IHSA Nationals 2012 (No, that is not a typo!)

Its been just over a year since many students, alumni and friends of St. Andrews came to Raleigh in one capacity or another for IHSA Nationals. We are preparing a report to go in the Library Archives about this event. The section titles are, The Facility, Southern Hospitality, Management, St. Andrews Students and Challenges (of course we can add more sections if we have the data). So far we have the logistical, staffing and planning data from Peggy, but we need your input!


If you volunteered in any capacity would you please share with us? What did you do? Who did you work with? Did you take vacation from work or how did you make the time to be involved? Why did you do it? And anything else you think would be important in a historical document. Post here or send me an email. dwellejm@sapc.edu. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks! Jackie

Day 5 IHSA by Kali Cram

IHSA Blog Day 5

And that's a wrap! 2013 IHSA Nationals is officially over. What a crazy week! It was full of ups and downs for sure but my teammates are incredible and the support we give each other is amazing!

The western team had a rider in almost every one of the remaining classes today and we ALL finished in Top 10 in the Nation in our respectable classes. We had Pre and post class celebrations that kept our team spirit up no matter where everyone finished.

The team brought home a very strong finish- ending up 2013 RESERVE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!! I am so incredibly proud of this team and beyond blessed to have been a part of it for the last 3 years!

This weekend we laughed, we cried and we celebrated. We not only celebrated our amazing results but we celebrated the graduation of 5 seniors and the time we have all been able to spend together as friends, as teammates and as fellow St.Andrews Knights!!

We are all loaded onto our bus now and headed back to North Carolina. Several are already sound asleep.

It was great blogging for you all this week!

Xx

-Kali

Full Results:

Brittany: 3rd Team Advanced Horsemanship

Brittany: 2nd Individual Novice Horsemanship

Logan: 3rd Team Intermediate Horsemanship

Kali: 8th Individual Advanced Horsemanship

Katie Mosca: 7th Individual Intermediate Horsemanship

Dugan: 2nd Individual Beginner Horsemanship

Michelle Hustad: 4th Team Open Horsemanship

As posted on the IHSA facebook page;
Reserve AQHA High Point Team Champions St. Andrews flex their new muscle. "This group worked really hard," said coach Carla Wennberg. "It's like life, you work hard to reap the benefits. This has truly been a team together."

IHSA Day 4 by Kali Cram

IHSA Blog Day 4

It was such a fun day today with so many amazing things happening. Of course it was fun watching everyone show today.

But the biggest part was the fact that as of now, Me, Sami, Brittany, Katie and Kim are all St. Andrews Graduates. Peggy organized a beautiful graduation ceremony for us after the last class of the day where we received our diplomas, heard speeches from our classmates and shed many tears. And what better place to hold a ceremony for equestrian graduates than in the Ring at the Pennsylvania Farm Complex? It was amazing sitting next to 4 other girls who have walked beside me in our St. Andrews journey and to receive my diploma from two of the most influential people in my life; Carla and Peggy.

We may have missed our graduation at SAU but we didn't miss out on a St. Andrews graduation. It was a special day shared with family, friends and teammates and I couldn't think of a better way to spend the day.
Our hunt seat team is done with 2013 IHSA Nationals, finishing in 8th and our Western Team is headed into tomorrow tied for the lead!!!!!
Xx
-Kali

Full Results:
Sami: Honorable Mention in Team Open Flat
Katie: 7th Team Open Fences
Michelle: 8th Individual Open Horsemanship
Ella: 8th Individual Reining
Vicky: 3rd Team Walk/Jog

IHSA Day 3 by Kali Cram

Just received this from Kali, so a little late posting about Friday's activities. There are gremlins in cyber space!

IHSA Blog Day 3

It was another long day at IHSA Nationals. There were a lot of classes and A TON of re-rides. We restarted the final class of the day three different times before we got to the pattern. Sami brought home another Reserve Champion in the Team Novice Horsemanship and added 5 more points to our western score card, adding to Ella's 3 points earned earlier that day in the team Reining. 

It's 10:00 now and we are just getting back to our hotel from getting dinner with our parents. Going to get some sleep and do it all again tomorrow. 

