Virginia Intermont dominated two of three phases at the ANRC National Intercollegiate Equitation Championship, hosted by Sweet Briar College, to take top team honors on April17-18 in Lynchburg, Va. The team won the dressage sportif and the hunter trials, and they also landed all four team members in the top 12 of the individual competition. The event drew 48 riders from 11 colleges.

 

Hailing from Bristol, Va., the Virginia Intermont team consisted of riders Angee Quattro, Siobhan Fitzgerald, Morgan Graber, and Erika Jewell. Quattro, the team’s top finisher, ended the weekend in fourth place (80.77). Aboard the college-owned warmblood Private Office, Quattro rode to victory on the outside course, designed by Bernard Hylton, for an individual win in the hunter trials phase, and was ninth in the dressage sportif competition.

 

The Cheverly, Md., native is no stranger to ANRC competition, having participated in the championship twice before, but this year was the most successful for the senior.

 

Teammates Jewell and Fitzgerald, who finished sixth and 12th, respectively, in the individual standings, were both attending the finals for a second time. Graber, a junior, was the team’s sole ANRC “rookie,” finishing 11th individually.

 

Specialties

 

While the Virginia Intermont riders demonstrated impressive consistency, each team member excelled in a particular phase of the competition. Jewell, aboard the college-owned Singin’ The Blues, displayed the fluid and polished style that have won her the IHSA Zone 4, Region 3 Cacchione title for the past two years to finish a close third in the dressage sportif phase.

 

Graber, finishing less than a point behind her in fifth place aboard Virginia Intermont’s Miss Perfect, was most proud of her performance in the flat phase, laughingly admitting that being “scared to death of galloping down hills” made tackling the hunter trials phase somewhat intimidating. Fitzgerald, however, who gallops steeplechasers in her spare time, agreed with Quattro that the outside course was her favorite aspect of the competition. Fitzgerald finished fifth in this phase riding Virginia Intermont’s Kampari.

 

Sue Glover, an alumni and Virginia Intermont coach along with Teresa Slaupas, was extremely proud of the girls. “They all rode well and were very consistent. I couldn’t have asked for more,” she said.

Glover has coached the team since their first time at the ANRC championships in 2001 and was excited to be a part of their first vic-tory. “I definitely owe thanks to Debbi White and Peggy McElveen [of St. Andrews Presbyterian College]. They have taught me so much about the ins and outs of ANRC competition, and we couldn’t have done this without them,” she said.

 

St. Andrews has scored five ANRC team titles and six individual wins in the past 10 years. This year, less than a point separated the champion and reserve teams, Virginia Intermont (240.92) and St. Andrews (240.14).

 

The St. Andrews team, coached by Debbi White and Howard Morrison, consisted of riders Jennie Hartmann, Christina Kalinski, Kammi LaCoco, and Angela MacFawn. They finished second in the dressage sportif and hunter seat equitation phases and third in the hunter trials phase.

 

Hartmann, who won the dressage sportif competition, finished fifth overall, and Kalinski took the individual reserve championship. Aboard St. Andrews’ school horse Jean Claude, the Bethel, Conn., sophomore placed in the top six in all three phases for a final score of 82.74 points.

 

Dennehy Delivers

 

The race for the team championship was a close one, but the race for individual victory was even closer. St. Andrews’ Kalinski and two Sweet Briar riders were all within a point of one another, but in the end, it was Sweet Briar’s Karen Dennehy who claimed the championship tricolor over Kalinski and Dennehy’s teammate Jodie Weber.

 

Dennehy, a junior from Ashland, Va., finished .17 points ahead of Kalinski. She claimed fifth place in the dressage sportif phase and scored a respectable 78 over the outside course, but it was her decisive victory in the hunter seat equitation phase that sealed her win. Dennehy scored an 85 over the stadium-style course, designed by Scot Evans, which took her to the top of the overall standings.

 

However, the road to the win was not entirely a smooth one. Dennehy had planned to compete with her own horse, but a hasty change of plans was required when an injury temporarily forced her mount out of commission. Fortunately, Sweet Briar had a school horse available for her, and Dennehy began training with Hocus Pocus.

 

“He’s a very different ride from my horse,” she said of the Thoroughbred gelding, “but somehow it fits. We work.” Judges Dacia Funkhouser and Judy Young agreed, giving Dennehy an overall score of 82.91.

For Dennehy, hosting the event actually made competing more stressful, as it lacked the sense of escape that comes with going away for a show. “On top of the stress of preparing for the competition, you still have classes and homework and friends calling or stopping by. It’s a lot to deal with,” she said.

 

Coach Shelby French recognized this and arranged for the team to stay in a cottage off campus for the days leading up to the horse show. “Shelby is amazing,” exclaimed Dennehy. “She gives us twice as much as she expects from us.”

 

Dennehy plans to one day take over the family business of training Thoroughbred race horses at their Eagle Point Farm. She is a member of Sweet Briar’s IHSA team, as well as the ANRC team. “The best thing about this program is the teamwork,” she said. “There’s a level of bonding that not all schools have. The things we do together go far beyond showing, and I think that gives us an edge.”

 

Paul Cronin, a member of the council’s advisory committee and former Sweet Briar coach, is one of the ANRC’s biggest supporters. “These competitions are a wonderful learning experience for collegiate riders,” he said. “The ANRC is very different from the IHSA in that the two organizations emphasize different sets of skills. ANRC riders have a chance to practice all of the required skills on the same horse. If they make a mistake in their preparation, they can go back and fix it, and learn from it.”

 

Cronin, who coached 15 teams to ANRC championships and reserve championships in his 33 years at Sweet Briar, was impressed with the level of horsemanship, as well as the quality of horses this year. “The middle of the pack is the highest it has ever been,” he said. “The future of the sport is looking very promising.”

