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KUTZTOWN MAKES LARGE GAINS IN NOVEMBER WHILE SCRANTON IS THE BIG SURPRISE New Tripoli, PA - Since Bucknell was moved out of the region following the 2004-05 season there had been some consistancy regarding which Region 4 teams finished in the top five the past two seasons. When the 2005-06 season ended Princeton had captured their first-ever Region Title, with Lafayette, Lehigh, Kutztown and Rutgers second through fifth. Last season Kutztown was the Region Champion, followed by Rutgers, Lehigh, Lafayette and Princeton. Princeton finished with only 190 points, way down from 354 in '06 (which led the nation). Kutztown finished with 287, 97 more than the Tigers (but three fewer than when they were fourth with 290 in 2005-06), with the other three teams mentioned in between. However 2007-08 has not followed this blueprint. An influx of good freshman initially elevated East Stroudsburg to new heights, including their first-ever high point team showing on October 14th. Through three more shows another underdog has risen up the charts. The University of Scranton has been in the 30's each of the past three shows and following their third place 31-point showing at Pipe Dream Farm on November 17th the Royal Riders are looking down at the entire field. Sophomore Chelsea Levine has been perhaps the most successful Scranton rider over the final two shows of the fall, winning both of her intermediate flat classes while placing second in both novice fences rides. Though we do not know who won what appears to have been a six-way ride-off at the November 3rd Rutgers show which would have included Levine, the Montclair, New Jersey resident won a three-way ride-off for Reserve at the November 17th Kutztown show. Also into the blue ribbons for Scranton on the 17th were Debbie McBride (open flat) and Mary Elena Cassetori (novice flat). On November 3rd Michelle Geise won a section of intermediate flat while Mary Elenas' twin sister Jillian Cassetori won a section of novice flat. Mary Elena herself was a winner over novice fences that day as was Maria Gubbiotti. Considering that only two seasons ago Scranton had at best four riders the Royals are not only a big story in their own region but perhaps the biggest surprise of any first-place team nationwide at the winter break.
Though Scranton and Head Coach Tara Lane Waitkus should be commended for their remarkable improvement, the Royal Riders are in no position to take their lead lightly. Even hotter of late than Scranton has been defending Region 4 Champion Kutztown University. After three shows Kutztown looked like a stretch to compete for the region title, but after scoring 37 to win on November 3rd and 40 to win again on the 17th the Golden Bears have jumped over four teams to move within a point of Scranton. Kutztown had only 73 points through three shows but have added 77 over the next two and trail by a 151-150 margin. Easily with the most actual human beings to choose from when sending in entry forms to Region 4 shows, Kutztown won the most blue ribbons of any Region 4 team in November. On the 3rd Lauren Casale (open fences), Andi Heinzman (open flat), Shannon Ebert (intermediate fences), Christine Geib (novice fences), Rachel Krause, Elizabeth Halpin, Jess Benner and Linda Beyer were all winners, with the last four mentioned earning blue ribbons in four of the five novice flat classes. Two weeks later the Golden Bears hosted at Pipe Dream Farm in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania (the first Region 4 show not held at Briarwood Farm this season), with Molly Lowman (open fences), Ebert (both intermediate divisions), Kaitlin Tomecek (novice fences), Halpin (novice flat) and Emily Shaffer (advaned walk-trot-canter) all second to none. Casale was second in both of her open classes to move six points ahead of Lehigh's Jess Engle in the Region 4 Cacchione race. Casale is hoping to become the first Kutztown rider to advance to IHSA Nationals in the USEF Cacchione class since Mindy Velasco pulled off the feat in 1998. Ebert was the only rider on the 17th with two firsts and thus claimed High Point Rider honors for the day. Until Scranton's hot streak, East Stroudsburg had been the big surprise. The Warriors won the October 14th Lehigh show, scoring 36 points to move into second place at the time. The win was also the first in East Stroudsburg's nine-season history. Though six of the eleven riders who rode for the Warriors on opening day were new to the team it has been the returnees from 2006-07 who have provided the majority of blue ribbons.
