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MARY WASHINGTON WINS AT HOME, GAINS GROUND Fredericksburg, VA - Some days you point all the wrong people and sometimes you point the right ones. On this day host Mary Washington College pointed the right individuals, as five of the eagles' six blue ribbons went to riders on the point sheets. 42 points were enough for a three-point win over improving Sweet Briar, followed by 36 for William and Mary and 29 for Goucher. The eagles were led by freshman Elizabeth Couglin, who not only won both of her open classes and a ride-off for high point, she even worked the concession stand for part of the day! So far, so good: Couglin, who did not ride until the Goucher show in late October, has yet to lose in IHSA competition. Hailing from Lutherville, MD Couglin is unbeaten in a pair of ride-offs, and has 28 points in the open rider standings through two shows. Her efforts in the first two divisions of the day set the tone for the eagles. As the day progressed, teammates K.D. Klepper (intermediate flat), Erica Rozek (intermediate fences), Kely Yeamans (advanced walk-trot-canter), Brianna Egan (same) and Layne Havens (walk-trot) all won blue ribbons for Mary Washington. The eagles entered the day one point ahead of Goucher, and now lead by 13 headed down to Sweet Briar later in the week. Day of the transfers, part one: Sweet Briar head coach Alissa Cline received as much mid-season help as anyone in the country could hope for. Katherine Parnell, refered to as "Katie" in today's program but as "Kate" while at Hollins was the only other rider besides Couglin with two firsts. Parnell won both of her novice classes and made the ride-off look closer than most open-versus-novice usually do. Besides Parnell moving over from Hollins, the vixens gained Jenna Sangillo from the University of Delaware. The freshman from Morristown, NJ won her debut in Zone 4, Region 1 in intermediate flat. Jessica Leonardi (intermediate fences) and Jo Gormley (advanced walk-trot-canter) brought the vixen's blue ribbon total to five. The College of William & Mary received only two blue ribbons, but with six reserve ribbons to their credit the tribe were only six behind the eagles for the day. Jill Wilson won her open fences class, while Maggie Johnson just missed the ride-off with a first in novice flat and a second in novice fences. Though 22 behind Mary Washington with two shows to go, the tribe have hope as they host the final Region 1 regular-season show on March 28th. Goucher had a better day than the point totals indicate, as three gophers won classes while four others placed second. Ashley Stewart (novice flat), Alyson Schuster (beginner walk-trot-canter) and Shira Hoffman (walk-trot) earned Goucher's blue ribbons. Lydia Davies, the region's leading open rider entering the day, was second over fences and fourth on the flat. Her five point lead over Mary Washington's Jesica Mangun stayed intact as the latter was also second over fences and fourth on the flat in other open sections. Freshman open rider Maisy Grassie (whose name has been spelled several different ways in various programs) placed second in open flat and sixth in open fences, and now trails teammate Davies by nine in the race to represent Region 1 at Nationals in the Cacchione Cup Competition. Victory is mine!: Other undergraduate riders with a first today were Diane Zrimsek of Saint Mary's (open flat), Lauren Maruskin of Mount Saint Mary's (same) and Zoe Bautro of the University of Maryland (novice fences). Saint Mary's was fifth for the day with 23 points, enough to move into fifth place overall. We are still checking the record books to see if the seahawks have ever been as high as fifth in the standings this late in the season before today. Day of the transfers, part two: Perhaps the most unusual transfer story of the season involves Tina Struble. Two seasons ago Struble enrolled at the United States Naval Academy, where there was no equestrian team. The service academies allow students to spend a semester at another academy during their four years in college. Struble opted to attend the United States Military Academy in the Fall of 2003, where she proceeded to join the established equestrian team at West Point. Struble, who also rides western (in advanced), was in the ribbons ten of twelve times while riding hunter seat with the black knights. With the help of USMA coach Peter Cashman at the time, and now with the help of Emmie Prettyman (who may set a Coaching record next week; more on this in a moment), Struble was able to start a team at Navy upon her return in Spring 2004. Though Struble was the lone Navy rider at today's show, there could be up to eight riders at the William & Mary show on March 28th. There may be many, many more in the Fall ("We posted a sign-up sheet to see in anyone was interested, and 150 people signed up!" said Struble). With Prettyman as coach, Struble/Navy scored four points in their Zone 4, Region 1 debut. Struble now has as many points in fences as on the flat, as her fourth over the jumps gives the junior from Unadilla, NY 17 in both intermediate divisions. More new teams: Also signing on mid-season is Catholic University. The cardinals had six riders entered in their IHSA debut, with five divisions filled. Open rider Jackie Ducci was the first rider in the ring, placing fifth in open flat, while James Swiger had the cardinals' highest ribbon of the day, a third in novice flat. The team's origins go back to Spring of 2003, when the club was formed. The cardinals finally received money from the school in the Fall, and on this day picked up ten points, enough to finish ahead of four other