 

AFFILIATED NATIONAL RIDING COMMISSION NATIONAL INTERCOLLEGIATE RIDING CHAMPIONSHIP

Sweet Briar, Va.–Apr. 17-18

 

JUDGES: Dacia Funkhouser, Judy Young

 

Team Competition

Team/RIDER  Dressage hunter trials  stadium  TOTAL Sportif  Equitation 

 

 

  1. Virginia Intermont College

 

    Siobahn Fitzgerald  (29.80)  24.53  (20.55)

 

    Ericka Jewell  34.32  24.08  22.05

 

    Morgan Graber  33.74  (20.85)  21.45

 

    Angee Quattro  31.64  25.50  23.63

 

                  240.92 

 

  2.   St. Andrews Presbyterian College

 

    Jennie Hartman  35.70  23.33  21.68

 

    Angela MacFawn  30.21  (19.65)  (20.70)

 

    Christina Kalinski  33.69  24.75  24.30

 

    Kammi LaCoco  (25.37)  22.65  23.85

 

                  240.14

  3.  Goucher College

 

    Kate Fournel  30.76  23.25  22.88

 

    Lydia Davies  33.42  24.90  21.45

 

    Maisy Grassie  32.12  21.90  (20.25)

 

    Jennie Towner  (27.10)  (20.85)  22.65

 

                  233.33

 

 

Also competed:

 

4. Sweet Briar College (J. Weber, M. Shortlidge, K. Dennehy, L. Wade, K. Barnette, S. Mouri), 227.51;

5. Centenary College (K. Schwieger, D. Levine, A. Benito, H. Tull, K. Shanahan, A. Guerin), 223.07;

6. Savannah College Of Art And Design (L. DeGuardiola, J. Siegel, A. Grainger, H. Saltonstall), 220.20;

7. University Of Virginia (M. Abernathy, R. Glover, L. Richardson, K. Wellington, S. Partington), 220.16;

8. Miami University Of Ohio (M. Palmer, J. Hutson, K. Jablonski, M. Arrigon, L. Barton), 210.87;

9. Kenyon College (T. Siegrist, M. O’Neil, J. Devine, T. Steen), 205.80;

10. Vanderbilt University (K. Petrik, K. Siegert, B. Moorhouse), 186.48;

11. Christopher Newport University (L. Farmer, K. Rothell), 84.67.

 

Overall Individual Competition

RIDER/Team  Dressage hunter trials  stadium  TOTAL  Sportif  Equitation 

 

1. Karen Dennehy (SBC) 34.01 23.40 25.50 82.91

2. Christina Kalinski (SAPC) 33.69 24.75 24.30 82.74

3. Jodie Weber (SBC) 34.74 24.60 22.50 81.84

4. Angee Quattro (VIC) 31.64 25.50 23.63 80.77

5. Jennie Hartman (SAPC) 35.70 23.33 21.68 80.70

6. Ericka Jewell (VIC) 34.32 24.08 22.05 80.45

7. Lydia Davies (GC) 33.42   24.90 21.45  79.77

8. Rebecca Glover (UVA) 29.17 24.38 25.28 78.82

9. Megan Palmer (MUO) 29.19 23.21 24.60 77.00

10.   Kate Fournel (GC) 30.76 23.25 22.88 76.89

Also competed:

11. M. Graber (VIC), 76.04;

12. S. Fitzgerald (VIC), 74.88;

13. M. Grassie (GC), 74.27;

14. H. Tull (CC), 73.72;

15. K. Barnette (SBC), 73.57;

16. D. Levine (CC), 72.93;

17. K. Schwieger (CC), 72.83;

18. S. Mouri (SBC), 72.37;

19. S. Partington (UVA), 72.14;

20. Tracey Siegrist (KC), 72.11;

21. A. Grainger (SCAD), 72.05;

22. H. Saltonstall (SCAD), 72.00;

23. K. LaCoco (SAPC), 71.87;

24. Jordan Siegel (SCAD), 71.71;

25. J. Devine (KC), 70.80;

26. J. Towner (GC), 70.60;

27. A. MacFawn (SAPC), 70.56;

28. M. Abernathy (UVA), 69.70;

29. L. Richardson (UVA), 69.19;

30. A. Benito (CC), 69.05;

31. Jen Hutson (MVO), 68.93;

32. K. Wellington (UVA), 68.70;

33. K. Shanahan (CC), 67.93;

34. L. DeGuardiola (SCAD), 65.36;

35. K. Petrik (VU), 65.31;

36. J. Grayton (SAPC), 64.13;

37. K. Siegert (VU), 64.11;

38. Lindsay Barton (MUO), 63.88;

39. K. Jablonski (MUO), 62.32;

40. M. Arrigon (MUO), 60.99;

41. T. Steen (KC), 58.54;

42. B. Moorhouse (VU), 57.06;

43. A. Guerin (CC), 55.41;

44. M. O’Neil (KC), 53.27;

45. M. Shortlidge (SBC), 50.77;

46. L. Wade (SBC), 50.65;

47. L. Farmer (CNU), 45.96;

48. Kerri Rothell (CNU), 38.71.

 

VIC=Virginia Intermont College (Va.);

SAPC=St. Andrews Presbyterian College (N.C.);

GC=Goucher College (Md.);

SBC=Sweet Briar College (Va.);

CC=Centenary College (N.J.);

SCAD=Savannah College Of Art And Design (Ga.);

UVA=University Of Virginia (Va.);

MUO=Miami University Of Ohio (Ohio);

KC=Kenyon College (Ohio);

VU=Vanderbilt University (Tenn.);

CNU=Christopher Newport University (Va.).