Seen here between coaches Michael Dowling and Andrea Wells, Tamara Medinger of Centenary was one of four Centenary College riders to win a team class at Zone 2 Hunter Seat Zones on April 9th. The junior from Baltimore won team novice fences.

CENTENARY WINS ZONE 2 HUNTER SEAT ZONES AT CAZENOVIA

Cazenovia, NY - They won four team classes. They placed second in four individual classes. They were second in three team classes. They won one individual class. They are the Centenary Cyclones, Zone 2 Champions by a 47-44 score over host Cazenovia College. Though they had been second several times, the victory was Centenary's first at Zone 2 Zones since sometime in the 1990's. Skidmore was third with 37 points, though the throughbreds did advance three individual riders to Nationals as the day progressed.

Over the past three seasons, almost all of the individual hunter seat qualifiers came from six schools: Centenary and the United States Military Academy in Region 1, Cazenovia and Saint Lawrence in Region 2 and Skidmore and Cornell in Region 3. These six schools accounted for 39 of the 48 Zone 2 individual undergraduate rides at IHSA Nationals and all the Cacchione Cup riders in that span. It was quite refreshing to see five other Zone 2 schools send one hunter seat rider each to 2004 Nationals.

New York University senior Gina Pacopac will become the first undergraduate Region 1 Hunter Seat rider not from Centenary or the USMA to ride at Nationals since former NYU standout open rider Ellie Spindler showed in the very last class at 2001 Nationals. From Honolulu, Hawaii, Pacopac won the individual intermediate fences outright.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Mariah Hughlock won the individual intermediate fences. Though we at Campus Equestrian cannot say if an RPI undergraduate has ever reached Nationals, we can safely say that the junior from Croyden, New Hampshire is their first rider to advance to the championships since 1996. Region 3 also claimed the other intermediate flat ride at Nationals, as Ithaca sophomore Darrin Bann was second. Ithaca coach Amy Bisaro has advanced a rider to Nationals two seasons in a row, as Lisa Tilstone survived Zone 2 Zones last season in individual novice fences.

Though Hartwick College did not advance any riders through Region 3 Regionals two weeks ago, one of their former riders showed today and will show again at IHSA Nationals. Kate Dolan qualified for Region 3 Regionals in the walk-trot during the fall, then transferred from Hartwick to the State University of New York at Oswego mid-season. Dolan was one of only three walk-troters to qualify for Regionals in Region 2, and one of those riders did not show at Regionals. Dolan thus was assured a trip to Zones, where she placed second to Cem Uzman of Centenary. IHSA founder and executive director Bob Cacchione persuaded Hartwick coach Betsey Smith to pose with himself, Dolan and SUNY - Oswego head coach Alicia Fereday following the reserve ribbon. Fereday and others associated with Oswego believe Dolan is the first undergradate hunter seat rider in school history to advance to IHSA Nationals.

The final individual class of the day was walk-trot-canter, and the blue ribbon went to Kimberly Ringer of the State University of New York at Cobleskill. The SUNY - Cobleskill program existed at some point prior to disappearing and re-appearing in 1998-99, so once again we cannot gaurantee if the freshman from Naples, New York is the first Cobleskill hunter seat rider to reach IHSA Nationals, but Ringer is the first in over a decade for certain.

My Region can take your Region anyday!: Though the top two placings at some Zone shows around the IHSA can show a disparity in talent between one region and another, the breakout of individual riders was fairly even this time. Of the sixteen individual hunter seat rides for Zone 2 coming up at Nationals, six will belong to riders from Region 1, six will also be riders from Region 3 while four will come from Region 2. Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts is home to a pair of Skidmore seniors who advanced, as Insley Julier (first in individual novice fences) and Elizabeth Anderson (second in individual open fences) both must ride their horses to a ferry to reach the mainland. Waitsville, Vermont is home to Alyssa Garvin, the third Skidmore rider bound for Nationals following a first in individual novice equitation on the flat. Saint Lawrence will have a pair of riders in Murfreesboro, as Kelsey Cochran won the individual open flat and Hallie Britt placed second to Ringer in individual advanced walk-trot-canter. Centenary will have four individuals joining a full hunter seat team. Uzman, who also represents the team in advanced walk-trot-canter, won the individual walk-trot while Kristen Schwieger, who also represents the team in open fences, placed second in individual open flat. Uzman and Schwieger come from opposite sides of the world, as the former is from Turkey while the latter is from Los Angeles. Ethan Smock, who comes from Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was second for Centenary in both individual novice classes.