On November 3rd Emily Johnson (intermediate fences), Grace Usdin (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Melissa Haines (beginner walk-trot-canter) won classes as East Stroudsburg surprisingly earned their low score of the fall, only 21 points. The Warriors improved mightily on the 17th, scoring 29 points. ESU managed only two blue ribbons that day, as novice flat riders Sarah Whitley and Sara Gannon both won. East Stroudsburg nevertheless past the halfway mark of the season with 144 points, only seven fewer than Scranton and 31 fewer that the Warriors earned in all of 2006-07. Lafayette College had been ahead following each of the first four shows. However the Leopards had an off-day at the Kutztown show, scoring only 16 points to finish tied for third with East Stroudsburg overall. The highlight of the day for Lafayette was a first for Elanna Spiegel in novice flat. The sophomore from Scarsdale, New York pointed out of the division with the win and also earned a second in novice fences. The Leopards earned only one first-place ribbon at the Rutgers show, as Kristen Greaney won over novice fences. However on that day Lafayette scored 27 points. One thing that has hampered Lafayette since the second show is the lack of a walk-trot rider. The Leopards had done well at shows two and three by getting into the 30's without a full card. The good news is if they can teach someone to ride a horse with no prior knowledge this spring Lafayette can fill the card and boast of depth at all other levels. By contrast Scranton and East Stroudsburg have to be careful that class-ups won't leave them with holes on their cards, especially at the end of the regular season. Had Rutgers University not scored a mere 11 points on opening day the Scarlet Knights would also be in the race. Rutgers' other low score came on October 20th, when 22 was their total. There is a common denominator with these two shows: No Alex Charles riding in the open division! The sophomore from Fort Lee, New Jersey is undefeated in three open flat classes and has accounted for up to 12 points on one occasion. Though Casale leads Charles by 15 in the Region 4 Cacchione race, should Charles show at every spring competition one cannot rule out a comeback. Rutgers scored 31 points at their own show on November 3rd, with blue ribbons awarded to Charles, Caitlin Belding (novice fences) and Katy Galbraith (walk-trot). The Scarlet Knights scored 28 at Kutztown while earning even more blue ribbons. Charles, Kelly Delpome (novice fences), Bobbi Asper (same) and Lexey Booth (open flat) won on the 17th while Lauren Sabo's second in intermediate flat pointed her out of the division. Rutgers has 126 points through five fall shows so it is questionable if they can leapfrog four other teams to claim a region championship. However it would not surprise this writer if Rutgers finishes higher than fifth and passes one or more of the teams currently in the 144-151 point range.
Princeton University is only three points behind Rutgers but if you counted the final points while attending the Kutztown show you would have thought the Tigers were a few points ahead. This is because two riders were later determined to be ineligible. Still Princeton was the reserve high point team at the Kutztown show with 33 points. In contrast to much of the region, where walk-trot riders are a precious commodity, Princeton is well stocked in this area. Katie McGee won the final class of the day at Kutztown, while Julie Phillips won her walk-trot class at the Rutgers show. The Tigers started well at Pipe Dream Farm, with freshman Katharine Press winning her first-ever IHSA open fences class. Two classes later Shayla Mulvey won her intermediate fences section. Katie Klosterman won her intermediate flat class, becoming the first Princeton rider this season to qualify for Regionals. Princeton has been perhaps the most unpredicable team from week-to-week, having scored 15, 25, 30, 20 and 33 at the shows. To their credit the Tigers best show is their most recent, and like Rutgers Princeton could move ahead of one of the top four should someone hit the skids. In contrast to Princeton, Bloomsburg has been very consistant since the third show, scoring 28, 24 and 26 in that span. A common denominator for the Huskies has been advanced walk-trot-canter rider Holly Peters, who has won outright at the last three fall shows. Peters is not the only rider to win in that span, as Sonia Kudalsky won over novice fences on October 20th, Liz Fedora won her intermediate flat on November 3rd, Adria Wyszynski won her IHSA debut in advanced walk-trot-canter also on November 3rd and most recently Jenna Breitinger won her advanced walk-trot-canter on November 17th. And now that Lindsay Levin has pointed out of intermediate fences Head Coach Amie Wolfinger can fill the Bloomsburg point card. The Huskies are tied with Lehigh at 105 points, however after one show they trailed the Mountain Hawks 29-9 so things have certainly turned for both teams. In defense of Lehigh the Mountain Hawks are going through a rebuilding year. Lehigh lost such riders as 2004 Cacchione Cup runner-up Jill Douglass to graduation and are making do with a smaller roster than most of their opponents. The spotlight is now on open rider Jess Engle, who was overshadowed to some extent in past seasons by the incredible depth the Mountain Hawks had within that division. Engle has done well, winning three of her first four open flat classes this season and is only six points behind Casale in the Cacchione race with half the season still to come. Another bright spot is Katie Moulton, who won two novice fences classes in October. Lehigh scored in the mid-teen's at the final two fall shows with Engle's first in open flat at the Rutgers show their only blue ribbon at either competition. Give them time and Lehigh may return to the top five.
