cleary even joked with Karn when he entered the booth that either of them could substitute for the other.

And now a word for "Le Fash": Arianna Anderocci, a hunter rider who trains at Steven's coach Patti Zwaan's facility (Cheaumont, where the Ducks also train) had a booth set up in the corner of the great room for her "Le Fash" line of riding apparel. After working for some time in the fashion industry, Anderocci launched Le Fash in the fall of 2011. A brochure given out at Regionals stated that Le Fash produced "The first ever cross over clothing brand suitable for both equestrian competition and the New York Fashion Forward." Anderocci explained that Le Fash show shirts are made of Egyptian Cotten, Bamboo and Spandex. Apparently this combination makes things more comfortable on extreme weather days. One of the more interesting aspects of the shirts is the 'convertable collar' which takes it from show shirt to fashion shirt in the blink of an eye. For more information vist the Le Fash website at www.lefashny.com.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Cloudy skies, with occasional rain. Temperatures reaching the low '60's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 9:38AM. Finish: 3:09PM - Includes a 1 hour and 39 minute lunch/schooling break and an awards ceremony. Judge: Todd Karn, Cazenovia, New York. Stewards: Clark/Centenary College, P. Cashman/United States Military Academy, Rakoczy/Sarah Lawrence College and Knapp/Marist College.

Class-by-Class results, in the order in which they were held, with the top two in each class advancing to Zone 3 Zones on April 1st in Doylestown, Pennsylvania:

Open equitation over fences: 1. Kathryn Haley, Centenary College. 2 Cori Reich, Centenary College. 3. Kelsey Bernini, Centenary College. 4. Katie Kramer, Drew University. 5. Ali Krecker, Centenary College. 6. Jessica Pabst, Centenary College.

Intermediate equitation over fences: 1. Natasha Klingenstein, Centenary College. 2. Trevor Hawthorne, Centenary College. 3. Carley Mattucci, Stevens Institute of Technology. 4. Julia Murray, State University of New York at New Paltz. 5. Ashley Christiano, State University of New York at New Paltz. 6. Elizabeth Falcone, Bard College. 7. Ellen Joyce, Drew University.

Novice equitation over fences: 1. Kalen Larsen, United States Military Academy. 2. Brendan Williams, Centenary College. 3. Catherine Steele, United States Military Academy. 4. Alexa Policari, Stevens Institute of Technology. 5. Katie Walker, Drew University. 6. Megan Slavin, Marist College. 7. Christina Karas, Drew University. 8. Kristen Castagna, Drew University.

Open equitation on the flat: 1. Kelsey Bernini, Centenary College. 2. Kathryn Haley, Centenary College. 3. Angela Fiori, Centenary College. 4. Nicole Mandracchia, Centenary College. 5. Candice Schober, Centenary College. 6. Samantha Whitley, Centenary College. 7. Cori Reich, Centenary College. 8. Ali Krecker, Centenary College.

Intermediate equitation on the flat: 1. Jessica Pabst, Centenary College. 2. Jessica Spanier, Stevens Institute of Technology. 3. Brendan Williams, Centenary College. 4. Ashley Christiano, State University of New York at New Paltz. 5. Julia Murray, State University of New York at New Paltz. 6. Morgan Proksch, United States Military Academy. 7. Whitney Viola, Marist College. 8. Kalen Larson, United States Military Academy.

Novice equitation on the flat: 1. Natasha Klingenstein, Centenary College. 2. Debbie Smith, Centenary College. 3. Meghan Slavin, Marist College. 4. Vivian DiSesa, Centenary College. 5. Alli Arnell, Sarah Lawrence College. 6. Aya Matsumato, Sarah Lawrence College. 7. Hatsue Masuyama, Pace University. 8. Christina Karas, Drew University.

Walk-trot-canter equitation: 1. Kayla Felstedt, Centenary College. 2. Abaigeal Flannery, State University of New York at New Paltz. 3. Courtney Billings, Centenary College. 4. Lacey Lohr, State University of New York at New Paltz. 5. Holly Baklarz, Centenary College. 6. Amanda Ohlandt, Centenary College. 7. Nicole Cardinale, Centenary College. 8. Markie Ortiz, Pace University.

Walk-trot equitation: 1. Kerri Sheridan, State University of New York at New Paltz. 2. Michelle Plotzker, Stevens Institute of Technology. 3. Lance Barrow, United States Military Academy. 4. Justina Edwards, Pace University. 5. Kaitling Reinger, William Paterson University. 6. Yasmin Rasheed, William Paterson University. 7. Scheherazad Al-Salamin, Sarah Lawrence College. 8. Christine Felix, Drew University.