The toothy tale of Megan Cowen: Cazenovia will not only take a full hunter seat team to Nationals, they will also take Megan Cowen. The junior from Land-O-Lakes, Florida won the first individual class of the day, open fences. Cowen was smiling throughout, which prompted teammate Frank Bassett to say "I think it was the smiling that got you (a first)." Much of the Cazenovia team then mentioned "Smiling" to Cowen for a good fifteen minutes after the class. Eventually, Cowen discussed the ride with head coach Naomi Blumenthal. After Cowen talked about what she tried to do, Blumenthal commented "And you were smiling!"

The sparkley tale of Allyson Thibodeau: Cazenovia alumni rider Allyson Thibodeau had much to smile about as well. Thibodeau got engaged two days before the show. Good fortune continued to follow Thibodeau, as she won the alumni over fences outright. Several joked that it was the sparkle from the engagement ring that won the judge over. Thibodeau was tested along with Sandra Sayre of Drew and SUNY - Oswego coach and alum Fereday. Sayre was second, and the Drew graduate later won the alumni flat. For the past two seasons, Sayre has ridden in at least one class at IHSA Nationals against her former trainer, Virginia Intermont graduate Ashton Phillips. For the first time Sayre and Phillips will each ride at Nationals in both hunter seat divisions. Phillips will actually have two former students in the ring, as Tufts alumni Katie Schaaf survived Zone 1 Zones in both divisions as well. Phillips, who won both alumni classes at Zone 3 Zones outright, has finished ahead of Sayre in every head-to-head alumni meeting so far.

Almost, but not quite: Finishing second to Sayre in alumni flat was Sacred Heart graduate Tara Gerber. Gerber will go on to Nationals in the division, but will not go head-to-head with former teammate and friend Kristine Brackenridge, who got to Zone 3 Zones in alumni flat but lost out to Phillips and Findlay alum Erika Bender.

There was a Team competition at this show, wasn't there?: There was a great deal of tension in the air early, at least on the part of the three teams in the team competition. Only the top two in the three-way battle move on to IHSA Nationals, though as the day progressed, everyone seemed loose and happy to some extent. When the placings were announced for the first team class, open fences, Missy Starr of Cazenovia was first, Schwieger second and Jaime Jansen of Skidmore third. Strangely, Centenary riders and coaches became relaxed almost immediately. This was a surprise, since only one team class was in the books, but the cyclones were laughing and joking (and riding very well) for the rest of the day. Centenary may have simply felt a sense of relief, as two seasons ago the cyclones were third out of three in all eight team classes. Cazenovia and Skidmore remained guarded.

The next three team classes all went to Centenary. Freshman Ashley DiBongrazio and Cazenovia's Elizabeth Redding were tested in intermediate fences, with DiBongrazio the winner. Tamara Medinger won team novice fences, with Lindsay Urbanski of Cazenovia second. At this point, Skidmore had placed third in all three divisions, though they still had hope. Last season Skidmore had watched Saint Lawrence come back to win outright after finishing last in all three jumping classes. However the first team flat class went to another Centenary freshman, this time being Jennifer Martin in intermediate flat. Garvin at least gave the thoroughbreds a second place ribbon, but when Urbanski won the team novice fences for the wildcats and Arianna Henricks won team walk-trot for the cyclones the lead was too much for Skidmore to overcome. Kate Fegan did win team walk-trot-canter, bringing Skidmore a blue ribbon in the team competition. In that same class, Uzman placed second, giving Centenary a five point lead over Cazenovia and virtually assuring the team from Hackettstown, New Jersey of high point.

