They can't bear to watch, but pass the mike - they will talk! Susannah Arndt and Kendra Woolover of Kutztown are still riding for a first place team. The golden bears were second at Briarwood on March 20th and can clinch the region on Sunday by posting 34 or more points.

LEHIGH WINS, KEEPS HOPE ALIVE; KUTZTOWN STRETCHES LEAD OVER BUCKNELL

Readington, NJ - If there was ever a way to describe Kutztown head coach Bruce Lachiusa when he saw the point sheets at the end of the day it would be stunned. For in Zone 3, Region 4 the point cards are kept in a manila envelope until the last class is complete. Only the host school sees them, and they only see them to add up the points.

Lachiusa saw that his points added to 30, then saw that Bucknell's sheet added to 22. The Kutztown lead over Bucknell had doubled, from eight to sixteen points. This in spite of the golden bears receiving only two blue ribbons while the bison had six.

Worden Returns: If you picked up the program and read the competitors listed in the open division you would have thought it was 2001, as Becky Worden of Bucknell was entered. Now calling San Juan Capistrano, California her home, the reserve high point open rider for the 2001-02 season was competing in an IHSA show for the first time since 2002 Nationals. Worden picked up where she left off, winning both open classes and a three-way ride-off for high point at the end of the day. Worden was one point better than Jill Douglass of Lehigh in section C of open fences, and five points higher than Ashley Force of Kutztown in section A of open flat. Douglass remains the current leading open rider, now seven ahead of Force. Everyone else has been mathematically eliminated from the Region 4 Cacchione race.

Mountain Hawks not phased by empty spaces: Lehigh entered the show still mathematically alive for 2003-04 high point team, though 20 behind Bucknell and 28 in back of Kutztown. Despite not having either an intermediate flat or walk-trot rider on their roster, the mountain hawks soared to victory with 33 points. Douglass accounted for seven points with a fifth in open flat to go with the second in open fences while Leigh Gilsenan and Allison Uhlik both won their advanced walk-trot-canter classes. Though Lehigh is still 25 out with only one show to go, the Mountain Hawks only trail Bucknell by nine, so second place is still up in the air.

Bison still have hope: Besides Worden's two firsts, blue ribbons were also awarded to Laura Cox (novice fences), Elizabeth Jones (novice flat) and Hana Nower (both novice flat and fences) of Bucknell. Nower, a freshman from Bouckville, NY was another of the three in the ride-off. If Bucknell can point the correct riders they are capable of a 40-point day. The bison have been both balanced and inconsistant, if that can be said. If Worden and Mallory Shear-Heyman (who was not part of today's show) can keep topping the charts following 18 month IHSA layoffs both could play a big part at the last regular season show March 28th.

Co-Hosts dominate intermediate divisions: Two seasons ago the Bloomsburg huskies were ninth out of nine teams during the inaugural season of Region 4, posting 86 points. Last season Bloomsburg improved somewhat, finishing the season eighth out of ten and going over 100 points, reaching 103. With one show still to go in 2003-04, coach Frank Rehm has the huskies in sixth place out of fourteen teams, with 182 points. For the first two shows Rehm had no intermediate fences rider and on more than one occasion was without at least one other division being filled. Today Co-Host Bloomsburg had a full card, and near domination of one division. Junior Meghan Johnson, who started the season in both novice divisions, won both of her intermediate classes. Brittany Zaleski won her intermediate fences class while Jennifer Kessler won her section of intermediate flat. Throw in a first for walk-trotter Sara Griggs and you have 27 points and third place for the day. Though this writer does not have any say in Coach of the Year voting, I would vote for first-year coach Rehm hands down in this Region if I did.

Who else won?: Megan Lissi (novice flat) and Susannah Arndt (advanced walk-trot-canter) of Kutztown won back-to-back classes, as did Marisa Hora (novice flat) and Elizabeth Hardison (beginner walk-trot-canter) for Rutgers. Sarah Segal made her Princeton debut a memorable one, the sophomore from New York City winning her first IHSA class by taking the show-opening section of open fences. Tiger teammate Audrey Banks, showing IHSA for only the third time, won her section of open flat. Sara Toepfer of East Stroudsburg won the only section of intermediate flat not won by a Bloomsburg rider. Alicia Anthony of Scranton won her section of novice fences and Laura Lancieri became the second-ever Susquehanna rider to qualify for Regionals when she won her walk-trot class. The first Susquehanna rider to do it was Andrea Huntley, who had qualified about 30 minutes earlier. Huntley placed second in the advanced walk-trot-canter class that Arndt won.

Bender qualifies, Sisto gets close over fences: The alumni was a mixed bag, with Ashton Phillips first on the flat but finishing out of the ribbons altogether over fences. Rutgers alumni Celeste Sisto won the fences class, and now needs two points to be only the second rider in the region this season to follow Virginia Intermont alum Phillips to Regionals in that division. University of Findlay alumni Erika Bender was third in alumni flat (following Phillips and Sisto), and qualified for Regionals in the process. Bender, Phillips and Sisto are all in on alumni flat.

Yee-Hah: By the time you read this Zone 3 Western Zones may by underway. Scheduled for March 27th at Becher's Brook Equestrian Center in Dover, Delaware, the show will feature eight individual classes and six team classes, the latter of which Kutztown will compete in. The individual riders from Region 4 are Laura Trautman of Kutztown and Sara Silkotch of Rutgers in Open Reining, Silkotch and Courtney Benderman of Kutztown in Open Rail, Saylise Schraeder of Bloomsburg and Force of Kutztown in Advanced Western, Kim Baker of Rutgers and Jaclyn Page of California of Pennsylvania in the recently-created Novice Western division, Chrystal Coffelt of Kutztown and Zaleski of Bloomsburg in Intermediate Western and Charlie Hawthorne of West Virginia and Mansi Kapodia of California of Pennsylvania in Beginner Western. Keep in mind that Region 4 contains both California of Pennsylvania and West Virginia from Hunter Seat Region 3 for Stock Seat. Incidentally Zone 3, Region 3 stages English Regionals in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on Sunday, which means the Cal U and West Virginia people have a three hour drive ahead of them following Western Zones. By the same token Kutztown may have to drive two and a half hours to get home from Dover, then get up and drive an hour to Briarwood the next day. Perhaps a day in the saddle will be helpful to the golden bears when they try to lock up their first hunter seat region title in six seasons. Bucknell, with no stock seat riders, will have a long drive on a nice bus to start Sunday morning. And Lehigh will hope for a miracle. It happens sometimes.

--Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Mostly sunny skies, temperatures in the low 50's. Start time: 8:48AM. Finish: 2:57PM - includes 48 schooling break/Coaches & Captains meeting and another 13 minute break to remove jumps from the ring. Point cards posted in this region? No. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Eric Celeca. Stewards: Arbelaez/Moravian College, Kalmar/Lehigh University and Phillips/Bucknell University.

Team Totals: Lehigh University (High Point Team) 33; Kutztown University (Reserve) 30; Bloomsburg University 27; Rutgers University 25; Bucknell University 22; University of Scranton 15; Susquehanna University 12; Princeton University 11; East Stroudsburg University 11; Moravian College 9; Cedar Crest College 9; Lycoming College 8; Lafayette College 7 and DeSales University 3.

High Point Rider - Becky Worden, Bucknell University
Reserve High Point Rider - Meghan Johnson, Bloomsburg University