Brittany Zaleski of Bloomsburg was reserve high point rider at the November 9th University of Scranton show.

KUTZTOWN WINS SQUEAKER

Factoryville, PA - Kutztown University won for the third time this season, edging Lehigh by a 31-30 margin. Defending region champion Bucknell was not far behind, with 28. Through the first six shows, which make up the Region 4 fall hunter seat schedule, Kutztown holds a four-point lead over Bucknell, with Lehigh eight behind.

"We made some mistakes in the ring today, and the riders know it," said Kutztown head coach Bruce Lachiusa, who seemed to feel fortunate that the golden bears came out ahead. A bonus was freshman open rider Ashley Force moving into second place in the region's Cacchione race with a first in open flat and third in open fences.

The iceman cometh!: Though today's University of Scranton show was at Lithia Valley Farms and not Briarwood, the plan was to use the "Briarwood class order" which means open and intermediate jump to start the show, then both divisions flat immediately afterward. However the sub-freezing temperatures the night before left the jumping ring completely frozen. The decision was made to hold the open flat, intermediate flat and three novice flat classes first, utilizing the Lithia Valley indoor while the outdoor defrosted. Another delay occured at the start when several of the horses had not reached the property by 8:30AM. Despite the setbacks the show started at 9:21AM, only about a half-hour later than most Briarwood shows usually begin.

Katie Sancuk and Jill Douglass of Lehigh won the open flat sections on each side of Force's blue ribbon, while blue ribbons in intermediate flat went to three different schools. Sara Stefanini of Bucknell, Lindsey McGregor of Princeton and Francesca Migliore of Cedar Crest won in that order. Kate Ferentz and Brittany Zaleski of Bloomsburg both would have flatted about four hours later under normal circumstances, but riding early helped them both win blue ribbons in the novice flat. Bucknell's Jess Cummings won the third section of novice flat before the show shifted outdoors. Cummings was awarded her blue ribbon at twenty to twelve in the morning. Following a schooling break it would be twenty to one when the first over fences rider would enter the ring.

Lehigh picked up a pair of firsts in open fences via Jackie Annatone and Douglass. The intermediate fences went to three different schools. Ellen Levitian of Rutgers, Becky Stoll of Kutztown and Jeanine Elbaz of Bucknell won in that order. Four sections of novice fences went to as many schools as Leah Moyer (Kutztown), Krista Klett (Bucknell), Lauren Mohan (Lehigh) and Zaleski (Bloomsburg) were the class winnners. Zaleski and Douglass wound up the only riders with two firsts and thus rode off at the end of the day.

The alumni rode later in the day than they had all season, with William Paterson graduate Glenn Ciripompa ending Virginia Intermont graduate Ashton Phillip's unbeaten streak over fences with a first. Phillips was second, and following a first for Lindsay Haroldson of Kutztown in the maiden fences division, Phillips won alumni flat, assuring himself of two rides at Regionals in early April.

The rest of the day was a smorgasboard of flat classes: "2BA," or the first section of advanced walk-trot-canter went to Kelly Allen of Kutztown. "1A," or the first section of walk-trot went to Laura Lincieri of Susquehanna, the only blue ribbon of the day for the crusaders. "2aA," or the first section of beginner walk-trot-canter was won by Rebecca Merola of Lehigh. "2bB" would be the final blue ribbon of the day for the golden bears, a first for Megan Lissi of Kutztown in advanced walk-trot-canter. The second section of walk-trot would be the first blue ribbon of the day for Moravian College, awarded to Amy Kish.

The remaining novice flat classes alternated with walk-trot-canter, as Jill Rocket and Hana Nower of Bucknell won sections 3D and 3E respectively. In between, Elizabeth Hardison of Rutgers won the second section of beginner walk-trot-canter.

The final section of advanced walk-trot-canter marked a return to the indoor ring, simply because the sun had set and the light was insufficient to continue outdoors. Lauren Kelly of Bucknell won the class, while the final regular class of the day went to Ashley Garrett of Moravian, a winner in "3F" if you can guess what that is.

Douglass and Zaleski returned to ride-off, with Douglas awarded the high point rider ribbon at 5:58PM. Both became the only riders to ride indoors - then outdoors - and then indoors for the day. Considering the elements (tempearatures barely over 40 at best and in the teens when the show started) and the horses brought in from many sources, the Scranton team deserve credit for putting on a good show. If the show had been held in warmer weather, perhaps the start and end times would have been different (The picturesque Lithia Valley was the site of stock seat shows the following weekend, with snowflakes falling at one point).

For once, a real race!: Since the region was formed from parts of regions 2 and 3 of Zone 3 prior to the Fall of 2001, Bucknell has had a comforable lead through the first six shows in past seasons. Each time the bison won at least seven of the ten region 4 shows. Bucknell has only won two of four outright this season, so that streak has fallen. Still the Bison are proven winners, and to be only four out with four shows to go is not a bad situation. Lehigh, still waiting for the day they lead the region, are eight out and can claim Douglass in first by seven points in the Cacchione race. Rutgers and Princeton are not out of it yet, with the scarlet knights 28 down and the tigers 30 in back. Both must make up ground at the first two spring shows to stay alive more than mathematically. The coaches of all five teams hopefully have plans in place to hold riders back in case they field a full team at Zone 3 Zones April 10th. For now the Kutztown golden bears are the toast of the region, and Coach Luchiusa and company will spend the next three months preparing to try and keep the lead exactly like the 1997-98 Kutztown team did when the defending National Champion University of Delaware equestrian team failed to catch them.

--Steve Maxwell

11/9 Show Incidentals: Mostly sunny skies, temperature in the low 40's. Very beginning and very end of show held indoors. Start time: 9:21AM. Finish: 5:58PM - includes schooling breaks totaling 1 hour and 13 minutes. Coaches and Captains meeting held prior to the show. Point cards posted in this region? No. Alumni classes held in this Region? Yes. Judge: Sue Cisco. Stewards: Lachiusa/Kutztown University, Kalmar/Lehigh University and Phillips-Hilliard/Susquehanna University.

Team Totals: Kutztown University (High Point Team) 31; Lehigh University (Reserve) 30; Bucknell University 28; Princeton University 22; Lafayette College 20; Rutgers University 20; Moravian College 19; Bloomsburg University 19; East Stroudsburg University 17; Cedar Crest College 13; Susquehanna University 12; University of Scranton 8 and DeSales University 2.

High Point Rider - Jill Douglass, Lehigh University
Reserve High Point Rider - Brittany Zaleski, Bloomsburg University