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CLASS OF 2008 PRODUCES THREE ALUMNI WINNERS AT '09 NATIONALS MURFREESBORO, TN - Sometimes it is hard to believe that the first individual trophy handed out in IHSA history was for an alumni rider. Back in 1970 Hugh Cassidy graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and wanted to keep riding within the IHSA. Cassidy came up with the idea of an alumni division. In the fall of 1970 Cassidy was one of several alumni to compete in the four-year-old IHSA. By the end of the season Cassidy had the most total alumni points and was thus awarded a trophy for high point alumni. Today the alumni flat champion receives the Philanthropy Cup, which is the decendant of Cassidy's trophy. Since Cassidy's 1970-71 effort 29 others have won the individual alumni flat at least once while 30 riders have won the alumni fences, made into a separate class at Nationals in 1978. Since 1989 the individual alumni western horsemanship division has been held at Nationals, while individual alumni reining was introduced to the National show in 1998. Since the mid-1990's the process to qualify for the National alumni classes has been the same. A rider must earn 28 points in one of the four alumni divisions during the regular season to qualify for Regionals. Then that rider must place inside the top two or three depending on the rules within that Zone for hunter seat, or the top two at a western regional show. The riders who place this high then must place first or second at Zones or first through fourth at Semifinals to qualify for Nationals. All the riders whose names appear at the end of this story managed to survive the regular season and the post-season to reach 2009 IHSA Nationals at the Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Though the majority of riders qualified had been out of college for over a year or longer the class of 2008 claimed the most alumni entries, and by the end of the show three of the winners would be riders who walked down the aisle with fellow classmates roughly 12 months earlier. The first alumni division held at 2009 Nationals was alumni equitation over fences. Alumni fences was the first class of any kind held on day two of Nationals, with 16 riders entered. As was the case with all the jumping classes at '09 Nationals the combined judge's scores of Pamela Hunt and Mindy Minetto were read aloud by announcer Justin Ochs after each rider completed her course (no males survived Zones in alumni fences this season). More than half the jumping classes had been tested on day one of Nationals, but for alumni fences both Hunt and Minetto were satisfied with what they saw the first time. After Ochs announced the names of the six riders who received participation ribbons it was time for the top ten. Tenth place went to 2004 Delaware Valley College graduate Genna Weissner, who had also competed in the division a year earlier in Burbank. Weissner received a score of '65' while Lena Andrews Licata was ninth with a score of '73.' A 2004 Lehigh University graduate, Andrews Licata had been a regional qualifier several times as both an undergraduate and an alumni but was competing at an IHSA National show for the first time. The alumni fences rider with the most prior IHSA Nationals appearances was Dr. Emily Weis. Weis was in the running to become the first alumni rider to win at Nationals under two different names! As Emily Unger she won individual alumni over fences at Eden Park in 2005, while placing second in both alumni divisions at Harrisburg in '06. The three-time top ten Cacchione rider for Stonehill College in the late 90's was eighth here with a score of '75.' Dr. Weis would be one of four riders who also qualified to compete a day later in individual alumni flat. 2008 University of Nebraska at Omaha graduate Mary McDonald is the first rider in Mav's program history to compete at IHSA Nationals. McDonald had a very respectable turnout of UNO faithful to see her place seventh with a score of '76.' Though she rode in both alumni divisions at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center nearly a year earlier 2007 Hood College graduate Jennifer Mehalko made the top ten for the first time here. Mehalko's score of '77' translated into sixth place. The difference between eighth and fourth was only three points, with 2008 Mount Holyoke College graduate Lorin Weaver fifth with a score of '77.5' while '08 University of Connecticut alum Tara Lynch scored a '78' for fourth. This was a similar outcome to what happened at Zone 1 Zones, where Lynch edged Weaver for the top spot. Of all the 2004 graduates, Lauren Sappenfield faired the best. The former Purdue Boilermaker was easily third with a score of '82.'
