Jessica Minnotte of Bucknell won her open fences class and did a better job of keeping mud off her boots than anyone else.

BUCKNELL STARTS HOT, WINS SEASON OPENER

Readington, NJ - The more things change the more they stay the same. The Bucknell bison, with 22 riders in attendance, won eleven blue ribbons including four of the first five en route to 31 points and high point team for the day. The victory marked the third time in as many seasons since the region was formed that the bison won the season opener. Kim Lorenz, a senior open rider from Mount Olive, NJ won both of her classes and a ride-off with freshman teammate Deborah Osborne (Poulsbo, WA) to earn high point rider honors and an early lead in the Cacchione standings.

In a bit of a suprise, the reserve high point team was Lehigh. A bit of a surprise in that the mountain hawks won only two classes and had not finished above third place as a team at any IHSA show since re-forming in 1992. Laura Bessette (beginner walk-trot-canter) and Lauren Talemal (walk-trot) won their classes while freshman Jill Douglas (open flat) and Jackie Annatone (open fences) joined senior Lena Andrews (open flat) with second place ribbons. Their 28 point team total left Lehigh only three behind the bison, and as close as Lehigh has ever been to the top spot in the standings.

Otherwise it was status quo. East Stroudsburg hosted the region 4 season opener as they have done each of the past three seasons. Bucknell had the high point rider for the day, as they did last season. Alumni rider Ashton Phillips won both of his classes, as he did opening day last season (and on many other occasions). Bucknell won by three points, as they had done almost a year ago to the day. Kutztown and Rutgers were close, both tied for third with 24 points. Fran Gradel had a new team to coach, this time adding Cedar Crest to his itinerary along with DeSales. Perhaps the only difference from last September 29th was the size of the region.

The number of teams taking part grew from ten to twelve, with a thirteenth set to show October 11. Lafayette College, which regularly participated in IHSA shows until 1992 reformed for the second time since the year Bill Clinton was elected, and with impressive results. Coached by Chirstine Gale, the leopards were six strong and lacked only an intermediate rider to fill their point card. Katie Miervaldis, a freshman from Basking Ridge, NJ won her novice flat while placing second in novice fences. Teammate Marianna Macri had the honor of earning the first Lafayette blue ribbon in over ten years when she topped her section of advanced walk-trot-canter.

Though Lafayette scored 15 points it would be the other newcommer, Susquehanna University, bringing only four riders and scoring 19. Coached by Farra Phillips-Hilliard, the crusaders returned to Selinsgrove with four red ribbons. Senior Stephanie Eden, who was a founder of the team, won their first ribbon with a third in open fences. Eden placed second in open flat while Andrea Huntly (beginner walk-trot-canter), Courtney Justice (same) and Rebecca Mann (walk-trot) also placed second. Susquehanna riders are currently averaging almost five points per class, a better ratio than even Bucknell! True four seconds and third won't fill a card or block many points, but still the crusader's debut was about as good as any you will ever read about. Kudos to coach Phillips-Hilliard, who may have learned a thing or two about coaching from her mother Jan Phillips, who has still never seen her Bucknell team trail at any time during the regular season since Region 4 was created midway through 2001.

Open riders first to get wet: There were sixteen entries in the open fences, seven of which had never ridden in an IHSA show, and each would make their debut in a very muddy ring. Joining Lehigh's Douglas and Annatone and Susquehanna's Eden were Lafayette sophomore Erin Githens, who placed sixth over fences; Princeton junior Jen Buchan, fifth over fences but later third in open flat; Bloomsburg freshman Janine Guido, fourth in open flat and Kutztown freshman Ashley Force, who lost her stirup over a fence but recovered to place sixth. When the rain started up again, Force won her flat class for the golden bears. Though it was not her IHSA debut, Bucknell junior Jessica Minnotte (pictured) ended up with a first over fences and a fourth on the flat but probably deserved more attention for somehow not getting mud to splatter all over her boots during her classes. While everybody else was so caked with the splatter after one division that they didn't even clean their boots before the next, Minnotte all but avoided the mud and can claim second place to teammate Lorenz in the Cacchione standings for the moment.

Singing the blues but happy about it: Other riders with blue ribbons on this day were Laura Trautman (intermediate fences), Becky Stoll (novice fences), Megan Sly (novice flat), Christian Dankanich (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Susanna Arndt (beginner walk-trot-canter) of Kutztown; Jennifer Kessler (intermediate flat) and Sara Griggs (walk-trot) of Bloomsburg; Meredith Carlin (beginner walk-trot-canter) of DeSales; Kim Baker (novice flat) and Erica Bello (open flat) of Rutgers; Caitlin Rothacker (intermediate fences), Jeanine Elbaz (novice fences), Lauren Kennihan (same), Jess Cummings (novice flat) and Lauren Kelly (advanced walk-trot-canter) of Bucknell and Chrissy Baldwin (intermediate flat) and Sarah Toepfer (novice flat) of host East Stroudsburg, the latter of which was in line for reserve high point rider until Osborn won her flat class as well.

East Stroudsburg ended the day with 23 points, one behind Kutztown and Rutgers, while Bloomsburg opened their season with 22. Both schools have never been closer to first place after one day since launching their programs in the 1990's.

Sisto, King off to good start: Though Virginia Intermont graduate Ashton Phillips wins most of his alumni classes (including both today) Rutgers alumni Celeste Sisto had the honor of second place on the flat and third on the fences. Scranton alumni Sabrina "Sabs" King made her first appearances since diploma day and had the mirror image of Sisto's placings (second over alumni fences; third in alumni flat). One of Sisto's former teammates made her alumni debut. Kelly O'Neil, riding in the flat only, was fourth in her first IHSA appearance since spring of '02.

The road ahead: Though it remains to be seen if anyone can stop the Bucknell gauntlet, membership among the other schools seems to be on the rise for the most part. Lehigh made the most of pointing the correct riders (there was no mountain hawk in the intermediate flat) and seem bigger and stronger even without open rider Rachel Suna, who opted not to ride her senior year. The region will seem even bigger when Princeton hosts on October 11th, with more freshman working their way into the program and the return of Moravian College to the IHSA, last seen in the ring during the 1997-98 season.

Show Incidentals: Rain in the morning, temperature in the low 70's, then some clearing, with temperatures in the high 60's. Start time: 8:50AM. Finish: 4:32PM - includes breaks for coaches & captains meeting and removal of jumps from ring totaling 50 minutes. Point cards posted in this region? No. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Leslie Woodworth. Stewards: Phillips/Bucknell University, Lachiusa/Kutztown University and Lamont-Francfort/Rutgers University.

Team Totals: Bucknell University (High Point Team) 31; Lehigh University (Reserve) 28; Kutztown University 24; Rutgers University 24; East Stroudsburg University 23; Bloomsburg University 22; Princeton University 20; Susquehanna University 19; Lafayette College 15; DeSales University 12; University of Scranton and Cedar Crest College 4.

High Point Rider - Kim Lorenz, Bucknell University
Reserve High Point Rider - Deborah Osborn, Bucknell University