schools. Like the Naval Academy, there are others who were not in attendence today who may make the cardinal roster much bigger in the near future. Kick of the year: If we had a video camera, we wish we had taped Anna Nicolaisen of Sweet Briar during her round in intermediate fences. Her trip was going well until a refusal, when all the rails were knocked down. However the talented Nicolaisen stayed on. The rails were replaced, Nicolaisen circled, came back to the fence, and gave the most perfect kick to to the horse with her right leg that we have seen in years. If it was taped the kick should be shown to inexperienced riders to demonstate exactly what the perfect kick should look like and where it should be placed. Too bad judge Sue Bopp was on the opposite side of the jump and did not see the kick itself. The kick produced a perfect jump, and the rest of the round was flawless. The road to Murfreesboro has at least one traveler from Region 1: What do Sara Silkotch, Meredith Houx and Daphne Boogaard all have in common? By the middle of the day, all three were the only individual riders in the country assured of a trip to IHSA Nationals. Boogaard is the only one who competes in Zone 4, Region 1 to accomplish this feat so far, as her third place finish in alumni fences brought her point total to 28 and automatically qualified her for the post-season. Boogaard, a 1996 University of Maryland graduate, advanced all the way to Murfreesboro through a quirk in the system. Since the other two regions in Zone 4 do not have alumni, the riders in Region 1 need simply to reach 28 points and then survive Regionals (by placing first or second in their division) to go straight to IHSA Nationals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee this May. Since alumni will only be held at one more Region 1 show this season, and because only one other rider has a mathematical chance to qualify in alumni fences, Boogaard is assured of her first trip to the championships. "I made it to Regionals once as an undergraduate, but it was a field of twelve and only the top four advanced," said Boogaard, refering to the time when their were only two regions in Zone 4. Boogaard joins Texas A & M's Houx (the high point open rider in Zone 7, Region 2, which finished it's regular season schedule on the 15th), Rutger's Silkotch (the high point stock seat open rider in Zone 3, Region 4, which held all ten western dates in the fall!) and the entire Texas A & M hunter seat team, which gets to IHSA Nationals through a quirk in the system (there are still only two regions in Zone 7, and with over 500 hunter seat riders in the Zone the top two teams advance to Nationals). Andrea Bill, who was the alumni equitation on the flat National Champion last season, stayed alive to go back in the division with a fourth. Mount Holyoke graduate Bill now has 23 points on the flat, tops in the region. University of Maryland graduate Trisha Prettyman won alumni fences while placing third in alumni flat. Prettyman is still alive to qualify for both divisions but may need firsts in each division to do so. Mary Washington graduate Jackie Falkowski-Schmitter, now the Saint Mary's head coach, won the alumni flat class but barring one of those rare "Drop down the numbers" situations could only raise her flat total to 27 with a first on March 28th. Expanding faster than the Universe: Zone 4, Region 1 T-Shirts were on sale today in three colors - blue, red or gray. The back of the shirt had a sketch of a first place ribbon, with the following dialogue to the right: "Objective...Successfully perform a series of movements from the back of a large unfamiliar animal with an objective of its own, while wearing restrictive, unflattering, non-breathable clothing and a winning smile. Now you try telling me that blue ribbon isn't worth it". Though we are not sure about the "unflattering" part, the shirts are nice though perhaps in need of modification in the near future. Around the ribbon and "Objective" are the names of the teams who competed in Zone 4, Region 1 during the fall portion of the show schedule. Thus Catholic University and the United States Naval Academy are not listed. And according to Emmie Prettyman, who can claim head coaching duties for the University of Maryland, American University, Johns Hopkins, Catholic and the Naval Academy, there will be yet another team showing perhaps as soon as Saturday at Sweet Briar. George Washington University, which fielded a team several seasons ago, will likely re-appear. At that point Prettyman will set an IHSA record for being head coach of six IHSA teams at the same time! On previous occasions Prettyman also coached Georgetown and Prince Georges Community College. We wish all coaches could take coaching one team in stride such as Prettyman coaches a multitude. ---Steve Maxwell Show Incidentals: Sunny skies. Windy with a high temperature of 42 degrees. Entire show held indoors. Start time: 11:35AM. Finish: 4:25PM. 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: Sue Bopp. Stewards: Blackmer/Mount Saint Mary's College, Greenwood/College of William & Mary and E. Prettyman/University of Maryland. Team Totals: Mary Washington College (High Point Team) 42; Sweet Briar College (Reserve) 39; College of William & Mary 36; Goucher College 29; Saint Mary's College of Maryland 23; Christopher Newport University 21; Mount Saint Mary's College 14; University of Maryland 13; Catholic University 10; University of Richmond 5; United States Naval Academy 4; American University 3 and Johns Hopkins University 1. High Point Rider - Elizabeth Couglin, Mary Washington College
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