The Reserve Championship went to 2008 Cal Poly - Pomona graduate Hailey Quirk. When asked her hometown on Friday morning after receiving the red ribbon via a score of '83,' Quirk mentioned it as Carlsbad, California. The winner of the division was from 2,500 miles further east. As an undergraduate she won team open over fences at 2005 Nationals. 2007 Miami University of Ohio graduate Jennifer Hutson equaled that placing with a first in alumni fences. From Perrysburg, Ohio Hutson's first Nationals alumni ride of any kind produced a combined judge's score of '85.' Hutson is the third rider in Red Hawk program history to win a hunter seat alumni class at Nationals, joining Diane Klatt (alumni on the flat champion in '88) and Janine Hiroke (alumni fences champ in '89). Hutson was one of two Miami alums to compete in the division (with Melissa Ochal out of the ribbons) and one of three to ride alumni in '09. While alumni fences started the April 24th schedule at roughly 9:00AM the individual Alumni Reining completed the day over 12 hours later. Unlike at past IHSA Nationals where the combined judge's scores would be announced during each reining class, the scores of western judges Debra Jones Wright and Allen Mitchels were not made public knowledge (this applied to all the other Reining divisions at '09 Nationals). Made up of only eight riders (the smallest alumni reining field since seven took part in 1999), eighth place went to Heather Roberts of Ohio State. Roberts had ridden in the division once before, placing seventh at '07 Nationals held at the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Seventh place went to 2008 Linn-Benton Community College graduate Jason Peacock, who had made his Nationals debut in the individual AQHA Trophy division in Burbank last season but was into the ribbons at Nationals for the first time here. 2008 Delaware Valley College graduate Gia Ottaviano was sixth in her IHSA Nationals debut. By contrast Whitney Herron was no stranger to Nationals, the '08 Middle Tennessee State alum having ridden in team classes on two occasions. Herron was fifth, besting her previous high of sixth in team advanced western in 2007. Margaret Parrott-Johnson was making her first IHSA Nationals appearance. Known to all as "Meg," Parrott-Johnson was a senior in 1999-2000 when Auburn was one of several charter teams for NCAA riding (Auburn has the distinction of being the first school to completely opt out of IHSA competition to show NCAA/Varsity-only, doing so following a very good western team performance at 2003 Nationals which were also at the Miller Coliseum). Now riding in Zone 7, Region 2 the former Tiger placed fourth. University of Montana Western Head Coach Dr. John Xanthopoulos served as ringmaster for most of 2009 IHSA Nationals, including from dawn to beyond dusk on this day. His former rider Sammy Ryan was next, the 2007 Montana Western graduate placing third. Had the reserve champion finished one place higher it may have created the first case in Nationals history that brothers won separate classes. But because 2005 Ohio State graduate Ryan Ceddia took second in alumni reining it appears that he will now have to face younger brother Keith head-to-head in seasons to come. Ryan Ceddia, who according to Buckeyes Head Coach Ollie Griffith graduated with a grade point average above 4.0, improved one placing from his third at 2008 Nationals. Keith Ceddia would win the NRHA-sponsored individual open reining the next day (both claimed to be from different places, with Ryan stating he lives in Newburgh Heights, Ohio while Keith has consistantly been from Sunbury, Ohio every time we see him at these year-end shows) and will hopefully ride alumni starting next season. For the fourth time in four years a Middle Tennessee State rider emerged from a western alumni class as the blue ribbon winner. Amy Snoderly, a 2008 MTSU graduate from Maryville, Tennessee (the same hometown as Herron), was the '08 Alumni Reining Champion. Snoderly is the second Blue Raider to win the division in three years (following Jessica Schultz in '07). Snoderly's blue ribbon allowed MTSU to tie New Mexico State University for the most alumni western first-place ribbons at Nationals this decade. Though New Mexico State left the IHSA in mid-2006 the Aggies scored five blues ahead of that cut-off, with three belonging to the legendary Miguel Maes. Maes is perhaps the only person to go from beginner to open western in four undergraduate seasons (at a time when there was no novice western horsemanship - Editor). The third class on Saturday, April 25th was individual alumni equitation on the flat. With 17 riders entered the alumni flat was the largest alumni division of '09 Nationals. After everyone in the division walked, trotted, cantered and reversed, seven of the 17 riders were excused, making it clear who would be in the top ten. Then the judges narrowed the field one-by-one, asking riders cantering on the rail to come in to the middle of the ring until only two - Quirk and Jaclyn Cradduck of Middle Tennessee State - remained. Then