Goucher College brought horses to the November 2nd George Washington University show which explains why head coach Jen Bunty (on left) and assistant coach Brittany Martin (on right) are in half-chaps. Between them is Ashley Bent, a Goucher sophomore from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania who won her intermediate fences. Goucher was the only team with a full card and earned high point team honors with 43 points.

GOUCHER AND GEORGE WASHINGTON TAKE TOP TWO SPOTS ON NOVEMBER 2ND

Poolesville, MD - Considering that the calendar said November 2nd the weather was as good as any mild October day might turn out. It was a mostly sunny day at Tulip Pond Farm, the home of the George Washington University equestrian team, and save for a few minutes when there was an afternoon cloud cover the temperatures reached into the upper 60's. The entire show took place in the Tulip Pond outdoor ring, and despite starting a half hour late at 11:30AM the entire event was over and done by quarter to three.

And when it was over Goucher College had run their record to three-and-0 by way of a 43-32 win over the host school. Goucher scored 43 points for the second consecutive weekend while George Washington ended their run of consecutive 29 point totals with an even better 32. The Colonals were reserve champions for the second time this season.

Leading the way for the victorius Gophers was open rider Joey Fink. The junior from Baltimore, Maryland won his open flat while placing fourth in open fences, which was good enough to be today's reserve high point rider (many riders showed only once, making the pool of candidates to earn more than seven points one of the fewest this writer can recall at a meet that was a step above a point show). Other Goucher riders to win blue ribbons were (in order of appearance) Ashley Bent in intermediate fences, Alison Radgowski (freshman, from Northport, New York) in intermediate flat, Kaduk Sherpa (sophomore, East Aurora, New York) in advanced walk-trot-canter and Kaili Janette, who won the walk-trot class which ended the afternoon at an early 2:42PM. Junior Laura Malone was second in novice fences for Goucher's only red ribbon of the day. However when you add in Bent's fifth in novice flat you have every Goucher ride accounted for within this third paragraph of the recap.

University of Maryland senior Samantha Davis (on left) is from Bethany Beach, Delaware. Freshman teammate Emmalee Murrell (on right) is from Ocean City, Maryland. Davis said she recruited Murrell as they are from the same general area on the Delmarva peninsula. Davis won her novice flat class on November 2nd and qualified for Regionals in the process.

George Washington might have been able to get closer to Goucher if they had an intermediate fences rider entered at today's show. With the point card seven eighths complete the Colonals still outscored several other teams who were missing one division only. Andrea Dowd, a sophomore from Lake Mary, Florida won the open fences class which started the show and placed second to Radgowski in intermediate flat to earn high point rider honors. Maddie Dennis-Yates (in novice fences) and Mary Devlin (in advanced walk-trot-canter) also were red ribbon winners for the Colonals. Open rider Megan Ward was third in open flat and fifth in open fences (a rare case where a school had two riders in the same section of a class) to climb into the top five of the Region 1 open rider standings.

The University of Maryland at College Park (the big one) produced three blue ribbon winners which turned out to be more than any school save for Goucher. Julie Bigham (senior, Ashton, Maryland) won her novice fences while Samantha Davis (senior, Bethany Beach, Delaware) won the novice flat class which followed. Kahlil Chan (sophomore, Gathersburg, Maryland) won the only section of beginner walk-trot-canter. Alana Hamann was second in her novice flat for Maryland's only red ribbon. The Terps scored 27 points for third place but considering they did not have riders entered in walk-trot, open flat or open fences this was perhaps the accomplishment of the day.

Mount St. Mary's University lacked only an intermediate flat rider and finished fourth with 22 points. Gabrielle Cusato (sophomore, Annapolis, Maryland) won section 2B-b of advanced walk-trot-canter which was the tenth of 12 undergraduate classes held at Tulip Pond Farm. Earlier Amanda Lane was second to Fink in open fences while later on Joanna Robinson finished second to Janette in walk-trot.

George Mason University was the fifth and final team to score in the 20's, earning 20. The Patriots have proved to be consistant, having scored 22, 17 and 20 so far. No George Mason riders won classes on November 2nd though sophomore Kearstine Griffin was second to Bent in intermediate fences and junior Ashley Cox was second to Davis in novice flat. The Patriots did not have an open rider but filled every other division on the card.

Emily Paragamian of Georgetown University (second on left) poses with three of her Hoya teammates after her win in novice fences made her a regional qualifier in the division.

American University was intitally listed as having scored 15 points but when the official points were e-mailed to this writer their was a minor change giving the Eagles 17 points. A late scratch meant that American competed without riders in novice flat or walk-trot. Twice the Eagles soared as high as second, as Suji Strain - Kokich was second to Chan in beginner walk-trot-canter while Jaclyn Merica was second to Dowd in the open fences class that started the day. A freshman who was until recently from Las Vegas, Nevada, Merica does in fact pronounce her last name like "America" without the "A."

Georgetown University was seventh with 16 points. If the Hoyas had a walk-trot rider their card would have been full (only four of the 11 schools had a walk-trot rider entered at today's show). Emily Paragamian (sophomore, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) won the first of two novice fences classes for the Hoyas' only ribbon above third place.

