From Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, East Stroudsburg senior Lauren Nelson poses with her mother after winning open flat at the October 19th Scranton show. Nelson was one of four riders to earn a first and a second to qualify for the ride-off for high point at the end of the day.

EAST STROUDSBURG AND BLOOMSBURG TIE FOR HIGH POINT

Justus, PA - Now that three Region 4 shows are history, it is safe to say that up to seven teams should not lose faith in pursuit of a Region Championship. There is no rhyme or reason to how things will go from one show to the next. On opening day Kutztown won with 32. Then Lehigh went wild and scored 38 points to win handly on October 12th. On the 19th there was a tie for high point team, with defending region champion East Stroudsburg equaling Bloomsburg with 27 points each.

It is actually more complicated than this. The University of Scranton, who hosted today's show at Double A Farm, have yet to score 30 points at a show or even win one, yet trail Lehigh for first place by only one point; Lafayette College, coming off their low total so far this season, are only four points out of first; Rutgers was looking at single digits most of the day at Scranton, yet with two firsts over the final three divisions, the Scarlet Knights are alive and well, earning 24 to put them only seven behind Lehigh; Kutztown, which scored 32 to start the season, has scored a total of 38 since to give them 70 points and a mere 12 point deficit from first; East Stroudsburg, which trailed Lehigh by 25 points through two shows, is only 14 back after their win; And Penn State - Berks, with at least two empty spaces on their point card at each of the three shows, tieing Rutgers for third with 24 each and sitting only 15 points behind the Mountain Hawks overall.

Each of these teams have pluses and minuses. If any of them have demonstrated consistancy it would have to be Scranton (scoring 29, 27 and 25, respectively) and PSU-Berks (trending upward with 21, 22 and 24). Some shine in a particular division, such as Kutztown with their open riders. But no matter how you look at the numbers there is no clear-cut leader. One could even see Bloomsburg getting hot and jumping ahead of a few of these teams. They did it once, why couldn't they do it again?

Bloomsburg freshman Michele Leo (center) poses with several of her Bloomsburg teammates after placing first in novice fences. Leo, whose zodiac sign is cancer (one sign prior to Leo), was making her IHSA debut. The Huskies went on to earn their first team victory (shared or outright) since the 2006-07 season.

Bloomsburg was led by Mallory Eroh, who won intermediate flat, and Michele Leo, who won novice fences. It was the first IHSA blue ribbon for Leo, a freshman from the town of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. In addition Emily Whisel placed second in walk-trot and Jordan Schrock did likewise in intermediate flat.

East Stroudsburg managed the tie with only one blue ribbon, won by Lauren Nelson early on in open flat. The Warriors did well at earning red ribbons, as Nelson, Marissa Favata (in both intermediate fences and open flat), Candice Girandola (novice flat) and April Koveleski (advanced walk-trot-canter) just missed out on the top spot. Nelson, a senior from Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania was one of four riders on this day to advance to the ride-off.

Host Scranton did not earn a ribbon above third place until after the lunch break, when Melanie Nasser finished second to Leo in novice fences. A freshman ironically from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Nasser was one of five Scranton riders to earn a yellow, third place ribbon, doing so in the section of novice flat that immediately followed her novice fences. Meghan McAliney was second in beginner walk-trot-canter while Lisa Taormina delivered the Royals' only blue ribbon of the day in the final official class, the second section of walk-trot.

Seen here with Larissa Ott's Lab/Poodle mix named "Bella," Penn State - Berks freshman Emily Riden won her first IHSA blue ribbon (in novice fences) and went on to compete in her first IHSA ride-off later in the day. Berks scored a season-high 24 points without an open rider on their point card.

Rutgers was also at their best after the lunch break. Shannon Thieme won the first blue ribbon of the day for the Scarlet Knights with a win in novice flat, then Elyse Conway won the first section of advanced walk-trot-canter two classes later. Becky Young won the second section of beginner walk-trot-canter while teammate Samantha Bruno was second in the same section. Earlier in the day Tina-Marie Joaqium earned red ribbons in both of her open classes. With the Region 4 point sheets now posted for all to see, Rutgers made reading those sheets a little more dramatic. Through five divisions the Scarlet Knights had only six points. Then firsts in novice and the combined walk-trot-canter divisions made it look like Rutgers could win outright!

Those same point sheets also showed that despite lacking a rider in either open level, the year-old Penn State - Berks program can hold its own in the region. Larissa Ott, who was high point rider at the Lehigh show and reserve high point rider at the East Stroudsburg/Wilkes show, won her intermediate fences to point out of the division. The sophomore from Reading, Pennsylvania needed only two points and received seven, classing into open after jumping at the intermediate level only six times. The next Berks rider in the ring, freshman Emily Riden, won her IHSA debut. From Lititz, Pennsylvania, Riden won her novice fences while also placing second in novice flat to qualify for the ride-off. Erin Peterson was second in another section of novice flat while Francesca Palmieri won advanced walk-trot-canter and Caitlin Drummond (who was also making her IHSA debut) won her beginner walk-trot-canter. Berks has scored more with each passing show, having tallied 21, 22 and now 24. If this trend continues (and they find a way to fill their card) Berks will still be alive come the final Region 4 show this March!

They started out with a bang, but when the dust settled, Kutztown University had only 20 points. Open riders Shannon Ebert and Lauren Casale saw to it that the Golden Bears swept the open fences. Though both riders were blue ribbon winners, Casale was the last open rider to navigate the fences in either section, and in this writer's opinion, Casale had the best ride out of 14 for open fences. Andrea "Andi" (pronounced "On-Dee") Heinzman pointed out of intermediate fences with a second and later won her open flat, joining the ride-off. The only Kutztown rider to place above third after Heinzman was Kelly Wagner, whose IHSA debut resulted in a first in advanced walk-trot-canter. Though generally regarded as the team with the most depth in the region, Kutztown did not have a walk-trot rider on their card for today's show.