Hunt and Minetto called them in at the same time. After a shorter-than-usual amount of time Ochs read the results. Tenth place went to former University of Wisconsin at River Falls rider Sondra Loos, perhaps the only qualified alumni to have been class of 2006 in either hunter seat alumni division. Though many in the stands were rooting for him, 1989 Virginia Intermont College graduate (and current New York University and Princeton University Head Coach) Ashton Phillips was only ninth. Phillips had come so close to a blue ribbon at each of the previous Nationals shows held inside the Miller Coliseum, placing second in alumni fences in 2003 and second in alumni flat in both 2003 and 2004. Though he still searches for that elusive blue ribbon in the alumni divisions at Nationals, Phillips may now hold a record for consecutive Nationals appearances. Phillips has now competed in seven consecutive alumni flat classes at the year-end IHSA show and also rode in alumni fences in 2002, giving him at least one ride at Nationals for eight straight years. Phillips was an instructor for the legendary alumni champion (and current Drew University Assistant Coach) Sandra Sayre before she went to college, and though Sayre has won five blue ribbons in alumni divisions at Nationals the 1994 Drew graduate did not compete at 1999 or 2005 Nationals, which would mean that Phillips streak from 2002 through 2009 (eight appearances) would be the longest for an alumni since at least the 1970's if then (Editor's note: Sayre graduated mid-season during the 1993-94 season. If she competed at every Nationals from 1990 through 1998 Sayre would still lead when undergraduate and alumni are combined. We are still trying to confirm if Sayre was qualified each of those years). Mehalko was one of four riders back from alumni fences, placing eighth. So was Hutson, who was surprisingly only seventh here. 2008 Drew University graduate Tori Frederick rode in Zone 3, Region 2 in her first season of alumni competition, beating Phillips at Zones and placing sixth while going head-to-head with former teammate Kristine Kennedy for the first time. Yet another 2008 graduate, Julia Nichols of the College of Charleston, was fifth in her IHSA Nationals alumni debut. Dr. Weis, who was the only alumni to graduate in the 1990's (in '99), improved to fourth. Kennedy, who won the alumni flat in 2007 at the Big E in her alumni debut and fell to fourth a year later at the LAEC finished in between those two ribbons, taking third place in '09.
Finally the question of who was second and who was first was answered. Cradduck, who ran out of undergraduate eligibility and has ridden alumni for MTSU for two seasons even though she will graduate in '09 was the Reserve Champion. Cradduck, who during 2008 Nationals told Campus Equestrian that she was engaged, is slightly closer to her wedding day. Cradduck will marry in seven weeks, which means that by the time you read this Cradduck may be on her honeymoon with any luck. Quirk certainly was a favorite of Hunt and Minetto, following up her reserve showing with a first. This time around Quirk indicated she was from West Covina, California. Quirk made history of her own by becoming the first rider from Zone 8, Region 2 to win alumni flat at Nationals. Quirk is the second hunter seat alumni rider from this region to win at Nationals, following the University of San Diego's Dana Lee who won alumni fences in 1999. Though Alumni Western Horsemanship was held only four classes later, several awards presentations and the yearly parade of teams inbetween made it seem like it was another day completely. Eleven riders were qualified, with Herron, Ceddia, Roberts and Peacock back from alumni reining. After everyone walked, jogged, lopped and navigated the pattern it was time for Ochs to make the announcements. Tenth place went to Ceddia while ninth went to 2002 West Texas A & M graduate Misty Hobbs, the first of two former Buffaloes to earn a ribbon in the division. Eighth place went to 2008 Washington & Jefferson College graduate Anna Snyder, who is the second rider in Presidents' team history to compete at an IHSA Nationals show and the first western rider to do so. Former College of Southern Idaho standout Jeff Miller was seventh. Miller had placed out of the ribbons in the division a year earlier but was the Reserve National Champion in individual beginner western at 2005 Nationals in Sunbury, Ohio. Stacey Mahlmeister, who rode for different schools in previous individual AQHA Trophy classes, was sixth. It was the third straight season at Nationals for Mahlmeister, who was at Georgia Tech in 2006-07 and the University of Louisville in 2007-08. Yet another Middle Tennessee State rider was in the ribbons as Susan Shemwell placed fifth. Like Miller, Shemwell was a returnee from the '08 alumni horsemanship, during which she had placed third. Roberts moved up from eighth yesterday to fourth today. 2005 West Texas A & M graduate Kelly Carr was one of only a handful of riders in the division making their IHSA Nationals debut. Carr received third place.
