PrintLexington, Ky.—May 6
Centenary College (N.J.) held onto its lead in the Collegiate Cup in Day 2 of the IHSA National Championship. A win by Natasha Klingenstein in the intermediate equitation over fences and Kayla Felstedt's third in the walk/trot/canter hunter seat equitation boosted the team's score to 26.
Skidmore College, the reigning national champions, still sit in second with a team score of 19 points, closely followed by another New York college, St. Lawrence University, with 18.
The St. Lawrence Saints found their way into the top three thanks to Sophie Miller's winning ride in the walk/trot/canter hunter seat equitation and teammate Jessie Lewis' third place finish in the intermediate equitation over fences.
"I just thought it was really cool that I even made it to Nationals," said Miller, a freshman. "Because both of my parents, who also went to St. Lawrence, rode on the IHSA team and made it [to the National Championship]."
Centenary is also ruling over the USEF/Cacchione Cup competition, which began this morning. Team Captain Marissa Cohen put in an over fences round on Hollins University's Rocky which placed her in fourth after the first phase. As one of the top 24 riders, she returned in section A of the hunter seat equitation on the flat. Her flat class score of 87.0 gave her a combined score of 169.50, enough to steal the top spot. New York University's Shelby Wakeman is only a half-stride behind with a 169.
Bob Crandall and Kim Dorfman are officiating over the hunter seat divisions. Both judging their first IHSA National Championship, they've enjoyed the differences they've seen in intercollegiate competition.
"It's definitely the luck of the draw," said Crandall, Wellington, Fla. "And it's sort of an open door for not just the kids that show all over the country and have their own horses, but a lot of these kids that haven't had that opportunity and come to college and find it there."
They will call back up to 10 of the top-placed USEF/Cacchione Cup riders for a work-off phase tomorrow. Dorfman, Aiken, S.C., said she was impressed with the group's performances today, and she and Crandall both agreed that "the top eight or 10 riders are a strong enough group that they could handle a work-off with no stirrups," though they are still discussing options.
Alumni Comeback: Check!
If Kelley Mallery had been told two years ago that she would win two consecutive IHSA national championships in the alumni equitation over fences division, she wouldn’t have believed it. At that time, the 38-year-old Hollins University (Va.) graduate hadn’t been on a horse in over a year and hadn’t competed in nearly a decade. But all of that changed with the persuasion of longtime friend Joleen DeWitt.
DeWitt, who coaches Northern Illinois University’s equestrian team, called Mallery three weeks before the 2009-2010 IHSA season began. According to Mallery, there was little room for negotiation when DeWitt called her. “[DeWitt] said, ‘We start intercollegiate in three weeks. Let’s go,’ ” said Mallery.
Mallery started riding again, and three weeks later she found herself competing in an IHSA show. By the 2010 IHSA National Championships (Ky.) in May, she was holding the blue ribbon.