There was one more team class, with the same winner as was in the first. Starr, the outstanding Cazenovia senior from Bay Village, Ohio won again, with Centenary's Annabel Benito second and Skidmore's Ashley Woodhouse third. Though Starr and Benito are seniors, Woodhouse is only a freshman, and will hopefully see Skidmore through to IHSA Nationals several times before she gets her diploma.

Miller, Kennedy and Torokvei take on the Cacchione reps: There was a six-way Cacchione Cup class at today's show. Though the results do not count towards anything other than a ribbon (as the actual high point open riders from each of the three regions move on to the Cacchione Cup Competition at IHSA Nationals regardless), each region's runner-up gave it their best, with two actually outdoing the riders who earned more points than they during the regular season. Jansen won the class, which contained both a jumping phase and a flat phase. State University of New York at Geneseo's Leslie Miller was second, two places above Starr. Drew sophomore Kristine Kennedy was third, two places above Schwieger. Cornell's Asta Torokvei may have been sixth, but her season is not over. Torokvei and the rest of the big red will take part in the eighth annual Ivy League Invitational show on April 24th. Columbia, Penn and Princeton co-host the show at Centenary, no doubt allowing several cyclone riders more time in the seat schooling horses before a rematch with Cazenovia and fifteen other teams at IHSA Nationals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee May 6th through 9th.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny and clear. Highs in the upper 50's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 8:54AM. Finish: 4:03PM - includes 90 minute schooling break/Coaches & Captains meeting. Alumni Classes held in this region?: Yes. Judge: M. Scott Alder. Stewards: P. Cashman/United States Military Academy, Blumenthal/Cazenovia College and Ford/Skidmore College.

Class results, in the order in which they were held, with the top two in each individual class advancing to IHSA Nationals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee May 6th through 8th:

Individual open equitation over fences: 1. Megan Cowen, Cazenovia College. 2. Elizabeth Anderson, Skidmore College. 3. Missy Starr, Cazenovia College. 4. Tim Leuzarder, Centenary College. 5. Kristen Schwieger, Centenary College. 6. Kristine Kennedy, Drew University. 7. Asta Torokvei, Cornell University. 8. Lisa Hilberg, Skidmore College.

Team open equitation over fences: 1. Missy Starr, Cazenovia College. 2. Kristen Schwieger, Centenary College. 3. Jaime Jansen, Skidmore College.

Individual intermediate equitation over fences: 1. Gina Pacopac, New York University. 2. Allison Guerin, Centenary College. 3. Nicole Caron, Cazenovia College. 4. Frank Bassett, Cazenovia College. 5. Aubrey Graham, Colgate University. 6. Darrin Bann, Ithaca College. 7. Amy Gregonis, Centenary College. 8. Jo Bartell, Skidmore College. 9. Kelly Gaffney, Saint Lawrence University.

Team intermediate equitation over fences: 1. Ashley DiBongrazio, Centenary College. 2. Elizabeth Redding, Cazenovia College. 3. Erina Malarkey, Skidmore College.

Individual novice equitation over fences: 1. Insley Julier, Skidmore College. 2. Ethan Smock, Centenary College. 3. Ashley Puleo, Syracuse University. 4. Rachel Beckner, Morrisville State College. 5. Sarah Kaufman, Sarah Lawrence College. 6. Marilyn Sturges, Rochester Institute of Technology. 7. Lesley Olander, Cazenovia College. 8. Andrea Davey, Centenary College. 9. Sophia Stolarcyk, Morrisville State College.

Team novice equitation over fences: 1. Tamara Medinger, Centenary College. 2. Lindsey Urbanski, Cazenovia College. 3. Emily Budlong, Skidmore College.

Alumni equitation over fences: 1. Allyson Thibodeau, Cazenovia College. 2. Sandra Sayre, Drew University. 3. Alicia Fereday, State University of New York at Oswego. 4. Christie Schneckner, Cornell University. 5. Dominique Vonsiatsky, New York University.