The Reserve Championship went to Herron. The 2008 graduate is the third MTSU rider to place second in alumni western horsemanship this decade, following Allison Brannon in 2004 and Jessica Schultz in 2006. Moving up from seventh in his alumni debut a day earlier, Peacock was the 2009 western horsemanship champion. From Toledo, Oregon, Peacock became the second Zone 8, Region 4 alumni rider in two seasons to win at Nationals (former Oregon State rider Carrie Kolstad was the alumni reining champion in Burbank). Peacock was one of three Linn-Benton riders competing at 2009 Nationals (a new record for the program), each of which placed inside the top ten. End-of-decade computation: Since 2000 Zone 2 claimed the most hunter seat alumni championships, with seven of the 20 blue ribbons coming from that Zone. At least five hunter seat riders won championships while riding alumni in Zones other than where they went to school (Allison Karkut of St. Lawrence, Amy Tuckerman of the University of Connecticut, Shannon Gossman of the University of Findlay and Unger of Stonehill won alumni fences from 2002-05 while riding outside the Zones where those schools are located). Also four riders won more than one alumni hunter seat division during the decade (Karkut won both divisions in 2002, Mount Holyoke's Andrea Bill defeated VI's Phillips in alumni flat on consecutive seasons, Brown graduate Amanda Forte won both divisions in 2008 and Sayre won four of her five alumni blue ribbons between 2000 and 2006). No rider has ever won both an english and a western alumni division, let alone in the same year (current Berry Head Coach Margaret Knight has come the closest, winning alumni flat in 1997 while placing third in the first-ever alumni reining section in 1998). New Mexico State's Maes still has the most western blue ribbons with three (two for horsemanship, one for reining). 2001 College of Southern Idaho graduate Eric Hubbard won alumni reining in 2002 and 2003. Rachel Knight of New Mexico State won both alumni divisions in 2004 while Schultz of the Blue Raiders won alumni reining and alumni horsemanship at the Big E in '07. No others have as many as two blue ribbons in alumni western classes at Nationals. Zone 7 had the most alumni western blue ribbons in the first decade of the new millennium, with Maes, Rachel Knight (no relation to Margaret Knight), Codi Burris of the University of Wyoming (alumni western horsemanship champion in '08) and Trista Armstrong of Oklahoma State (alumni western champion in '02 and now a coach at Baylor University's NCAA/Varsity team) giving them a total of seven. Zone 5 had five (all from Middle Tennessee State) while Zone 8 had four (Hubbard's two blue ribbons, plus those for Kolstad and Peacock). If you rode in those parts of the country then you have bragging rights for the moment. --Steve Maxwell The following is a list of the Alumni Class-by-Class Results from 2009 IHSA Nationals, held at the Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Alumni Fences and Alumni Reining were held on Friday, April 24th while Alumni while Alumni Flat and Alumni Western Horsemanship (also known as Alumni Rail) were held on Saturday, April 25th. The judges for all 2009 IHSA Nationals hunter seat classes were Pamela Hunt and Mindy Minetto while the judges for all western classes were Debra Jones Wright and Allen Mitchels. Individual alumni equitation over fences: 1. Jennifer Hutson, Miami University of Ohio. 2. Hailey Quirk, Cal Poly - Pomona. 3. Lauren Sappenfield, Purdue University. 4. Tara Lynch, University of Connecticut. 5. Lorin Weaver, Mount Holyoke College. 6. Jennifer Mehalko, Hood College. 7. Mary McDonald, University of Nebraska at Omaha. 8. Dr. Emily Weis, Stonehill College. 9. Lena Andrews, Lehigh University. 10. Genna Weissner, Delaware Valley College. Individual alumni reining: 1. Amy Snoderly, Middle Tennessee State University. 2. Ryan Ceddia, Ohio State University. 3. Sammy Ryan, University of Montana Western. 4. Margaret Parrott-Johnson, Auburn University. 5. Whitney Herron, Middle Tennessee State University. 6. Gia Ottaviano, Delaware Valley College. 7. Jason Peacock, Linn-Benton Community College. 8. Heather Roberts, Ohio State University. Individual alumni equitation on the flat: 1. Hailey Quirk, Cal Poly - Pomona. 2. Jaclyn Cradduck, Middle Tennessee State University. 3. Kristine Kennedy, Drew University. 4. Dr. Emily Weis, Stonehill College. 5. Julia Nichols, College of Charleston. 6. Tori Frederick, Drew University. 7. Jennifer Hutson, Miami University of Ohio. 8. Jennifer Mehalko, Hood College. 9. Ashton Phillips, Virginia Intermont College. 10. Sondra Loos, University of Wisconsin at River Falls. Individual alumni western horsemanship: 1. Jason Peacock, Linn-Benton Community College. 2. Whitney Herron, Middle Tennessee State University. 3. Kelly Carr, West Texas A & M University. 4. Heather Roberts, Ohio State University. 5. Susan Shemwell, Middle Tennessee State University. 6. Stacey Mahlmeister, University of Louisville. 7. Jeff Miller, College of Southern Idaho. 8. Anna Snyder, Washington & Jefferson College. 9. Misty Hobbs, West Texas A & M University. 10. Ryan Ceddia, Ohio State University.
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