We are not sure if it has happened in the near-three-year history of the Wilkes University program, but Amanda Calhoun (left) and Jessica Ashford (right) won consecutive sections of novice flat.

The Lafayette Leopards are finally able to fill their point card (not only do they have a walk-trot rider, the Leopards may have up to five walk-trotters by the end of the season). The school from Easton, Pennsylvania just missed the 20's with a team total of 19. Lafayette riders made the top two only twice at the Scranton show, with Alexis Flowers first in intermediate flat and Molly Clarke second in advanced walk-trot-canter.

Lehigh has been way up and now way down. Only a week after scoring 38 points the Mountain Hawks scored but 16. Karyn Kesselring, a junior from Doylestown, Pennsylvania in her first IHSA season won the first section of intermediate fences while placing second in intermediate flat. Maggie Gordon, from Jericho, New York and also in her first season at Lehigh won a different section of intermediate flat. Kesselring joined Casale, Heinzman and Riden in the ride-off.

Both Wilkes and Cedar Crest were without riders above the novice level, and both finished the day with eight points. For Wilkes the highlights of the day came one right after the other, as seniors Amanda Calhoun and Jessica Ashford won back-to-back sections of novice flat. From Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Calhoun won section 3A while Ashford, from Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, won 3B. The only rider to win a class (or make the top two) for Cedar Crest turned in perhaps the most surprising effort. While working as a sailing instructor, Kathleen Walsh of the Falcons accidently dropped a sailboat on her left foot, breaking two toes. In spite of this she was best in a field of eight walk-trot riders (section 1A) at today's show.

Moravian College rounded out the scoring with five points. The Greyhounds had riders in only three divisions (two in intermediate flat, three in novice flat and an advanced walk-trot-canter rider), with Emmalee Cougle second to Gordon in section 5A of intermediate flat. A sophomore from Hackettstown, New Jersey in her first season with the Greyhounds, Cougle was the only rider to earn points for Moravian at today's show.

Didn't her horoscope tell her not to lift heavy machinery? Cedar Crest Head Coach Jane Lucrezi (on right) holds up Kathleen Walsh's bad foot. Walsh recently dropped a sailboat on her left foot, breaking her second and third toes. However seven other riders with ten working toes could not beat out Walsh for the blue ribbon in the first section of walk-trot.

No Tiger in the tank!: For the second season in a row, Princeton University did not take part in the Scranton show. Princeton Coach and Virginia Intermont College Alumni rider Ashton Phillips also was not present, which meant that someone else would win an alumni flat class for the first time this season. Melissa Tsouhnikas, who graduated from East Stroudsburg this past May, was the alumni flat blue ribbon winner while Kutztown graduate Amanda Enwright won the over fences in her alumni debut. Though she is listed as being from Rutgers (where she is a professor), Dartmouth College graduate Stacy Klein was second in alumni flat and fourth in alumni fences. Klein now trails both Lehigh graduate Lena Andrews and Kutztown graduate Abby Tymchak by a point for the Region 4 lead in the alumni over fences, with Tymchak earning the red ribbon behind former teammate Enwright. Tsouhnikas now trails Phillips by only 14-13 on the flat.

The Ride-Off: Judge Sandy Epstein asked each of the four riders to do figure eights, with the first figure eight at the sitting trot and the second one at the canter. After the test was completed the winner turned out to be Nelson while reserve turned out to be Kesselring, the latter competing in an IHSA ride-off for the first time.

A few reminders: Former Moravian rider Magee Allegrucci was on hand for today's show, as she is involved with Double A Farm and was one of many schooling horses. This writer could not help but recommend the alumni divisions to Allegrucci. She asked how does one enter to show alumni at an IHSA competition in 2008. The process is simple. Contact the area alumni rep via e-mail and that person will tell you what to do from there. For Zone 3, Region 4 the alumni rep is Lena Andrews while a complete list of the alumni reps' e-mail adresses nationwide can be found on the Campus Equestrian alumni reps page (http://www.campusequestrian.com/story/alumnirep0809.html). Also those who Campus Equestrian photographed at today's show (and those we photographed at the East Stroudsburg/Wilkes show) are welcome to request free jpegs of their pictures by contacting us at editor@campusequestrian.com. Some photos we take are not posted for some time, while regretfully some never wind up on-line at all. And then there are those that get posted within ten days of the show in question. In any event please feel free to e-mail us if you want your picture, even for use on an official team site. Promotion is promotion, be it on Campus Equestrian or another site. If it helps promote your team then "it is all good."

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny skies, with temperatures rising to the mid '60's. Start time: 9:28AM. Finish: 4:27PM - includes 42 minute lunch break/Coaches & Captains meeting. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Sandy Epstein. Stewards: Casale/Kutztown University, Sisson/Wilkes University and Kalmar/Lehigh University.

Team Totals: East Stroudsburg University (TIE-High Point Team) 27; Bloomsburg University (TIE-High Point Team) 27; University of Scranton 25; Penn State - Berks 24; Rutgers University 24; Kutztown University 20; Lafayette College 19; Lehigh University 16; Cedar Crest College 8; Wilkes University 8 and Moravian College 5.

High Point Rider - Lauren Nelson, East Stroudsburg University
Reserve High Point Rider - Karyn Kesselring, Lehigh University