The final school into double digits was Johns Hopkins University with 11 points. The Blue Jays earned seven of their 11 points with one ride, as Lauren Aldoroty (freshman, New York, New York) won her novice flat. Johns Hopkins had no rider in open fences or walk-trot but had the bases covered in between. The Blue Jays are another team showing consistancy on the scoreboard, having scored 13, 15 and 11 so far in 2013-14

Two schools scored nine points each. The University of Maryland at Baltimore County did it with fewer riders than Towson University, as the latter school had riders in every level save for walk-trot while UMBC had riders entered in only half the divisions. Drew Duhan of UMBC apparently pointed out of novice fences with his third in the division, which was also the Retriever's best ribbon of the day. Towson sophomore Haleigh Williams was third in novice flat for the Tigers' best ribbon.

Rounding out the scoring was Hood College with three points. The Blazers had a total of three riders showing in two divisions. Haley Ormrod of Hood was second to Cusato in advanced walk-trot-canter for the Blazer's best ribbon of the day.

"Hey Drew Duhan, coach Sherri tells me you just qualified for Regionals in novice fences" said the photographer. "She said that last week too," said Duhan (on left) who posed for this photo with University of Maryland at Baltimore County coach Sherri Fram Trenary nonetheless. Duhan was third in novice fences for UMBC's best ribbon on November 2nd. Hopefully Duhan will be showing in intermediate fences when the Retrievers host on November 16th.

There is considerable interest among IHSA alumni to show in the Washington and Baltimore areas (Several recent Region 1 alumni riders will not compete this fall due to the fact that they are expecting babies sometime during the season). With limits in place only four alumni competed today, and of the four only two showed in both alumni divisions. 2007 Virginia Tech graduate Kristen Marley won both of the alumni classes at Tulip Pond. 2009 Lafayette College graduate Emily Mallory (who recently got married and is actually Emily Weyl but is not listed as such in IHSA programs as of yet) rode only over the fences and was second. Former Longwood University rider Kristin Van Derlaske was second on the flat and third over fences while 2010 Christopher Newport University alum CC Howlett was third in alumni flat. Strangely enough none of these four alumni competed as undergraduates for schools that are currently located in Zone 4, Region 1 though last season Christopher Newport was in Region 1 prior to that school and four others leaving the region to form the new version of Zone 4, Region 4.

Limited show only slightly longer than a football game: Prior to any last-second scratches or adds the official IHSA program for today's show stated that there were a total of 89 entries (which includes riders who competed twice). With only twelve undergraduate and two alumni classes the show was one of the fastest this writer has ever attended for hunter seat. Prior to the start of the show I remarked that Zone 4, Region 4 took only 3 hours and 17 minutes to start and finish their season opener (with only seven schools entered). This show was even faster, completed in 3 hours and 12 minutes. Only a show hosted by a school then known as Randolph - Macon Woman's College about eight or nine years ago was shorter for me, clocking in at under three hours.

Though Andrea Dowd of George Washington University (center, with head coach Daphne Ross on the left) was high point rider thanks to a first in open fences and a second in intermediate flat it should be mentioned that assistant coach Kristen Marley (on right) won both of her alumni classes. Though alumni are not eligible for high point rider awards, Virginia Tech graduate Marley would have been high point rider as the only person to show on November 2nd to win twice were the rules different. The Colonals were reserve high point team with a (so far) season - high 32 points.

Fink leads the Region 1 Cacchione race: Only a novice rider when he started at Goucher two seasons ago, Fink holds a 36-27 lead over Merica in the Region 1 open rider race. Merica's teammate Anna Rossi had been in second place but for whatever reason was not entered on November 2nd. Even without showing Merica only leapfroged Rossi by three points, as Rossi is not far behind (now tied with Lane) at 24.

What's Next?: For the third time this fall Region 1 will be visiting the campus of Goucher College as the University of Maryland at Baltimore County will host there on Satuday, November 16th. The show will likely not be as limited as the George Washington show, which will enable some riders who did not compete on November 2nd to show this time around. In defense of the GWU limits their show ran well, few horses received wear and tear and the event was completed in record time (and what great weather too).

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny skies with temperatures reaching the upper '60's. Start time: 11:30AM. Finish: 2:42PM. Coaches and Captains meeting held prior to start of show. Point cards posted in this region? Yes. Alumni classes held in this region? Yes. Judge: Cindy Little - Dickerson. Stewards: Dalley/University of Maryland (College Park) and American University, Becker/Georgetown University and Somers/Towson University.

Team Totals: Goucher College (High Point Team) 43; George Washington University (Reserve) 32; University of Maryland (College Park) 27; Mount St. Mary's University 22; George Mason University 20; American University 17; Georgetown University 16; Johns Hopkins University 11; Townson University 9; University of Maryland - Baltimore County 9 and Hood College 3.

High Point Rider - Andrea Dowd, George Washington University
Reserve High Point Rider - Joey Fink, Goucher College