Full Results:

Sami: team intermediate o/f: 3rd

Sami: team novice horsemanship: 2nd

Ella: Team Reining : 4th

Jake: Team walk-trot: 10th

Madison: Team WTC: honorable mention

Shiloh: individual w/t: 6th 

Kim: scored a 71 in Cacchione o/f 

Day 2, IHSA Nationals by Kali Cram

IHSA Blog Day 2

Wow!!!! What a longggg day for an IHSA show!! The show started close to 2 hours late so we knew it would be a long day. It's 7:30 now and we're on the bus, headed back to the hotel for the night.
I woke up this morning to several snapchats from my teammates with various forms of 'Day 2- lets goooo!'  And 'first day of showinggggg!' We're ready to get this competition rolling!

It's no secret that our team can find fun wherever we go! We're a group of St. Androids and weird is our middle name.  It was an entertaining breakfast filled with quotes from "Always Sunny" and various Collegehumor videos. Cami, Sami and Kim left with the Peggy Shuttle around 7:00 to get to the course walk and the rest of us slept in and left around 8:30 to meet them at the coliseum.

When we arrived, the first three to go were ready to get the showing started. The day was fun with some great ribbons and amazing team support and dynamics. One of my favorite parts of IHSA is getting to know riders from other teams. When we all get to see each other it's so fun and to receive congratulations from other teams feels great! It's such a fun experience!

Sami brought home the Reserve Championship in her individual class and Cami matched those results in her Team over fences class. Cami, Kim and myself brought home top 10 placings in our respectable classes. The horses were getting a bit snarky toward the end of the day and I don't blame them. It was way past their dinner time and some had been showing all day. They're all wonderful. I drew a fun draw from Centenary college who was a bit over the day  but a blast to ride.

It was a good first day if showing. Hunt Seat continues in the morning and Western starts tomorrow afternoon.

Xx
-Kali

Full Results from Day 1 of Competition
Cami Glaff: 2nd Team Novice O/F
Cami Glaff: 9th Team Novice Flat
Kali Cram: 10th Team Int Flat
Sami Cram: 2nd Individual Novice O/F
Kim Graves: 10th Individual Open O/F
Kim Graves: Honorable Mention Individual Open Flat

IHSA National Championships - Guest Blogger!

I am very excited to announce a guest blogger for the duration of IHSA Nationals 2013 in Harrisburg, PA. Senior Kali Cram is representing St. Andrews in both western and hunter seat and asked if she could blog about the experience – of course I said yes! Sit back and enjoy Kali’s reports!

IHSA Blog Day 1 by Kali Cram

It's been a fun, fairly uneventful first full day here in PA. The hunter seat team met for breakfast in the lobby at 6:30 while the western team slept in before their trip to Hershey park for the day. We headed to the coliseum to watch all the horses school. As we watched what felt like eleventy hundred rounds at 2'9" we began to find things to further our entertainment. As veterans to these long schooling days, seniors Katie Hansen, Sami Cram and myself brought things to keep us busy. Katie supplied two GameBoys (and yes she brought Pokemon), I brought a deck of cards that doubled roles as a game of headbandz as well as a normal deck and Sami brought the ever entertaining Harry Potter Jelly Beans. Our coach, Matt successfully picked almost every bad one: Canned Dog Food, Moldy Cheese and Skunk Spray. His expressions were priceless.

Around 11:00 a few of us began to get Hangry ( for those who have never been there that's Hungry+Angry) and its not an enjoyable place when our team has made it to that point. So knowing how we get,  Madison and Matt ordered us a few pizzas from a local restaurant. It was phenomenal. I'm not sure if it was really that good or we were all really just that hungry.

After lunch we all took turns taking naps in the chairs and a few of us went shopping. Personally I spent way too much but I'm graduating so that's a good enough excuse, right?

Once the hunterseat horses were done schooling, the rest of the team left to the hotel and me and Sami stayed with the western team (who were now back from Hershey) to watch the western horses school. Even though it was a long day, we both feel so blessed to be a part of two amazing teams.

Once back at the hotel, me and Sami told stories for a few hours to Cami's mom, Barb and their friend Holly. I HAD to tell the story of getting lost in England, driving a stick shift, turning a 7 minute drive into almost 2 hours. It's a classic at this point. It's so great to have family and friends here to cheer us on. Can't wait to see my mom tomorrow and Dad and DJ (stepmom) on Saturday!

Our first huge team dinner of the trip was to Ruby Tuesdays (always one of Peggy's top picks).
Unfortunately for the waiter he forgot to ask us about the shrimp fondue before he asked our drink borders and Sami didn't let that slip. So we got a free order of that and passed it around the table.

