Head Coach Jackie Falkowski-Schmitter poses with St. Mary's junior Laura Robidoux (on left) after the latter was first in advanced walk-trot-canter at the February 17th Goucher College show. St. Mary's College finished in a tie for third with William & Mary that day, and would finish fifth overall for 2007-08 after a pair of Mary Washington shows a week later.

GOUCHER RETAKES REGION 1 LEAD FOR A WEEK BUT MARY WASHINGTON TAKES IT BACK FOR GOOD

Owings Mills, MD - They came in four behind and left eight points in front. Led by senior open rider Brittany Martin, the Goucher Gophers won by a 44-32 margin over the University of Mary Washington to re-claim first place on February 17th. Martin, a senior from Ocean City, Maryland, was first over fences and second on the flat while winning a ride-off for reserve high point rider at the end of the day.

High point rider honors went to University of Mary Washington's Jessica Van Brocklin, the lone entry with a pair of firsts on the day. Though Van Brocklin trailed Martin in the Region 1 USEF Cacchione open rider standings by 15 points following the show, the junior from Alexandria, Virginia had started a trend that would pay dividends a week later when Mary Washington hosted back-to-backs to complete the 2007-08 season.

On the 17th it was Goucher's moment to shine. The Gophers earned seven blue ribbons for the day, with Justine Wilson, Katy Bryant and Emily Shelley winning consecutive sections of novice flat late in the session. Sarah Pandolfini (intermediate flat), April Kerns (advanced walk-trot-canter) and Lori Scott (walk-trot) joined Martin and the novices in the winner's circle.

While it is not clear if Lindsay Novean of William & Mary (on right) pointed up when this photo was taken at the Goucher show, her Tribe teammates Jordan DeButts (on right) and Sarah Lehman (center) did punch their tickets to Regionals on this day. Lehman pointed out of walk-trot-canter while DeButts and Novean (be it on the 17th or the following weekend) classed out of novice flat.

Goucher should apparently host their shows at the Garrison Forest School more often. The Gophers set a school record when scoring 47 points there in February of 2007 and nearly equaled that total with 44 this time around. Mary Washington scored 32, still easily enough for second but not enough to keep from falling eight behind overall. Aside from Van Brocklin's heroics (even more impressive after two nights battling food poisoning) Leigh Critzer won the only section of beginner walk-trot-canter for the Eagles while freshman Katie Stewart came out first in a class made up of eleven novice fences riders. Though the Garrison Forest indoor has been very kind to Goucher it has been nirvana for Van Brocklin, who is undefeated in four rides inside the structure to date.

Only five of the 12 teams entered were able to crack the 20-point barrier, with two earning the same score in the mid-20's. At the time it appeared that St. Mary's College of Maryland and the College of William & Mary (located in Virginia) both scored 25 points, but the official points circulated after the fact awarded each of the schools 26. In each case it was the second-best score of the year for these schools at the time. St. Mary's was led by junior Laura Robidoux, who won their only blue ribbon with a first in advanced walk-trot-canter. However four St. Mary's riders placed second. The College of William & Mary had much to celebrate. Sophomore Philip Embury was first in intermediate flat and second in intermediate fences, the only other rider besides Martin to earn exactly 12 points on this day. Embury also pointed out of intermediate flat with the win, while teammates Jordan DeButts (in novice flat) and Sarah Lehman (in advanced walk-trot-canter) also pointed up. DeButts won her novice flat to qualify while Lehman was second to Robidoux to break the 35-point barrier. Another William & Mary rider, Lindsay Novean, was a yellow ribbon winner in novice flat and was thought to have pointed up with her four points. Though her name did not appear on the subsequent list of Regional Qualifiers Novean did in fact class out of novice flat, either on this day or at the first of two Mary Washington shows six days later.

University of Richmond Head Coach Jessica Shaw (on left) and Spiders sophomore Jennifer Huffman are all smiles after the latter won the second of three sections of advanced walk-trot-canter. Huffman moved up into the novice division with the win.

The University of Richmond scored a season-low 21 points but still made the top five while holding third place in the region overall. All 12 Richmond rides resulted in top six placings, though only three were second or higher. The Spiders' best placing belonged to sophomore Jennifer Huffman, who won her advanced walk-trot-canter. From Pasadena, California, Huffman joined teammates Brittany Yates and Stefanie Toth as Regional Qualifiers with her blue ribbon.