Alumni equitation on the flat: 1. Sandra Sayre, Drew University. 2. Tara Gerber, Sacred Heart University. 3. Allyson Thibodeau, Cazenovia College. 4. Jennifer Leveille, Pace University. 5. Christie Schneckner, Cornell University.

Cacchione Cup Competition: 1. Jaime Jansen, Skidmore College. 2. Leslie Miller, State University of New York at Geneseo. 3. Kristine Kennedy, Drew University. 4. Missy Starr, Cazenovia College. 5. Kristen Schwieger, Centenary College. 6. Asta Torokvei, Cornell University.

Individual open equitation on the flat: 1. Kelsey Cochran, Saint Lawrence University. 2. Kristen Schwieger, Centenary College. 3. Megan Cowen, Cazenovia College. 4. Alexis Gilbard, Colgate University. 5. Tarah Watson, Saint Lawrence University. 6. Lisa Hilberg, Skidmore College. 7. Ashley Woodhouse, Skidmore College. 8. Allison Guerin, Centenary College. 9. Annabel Benito, Centenary College.

Individual intermediate equitation on the flat: 1. Mariah Hughlock, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2. Darrin Bann, Ithaca College. 3. Jacquelyn Spector, Nazareth College. 4. Jill Callahan, Saint Lawrence University. 5. Frank Bassett, Cazenovia College. 6. Sara Altans, Pace University. 7. Emily Vaughan, Centenary College. 8. Amy Gregonis, Centenary College. 9. Megan Gates, Cornell University.

Team intermediate equitation on the flat: 1. Jennifer Martin, Centenary College. 2. Alyssa Garvin, Skidmore College. 3. Elizabeth Redding, Cazenovia College.

Individual novice equitation on the flat: 1. Alyssa Garvin, Skidmore College. 2. Ethan Smock, Centenary College. 3. Tamara Medinger, Centenary College. 4. Cate Doucette, Saint Lawrence University. 5. Katherine Mahland, Centenary College. 6. Amanda Church, Saint Lawrence University. 7. Jennifer Nyhan, Cazenovia College. 8. Keriann McGillycuddy, State University of New York at Cobleskill. 9. Sophia Stolarcyk, Morrisville State College.

Team novice equitation on the flat: 1. Lindsey Urbanski, Cazenovia College. 2. Casey Atchinson, Skidmore College. 3. Renee Blacharski, Centenary College.

Individual walk-trot equitation: 1. Cem Uzman, Centenary College. 2. Kate Dolan, State University of New York at Oswego. 3. Caitlin Miner-LeGrand, New York University. 4. Emily Creo, Binghamton University. 5. Barbara Ehlen, Binghamton University. 6. Evan Wolf, United States Military Academy. 7. Jes Enes, Cornell University. 8. Elizabeth Van Voorst, State University of New York at Potsdam.

Team walk-trot equitation: 1. Arianna Henricks, Centenary College. 2. Hillary Erin Graff, Cazenovia College. 3. Pearl Higgins, Skidmore College.

Individual walk-trot-canter equitation: 1. Kimberly Ringer, State University of New York at Cobleskill. 2. Hallie Britt, Saint Lawrence University. 3. Kelly Shepstone, Centenary College. 4. Lindsey Quick, Cornell University. 5. Liz McCormick, Saint Lawrence University. 6. Kendra Merrigan, Centenary College. 7. Melissa Myers, Morrisville State College. 8. Katherine Bennett, Cazenovia College. 9. Megan Mularski, Centenary College.

Team walk-trot-canter equitation: 1. Kate Fegan, Skidmore College. 2. Cem Uzman, Centenary College. 3. Amy Gingher, Cazenovia College.

Team open equitation on the flat: 1. Missy Starr, Cazenovia College. 2. Annabel Benito, Centenary College. 3. Ashley Woodhouse, Skidmore College.

Team Totals: 1. Centenary College 47. 2. Cazenovia College 44. 3. Skidmore College 37.