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BUCKNELL WINS REGION 4 SEASON OPENER; LAFAYETTE TAKES RESERVE Readington, NJ - Led by novice riders Leslie Tucker and Jess Cummings, the Bucknell bison won the Region 4 hunter seat season opener for a fourth consecutive season. Bucknell finished the day with 39 points, 12 more than second place Lafayette, which earned a reserve ribbon for the first time since the leopards re-appeared in Fall 2003 after ostensibly a ten year absence. Most of Bucknell's success came later in the day. Through eight classes the bison had only one blue ribbon, courtesy of Becky Worden in open flat. However Bucknell riders went on to win nine of the final sixteen undergraduate classes that counted, not to mention Tucker besting Cummings in the ride-off for the day's high point rider. Both Tucker and Cummings won both of their novice classes, which helped undo what might have been a very large ride-off among many with a first and a second. Other Bucknell riders to win classes were Allison Smith (intermediate flat), Andrea Brown (novice flat), Lindsay Burns (advanced walk-trot-canter), Racheal Schuster (same) and Amy Hofmann, who won her IHSA debut in walk-trot. "She's only had three lessons ever. I'm so proud of her," said bison Head Coach Jan Phillips. Though Bucknell won by a hefty margin, the Lafayette second-place finish has drawn even more interest. Many fans of the leopard equestrian team e-mailed this site between Saturday evening and today (Wednesday) asking when a write-up on the show would appear. A bit about the Lafayette equestrian team history is in order: Lafayette fielded a team in the 70's and 80's, and were part of what was then known as "Region 5" (essentially Eastern Pennsylvania plus Central New Jersey and Delaware). The team vanished following the 1991-92 season, and re-appeared as a one-woman team for one show in 1998-99. The next time the leopards appeared in the IHSA was on September 28, 2003, when Lafayette filled all but the two intermediate divisions and placed eighth with 15 points. Both Katie Miervaldis and Marianna Macri won their flat classes that day, and both would win again on September 25, 2004. Perhaps the strangest statistic is that Lafayette went over 12 years without any rider qualifying for Regionals. Then on Saturday two leopard riders qualified in a half hour's time! Miervaldis's first in the fourth section of novice flat gave her the one point she needed to reach intermediate while Macri won the second section of advanced walk-trot-canter three classes later. Macri will now ride in novice flat starting October 9th. "We are one away from a full (point) card," said Lafayette open rider Erin Githens, herself a blue-ribbon winner in the open fences earlier in the day. Coached by Heather Clark, Lafayette had a most interesting victory in the lone beginner walk-trot-canter class of the day. At first it appeared that leopard freshman Deirdre Maher had won the division. However Maher was only riding in order to be evaluated, so her placing did not count. Luckily teammate Emily Cholak moved up from second to first, giving her a blue ribbon in her IHSA debut. The difference between second and seventh was minor. Dana Grimley of Lehigh had the lone blue ribbon of the day for the mountain hawks, though the team finished with 26. Grimley was first in novice fences and second in novice flat, which for a while had her in the running for the day's high point rider. Brittany Zaleski of Bloomsburg was first in intermediate flat and second in intermedite fences, which gave her the best combined scores for the fourth place huskies. Jennifer Mischello also won a blue ribbon in novice flat as Bloomsburg posted 25 points. Rutgers junior Erica Bello took the early lead in the Open Rider Standings with a first in open fences and second in open flat. Teammate Danielle Strangos and Bucknell's Worden are a point back. Strangos was third in open fences and first in open flat. Freshman Rebecca DeCillis won her novice fences as Rutgers placed fifth with 23 points. Defending Region 4 hunter seat (and stock seat) champion Kutztown was next with 22 points. It should be noted that the golden bears posted only 24 in last season's opener, and they were without the services of standout open rider Ashley Force on this day. Force fractured her wrist several weeks ago but is expected back for the October 9th Moravian/Princeton show. Janelle Kostishion was the lone golden bear rider with a first, winning her intermediate fences. Princeton had three blue ribbons and 21 points for new Show Coach Ashton Phillips. Hillary Frankel won the intermediate fences right after Kostishion, while tiger teammate Dylan Hogarty won the intermediate fences section after that. "Given that Hillary didn't point herself the pressure was on," said Hogarty, who had a couple of red ribbons each of the past two seasons but perhaps won blue over fences within the IHSA for the first time. Princeton's Kris Ravenhorst added a first in intermediate flat. Phillips, a Virginia Intermont graduate who has proven to be one of the best alumni riders in the country, can boast that Princeton has the largest number of open riders in the region with five. More Open: The open rider with the best Region 4 IHSA debut performance was Alicia Morgan, a Rutgers freshman from Little Silver, New Jersey. Morgan was second in both of her open classes. Githens, who at one time trained with Phillips, had a fifth in open flat and has nine points in the early going. Jill Douglass of Lehigh, who was second in the nation at IHSA Nationals in the Cacchione Cup Competition, had an off-day with two fourths. Douglass and Princeton's Audrey Banks are tied for fifth in the open rider standings with six points each. Phillips wins one, places second in another: Ten alumni riders took part, with only three riders able to earn a ribbon in both divisions. Lena Andrews, who graduated from Lehigh this past Spring won the alumni fences, while Phillips was second. Phillips won the alumni flat, with '02 Findlay graduate Erika Bender reserve. Both Phillips and Bender had placed in the top four at IHSA Nationals in alumni flat earlier this year. Andrews, who worked her way from novice to open while an undergrad, was fifth on the flat. Celeste Sisto (Rutgers '01), who made it to Nationals in an alumni western division each of the past two seasons, was fifth over fences and sixth on the flat, but at least placed twice. Rounding out the alumni who placed were Erin Brodie (Scranton '03), third in alumni fences; Chrissy Seelaus (University of Connecticut '03), fourth in her IHSA alumni debut over fences; Katie Graebener (Rutgers '03), sixth in her IHSA alumni debut in the same class as Seelaus; Sabrina King, like Brodie an '03 Scranton graduate, fourth in alumni flat, and Meredith "Muff" Frable, who graduated from East Stroudsburg in 2003 and then married a man named Reinhart, third in alumni flat. Frable, eh, Reinhart was there partly due to her alma mater hosting the day's show but will likely show again based on her flat performance. Don't forget the Nails: Lafayette had an odd way of showing team unity. Most of their riders wore blue nail polish for today's show (some may have used a blue magic marker to get the effect). When reminded that the school color is more of a maroon, one of the riders said "We will try to wear all-maroon (on our nails) at the next show." --Steve Maxwell Show Incidentals: Sunny skies, with temperatures rising to the low '80's. Start time: 8:50AM. Finish: 3:36PM - includes 50 minute lunch break/Coaches & Captains meeting. Point cards posted in this region? No. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Pat Byrne. Stewards: Lamont-Francfort/Rutgers University, Lachiusa/Kutztown University, Phillips/Bucknell University and Kalmar/Lehigh University. Team Totals: Bucknell University (High Point Team) 39; Lafayette College (Reserve) 27; Lehigh University 26; Bloomsburg University 25; Rutgers University 23; Kutztown University 22; Princeton University 21; East Stroudsburg University 13 and Moravian College 9. High Point Rider - Leslie Tucker, Bucknell University
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