Both the University of Maryland and Christopher Newport University were next with 16 points each. Like William & Mary the Terrapins earned two blue ribbons, with freshman Andrew Artuso a winner early on in intermediate fences and sophomore Veronica Bruce tops in a field of six for intermediate flat sometime later. Christopher Newport left Garrison Forest with a blue ribbon, won by freshman Haley Jones in the intermediate fences class after Artuso's. The Captains tied their season high of 16 points, also earned at the University of Richmond show back on November 3rd.

George Washington University was next with 14 points. The Colonials saw the stars line up for a fleeting moment, as Sarah Meilen placed second in her advanced walk-trot-canter class immediately before teammate and open rider Jessica Smolar did likewise. Save for a ten-point outing on opening day George Washington was the most consistant Region team this year, scoring 10, 15, 16, 14, 14, 15 and 16 over seven regular season shows.

After considerable delays American University finally made their Region 1 debut on February 17th. The other group of Eagles were led by sophomore Lindsay Cronin. From Tewksbury, New Jersey, Cronin earned both the Eagles first ribbon of the season with a third in open fences (her IHSA debut as well) and their first blue ribbon by coming out ahead of Martin in open flat. The American University finished with 13 points, 11 of which belonged to Cronin.

Seen here with "Colby," Goucher sophomore Lori Scott won the only section of walk-trot on February 17th. Goucher won seven blue ribbons and led the region for the second time this season from February 17th through the morning of the 23rd.

Like Richmond, George Mason would not want to put today's show in their time capsule. Only two shows earlier the Patriots had scored a season-high 36 points, sadly a distant memory after earning 11 today. The Patriots' high point came in the second class of the day, when Lindsay Graves was second to Van Brocklin in open fences. Considering the George Mason team is only in its' third season the outlook is quite good, with freshman Johnie Lotesta twice having won high point rider honors in the fall.

Both Hood College and Mount St. Mary's University had only three riders entered, and each school averaged one point per rider as far as the team points go. Walk-trot rider Lizzie Hummel earned two points for Hood, not bad when you learn eight riders took part in the lone section of the division. Both Carrol Galvin and Claire Hatfield were fifth in consecutive sections of advanced walk-trot-canter for Mount St. Mary's, and Galvin would qualify for Regionals in the division a week later. Mount St. Mary's was hampered by their spring break falling between the Goucher and Mary Washington shows, resulting in very few of their riders participating more than once in that span.

Though no longer a Hood undergraduate, Jennifer Mehalko continues to lead the Region 1 alumni standings in both disciplines. A second in alumni flat made Mehalko the first alumni rider in the region this season to advance to Regionals while a similar placing over fences left her only two points from the magic 28 needed for a second post-season ride. Former University of Maryland rider Katie Cawood won the alumni flat while former Virginia Tech rider Alicia Salo won over fences. Salo was not the only Virginia Tech rider involved in the alumni classes on this day. Mara Thayer, who was Mara Sullivan when she graduated in '04 joined her former teammate in the competition. Thayer was fourth in fences and fifth in flat while another former University of Maryland rider, in this case current George Washington Coach Daphne Boogaard was third over fences and fourth on the flat. Salo was also third in alumni flat while Cawood was sixth in alumni fences. Rounding out the placings was Longwood graduate Kristin VanDerlaske, who was fifth over fences and sixth on the flat. With Boogaard sitting out the final two shows at Mary Washington, only Salo had better than a fighting chance to join Mehalko at Regionals.

If the show gets dull you can always watch Polo!: The Garrison Forest riding complex has multiple barns and sometimes concurrent events. While today's IHSA show did not start until almost 11:30AM, riders and spectators alike had the opportunity to walk about 50 feet to where a polo match took place in another indoor. Though this writer is uncertain what was at stake, there were apparently four teams of riders taking part in separate matches, with one team blowing out another 15-1 through two chukkers. It was not exactly clear what age group was participating, as some riders appeared of high school age while others may have been under ten! Regardless it was apparent the riders on one team were very good at getting to the ball ahead of the others, and avoiding some reckless swings while at it.

