riding News - August, 2009 Archive

April 23: Suzanne Snyder finished in the top five in the team competition and Hadley Deming had a top ten finish as an individual as the St. Lawrence University riding team opened competition in the 2009 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship Show at Middle Tennessee State University on Thursday.

April 4: St. Lawrence University's riding team, 2008 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Reserve National Champions, will have the opportunity to compete for the team title again in 2009 after finishing third in the Zone 2 Championship Show at Centenary College on Saturday.

The top three teams from Zone 2 advanced to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship show to be held at Middle Tennessee State University April 23-26. St. Lawrence was Zone 2, Region 2 High Point team to earn the right to compete for one of the three spots in the national meet.

The Saints will also send three riders competing in four classes to the nationals as individuals.

Senior Holly Davis will compete in intermediate equitation on the flat after winning the Zone Championship on Saturday and sophomore Hadley Deming will compete in both novice over fences and on the flat after winning the Zone Championship over fences and finishing as reserve champion in novice on the flat. Senior Katharine Hankin also advances to nationals as the region's high point riders and will compete with other high point riders from across the nation for the Cacchione Cup which goes to the top individual rider at the national show.

Sarah Finke finished fourth in Zone competition in the individual open over fences competition while Hankin was seventh over fences and fifth in open on the flat. Junior Laura Brown finished sixth in zone competition in novice on the flat.

 

March 28: St. Lawrence University's riding team will be well represented at the Zone II Championships at Centenary College on April 4 as six riders advanced from the Region II Championships held at the Elsa Gunnison Appleton Riding Hall on Saturday.

Additionally, the Saint team will compete as the Region II High Point Team and senior Katharine Hankin will compete as the Region II High Point Rider in competition at the Zone Championships. The top three teams from the zone competition will advance to nationals at Middle Tennessee State University.

Hankin qualified in both open competitions on Saturday, winning Open Equitation over Fences with teammate Sarah Fincke, also a senior, finishing second over fences. Hankin was the Region II Reserve Champion in Open Equitation on the Flat.

Sophomore Hadley Deming also qualified in two events, winning the Novice Equitation over Fences and finishing third in Novice Equitation on the Flat. The top three riders in each class advance to regional competition. The Saints entered four riders in the Novice on the Flat and all four were called out for testing, but only three could advance. Senior captain Jess Sweeney won the class with junior Laura Brown finishing second, Deming third and Spencer Cook fourth.

Mar. 1: A Saturday rarity created Sunday drama as the 2008-09 Region 2, Zone 2 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association regular season closed with shows at Cazenovia on Saturday and at St. Lawrence on Sunday.

 

A perfect score of 49 in which a team earns seven points for first place in seven of eight classes (the lowest score of the day for each team is dropped from the scoring) is a rare event. On Saturday, both St. Lawrence and Cazenovia had perfect scores, tying for the show title at 49-49. The tie left the Saints four points behind Cazenovia in the race for the region's high point team title.

 

In the Saint show on Sunday, Saint point riders took first place in each of the final three classes, clinching a 47-38 victory over Cazenovia and making the Saints the region's high point team for the second straight year with a five-point margin on second-place Cazenovia.

 

The Saints won six of their point classes and had a second and a third in their other two with the third dropped for their 47 point total, just two points off a second consecutive perfect score.

 

SLU also had the High Point Rider and Reserve High Point rider in Sunday's home show as junior Laura Brown won a rideoff with senior captain Jess Sweeney for the High Point Rider title. Both won each of their classes on Sunday, Brown winning in Novice Equitation over Fences and Novice Equitation on the Flat and Sweeney winning her class of Novice over Fences and Intermediate on the Flat.

SAINT EQUESTRIAN TEAM TIES FOR SHOW CHAMPIONSHIP

Nov. 22: Katharine Hankin earned high point rider honors in a ride-off and St. Lawrence University's riding team lengthened its lead over Alfred and maintained its lead over Cazenovia with a tie for the team blue ribbon at the St. Lawrence Fall Show at the Elsa Gunninson Appleton Riding Hall on Saturday.

The Saints and Cazenovia tied for the team title with 36 points, the third straight show in which the Saints have been on top while Alfred and Ottawa tied for third with 30 points. The Saints lead the Zone 2 Region 2 standings heading into the final show of the first half of the season at Cazenovia on Sunday.

Hankin won her class of open equitation over fences and also won in open on the flat. She was in a ride-off for high point rider.

Other Saint winners on Saturday included Abby Cook in intermediate equitation on the flat, Hadley Deming in novice equitation on the flat and Jess Sweeney, also in novice equitation on the flat.

Gina Spilatro and Deming each placed second in intermediate equitation over fences while Violet Batcha
was second in intermediate equitation on the flat and Spencer Cook took third in novice on the flat.

SAINTS WIN BACK-TO-BACK SHOWS TO TAKE REGIONAL LEAD

Nov. 17: St. Lawrence University's riding team had an impressive weekend on the road and swept its way into the top spot in the region heading into a home show Saturday and the final two competitions of the fall semester.

The Saints won the Nazareth show on Saturday with 38 points with Alfred second with 35 and SUNY Geneseo third with 33. SLU then came back to win again on Sunday with 41 points at Geneseo with Alfred second with 36 and Potsdam third with 35. With the two wins, a tie for first and a third, the Saints surged into the top spot in the region and have already qualified three individuals for the regional championships.

In the Nazareth Show, first year Abby Cook took a blue ribbon in both open over fences and intermediate on the flat with sophomore Sarah Puckhaber winning her class in novice fences, senior Katharine Hankin in open on the flat and first year Amber Latza taking a blue ribbon in walk trot.

Cook was high point rider and Hankin was the reserve high point rider in the SUNY Geneseo show on Sunday. Hadley Deming won intermediate over fences, Hankin won in open on the flat, Cook in intermediate on the flat, senior captain Jessica Sweeney in novice flat and first year Kathryn Buccelli took a blue ribbon in beginner walk trot canter.

Regional qualifiers thus far include Jordan Koivu in intermediate fences, Hankin in open on the flat and Deming in novice fences.

SAINTS TIE FOR 1ST, FINISH THIRD IN SEASON OPENING SHOWS

Oct. 27: St. Lawrence University's riding team had the high point rider in one show and the reserve high point rider in another as the Saints tied with Cazenovia for first place in the season-opening RIT show and finished third in the Geneseo show, both held at Lehman Farms in Pittsford.

Sophomore Suzanne Snyder was the reserve high point rider in Saturday's show and won a blue ribbon in open equitation on the flat. The Saints had six blue ribbon finishes in the show and tied Cazenovia with 42 points for the top team finish.

Other blue ribbon winners on Saturday included senior Sarah Fincke in open fenses, sophomore Jordan Koivu in intermediate fences, senior Katharine Hankin in open flat, junior Kristin Putnam and senior Spencer Cook in novice flat and freshman Kathryn Buccelli in beginner walk-trot-canter.

The Saints finished third behind Cazenovia and Alfred in Sunday's show hosted by Geneseo. Fincke was the high point rider in the show with blue ribbon finishes both on the flat and over fences.

Other Saint winners on Sunday included sophomore Hadley Deming in novice fences, Hankin in open flat, senior Jessica Sweeney in novice flat and Buccelli in beginner walk-trot-canter.

The Saints will return to Lehman farms for shows on Nov. 15-16.