Moravian College scored in the 20's at both November shows. Like Lehigh, Moravian's big winner has been an open rider. Kelly Jones is tied for third in the Region 4 open rider standings with Scranton's Debbie McBride (another big boost for the Royals as their card lacked an open rider much of the past four seasons). Jones was a winner in open fences at the Rutgers show and has 36 points combined in the two open divisions. Beginner walk-trot-canter rider Elisa Molchany won at both the Rutgers and Kutztown shows. If everyone is available to compete Moravian is capable of a full card. The Greyhounds also have four riders qualified for Regionals at the halfway mark. Moravian has 94 points and could get to 200 if ten shows are held. Wilkes College has done their best to make a little go a long way. Save for the Rutgers show in which the team did not compete, both novice rider Jessica Ashford and advanced walk-trot-canter rider Amanda Calhoun have competed and earned points at each show. Calhoun did so well that her second at Kutztown pointed her out of the division, which might be an issue as only two places on the point card may be full instead of three. The two-woman team will hope for some new members as Wilkes enters the spring with 34 points. Penn State Berks County is the latest school to join the region. Coached by former Kutztown rider Chrystal Coffelt, Berks scored 19 points at their IHSA debut on November 3rd. One of their supporters on that day was former Kutztown Head Coach Bruce Lachiusa, who wore both a Penn State cap and sweatshirt to the event. Amber Glover earned the first ribbon in Berks' program history with a second in intermediate flat. Glover also placed third in intermediate flat while Francesca Palmieri won their first blue ribbon in advanced walk-trot-canter. Meeghan Orr closed out the scoring at Rutgers with a fourth in walk-trot but earned Berks another blue ribbon with a belated win at Kutztown. Orr was announced as second at the time but everyone in that section of walk-trot is actually one placing higher thanks to an ineligible rider issue. Considering that Berks fills only half a card a 16 points-per-show average is impressive. Cedar Crest College has only competed at a handful of the shows. Walk-trot rider Jackie Tuttle was third at the Rutgers show, earning what appears to be the only Cedar Crest ribbon above the participation level this season. This causes one to wonder how they have two team points when they have only one ribbon of any kind through five shows and it's a third!? Nine alumni riders have shown at least once in Region 4 so far in 2007-08; One of them has manhandled the blue ribbons. Going into the Kutztown show Virginia Intermont graduate and Princeton Head Coach Ashton Phillips was undefeated in alumni flat and three-for-four in alumni fences. Scranton graduate Sabrina King took first to Phillips' second over fences at the October 14th Lehigh show, and on November 17th King did it again. King, who is a very good jumper, was a mild surprise as the alumni flat champion. Phillips still can claim no ribbon below second, quite a feat for someone who didn't ride all summer and may not have ridden much outside of IHSA classes this fall. --Steve Maxwell November 17th Show Incidentals: Overcast skies with temperatures in the low '40's. Start time: 8:35AM. Finish: 3:41PM - includes 46 minute lunch break/Coaches & Captains meeting and two schooling breaks. Point cards posted in this region? No. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Ron Smith. Stewards: Wolfinger/Bloomsburg University, Lane-Waitkus/University of Scranton and Francfort/Rutgers University. November 17th Team Totals: Kutztown University (High Point Team) 40; Princeton University (Reserve) 33; University of Scranton 31; East Stroudsburg University 29; Rutgers University 28; Bloomsburg University 26; Moravian College 21; Lafayette College 16; Lehigh University 14, Penn State - Berks 13 and Wilkes University 8. High Point Rider - Shannon Ebert, Kutztown University
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