More Garrison Forest: The arena used for today's Goucher show was the same one used for IEA Nationals two seasons ago. The Garrison Forest IEA team has gone deep into the post-season throughout the current decade and both the GFS Varsity and 'Futures' teams have qualified for 2008 IEA Zone Finals. Teens and tweens looking to make a career out of riding before even considering where to go to college should investigate the Garrison Forest program and their fine riding facilities and academics.

Only one section of novice fences was held February 17th, and that section was made up of eleven riders. Katie Stewart, a Mary Washington freshman from Washington, DC won the class, after which she posed with Head Coach Beth Boteler (on left) and a blue ribbon. Mary Washington sat in second place for six days, only to erase an eight-point deficit with a rousing 45-25 win at Hazelwild Farm on the 23rd. A day later the Eagles won their first Region 1 Region Championship in four years.

The Eagles class of '08 tastes the post-season: Going into the final two shows at Hazelwild Farm Goucher had high hopes of breaking a string of winning Region 1 Championships every other year, but never doing so two consecutive seasons. However it was not to be. Van Brocklin stayed hot, winning both of her open classes on the 23rd. Mary Washington was strong throughout the day and scored a then-season-high 45 points. At the same time Goucher went surprisingly cold, scoring a season-low 25 points. Mary Washington, which co-hosted their shows with George Mason, found themselves up by 12 points after the 45-25 win. Goucher had another chance a day later, but although the Gophers scored a healthy 37 points Mary Washington (and Van Brocklin in particular) picked up where they left off, scoring a season-high 47 to make the final margin 279-257 in their favor. The Eagles thus captured their first Region 1 Region Championship since March of 2004, before any of the current Mary Washington riders were even in college! Van Brocklin missed one show in the fall, which likely kept her from a second consecutive trip to IHSA Nationals to compete in the Cacchione Cup Competition. Martin finished atop the Region 1 open rider standings, ahead of Van Brocklin by only a 71-68 margin at the final whistle. It is difficult to imagine Van Brocklin had only 26 points through three shows, good enough for only sixth place in the Region 1 open rider standings at the time. Nevertheless Martin paid her dues, as it will be the senior's first time competing for the Cacchione Cup come May 8th in Burbank, California.

Unlike Martin the Eagles will not know if they too are headed to the West Coast until April 13th, when Zone 4 Zones take place at the Randolph College Riding Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. While Mary Washington was rolling it up on the 23rd, Hollins was convincing in their own building, taking out a Bridgewater College team 34-21 which entered the show only three points out of first. A day later Hollins fell to Bridgewater 30-29 at the University of Virginia show but still had the Region 2 title in hand. The third team entry at Zone 4 Zones is not officially known as of yet, though it would take the biggest IHSA miracle of all time for Virginia Intermont to give back 28 points and the lead against St. Andrews at the final Zone 4, Region 3 show on March 1st. The defending National Champions defeated St. Andrews 39-36 on the 23rd, and have not been eliminated at a Zones show since 1997! Virginia Intermont will likely join Mary Washington and Hollins in the Zone 4 Zones team competition, with the top two teams in the three-way Zones competition advancing to Nationals. The Eagles were the odd-team-out several times earlier this decade, but this is a different era. They are the University of Mary Washington (no longer Mary Washington College), they have another Head Coach in Beth Boteler and most importantly they have riders with a clean slate going into Zones competition.

---Steve Maxwell

February 17th Show incidentals: Overcast skies. Cold and windy, with high temperatures in the low '40's. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 11:25AM. Finish: 4:35PM - includes a brief schooling break. 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: Mrs. Joanne Robertson, Westminster, MD. Stewards: Greenwood/College of William & Mary, Mitchell/Hood College and Falkowski-Schmitter/St. Mary's College (MD).

February 17th Team Totals: Goucher College (High Point Team) 44; University of Mary Washington (Reserve) 32; St. Mary's College (MD) 25; College of William & Mary 25; University of Richmond 21; Christopher Newport University 16; University of Maryland 16; George Washington University 14; American University 13; George Mason University 11; Mount St. Mary's University 3 and Hood College 3.

High Point Rider - Jessica Van Brocklin, University of Mary Washington
Reserve High Point Rider - Brittany Martin, Goucher College