We're now back at the hotel for the evening- all settled in, watching NCIS! We're ready for the first day of competition tomorrow. Kim, Sami, Cami and myself will kick it off all with classes tomorrow.

What a great first day! My cheeks literally hurt from laughing so much!
Xx
-Kali

IDA National Championships!

We had a lovely weekend in MA with good weather, wonderful people and time to renew our acquaintance with old friends that we only see once a year. The IDA is made up of volunteers who work for colleges or work for themselves in the horse industry, who all come together to provide a competitive forum for student athletes interested in the sport of dressage. I have friends from New England, Virginia, Florida, the mid-west and California who all met up at Mt. Holyoke this weekend for our annual meetings and National Championships. This year was all the more special as my Dad who came to visit us in NC to see the spring flowers traveled with me to support the riders and see a part of my life that he has never experienced before. To sum up the competitive side of the weekend I sent this email to the faculty and staff. For complete results of the National Championships click here.

Please congratulate Lindsey Agaliotis and Kristen Parker on a very successful weekend at the Intercollegiate Dressage Association National Championships held this weekend at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley MA. Lindsey placed third in the First Level division which was a great end to her intercollegiate riding career as she will be graduating this weekend and Kristen placed seventh in the Introductory division. As we waited for our flight last night I asked Lindsey to give me a few words about her experience with the equestrian program. I would like to share her response with you. 

 “Riding for and representing St. Andrews these past four years has been such a privilege. To be part of such a great team with great instructors has really shaped me as a rider and prepared me for my future in the equine industry. I could not think of a better way to end such a wonderful four years as a St. Andrews equestrian.” 

Both Lindsey and Kristen were wonderful representatives for St. Andrews and I am very proud of both of them for working hard to qualify for the National Championships this year. Thank you to all the faculty who were willing to work with these girls to make this opportunity possible, I very much appreciate your flexibility!

RLAK Show, Alumni Weekend, and Open House

The RLAK horse show was a hit for all concerned this Saturday. Four members of the dressage team started off the show with a drill team ride to the theme from Indiana Jones. The horses were great and the riders put on a good display for the audience. The RLAK show followed with all riders winning a blue ribbon for completing the obstacle course set in the covered arena. Kate Sorgenfrei serving as judge and announcer awarded blue ribbons “for sitting in the middle”, “keeping heels down”, “2-point position” and a myriad of other accomplishments demonstrated by the riders. The RLAK community was well represented covering the ages of around 5 to 55.


Alumni weekend was in full swing on campus and many folks came back to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Pebbles, Peggy and I enjoyed visiting with the class of 2003 (plus a few from 2002). At lunch time ten of them set off on a guided trail ride of the Equestrian Center followed by 3 more on Peggy’s golf cart. With a couple of exceptions many of these folks have not been on a horse in many years so it was really fun to see them warming up in the covered arena before heading out with Carla and Andrew as their escorts.

Once the trail ride had departed the participants of Open House arrived to talk about the program, meet the staff and tour the facility. Lots of great questions were asked and we enjoyed meeting these future students and their families.

In other news our colleague Heather Wile Lee had her baby this weekend. Baby Jase is doing well but Heather suffered complications following delivery and is now in ICU at Moore Regional Hospital. Her husband Philip and both their families are with her at the hospital staying at the Clara McQueen house in Pinehurst. We are keeping Heather, Philip, Jase and the families in our prayers and hoping for a complete recovery.

The ANRC competed for the National Championship this weekend finishing in 6th place. I'll have more information on that in a later post.

Volunteers and Instructors at the RLAK Show

The Drill Team; Bridget on Corky, Kristen on Jake, Elizabethe on Chico and Claire on Windsong

Special and his rider with Morgan, and Spenser



Big John with is rider and Hallie, Megan and Stephanie



Before the Alumni trail rider

Enjoying the facility!

Alumni, ANRC, and RLAK Show

Meg Donahue, Frank Bria, Jennifer James & Howard Morrison were the National Championship team winning riders in 2002. Debbie White and Peggy McElveen coached. The gray horse on the left is Peter and the liver chestnut 3rd from left is JC both of who are retired at the Equestrian Center.

This weekend is Alumni weekend. We are excited to welcome the class of 2003 back to campus. The photo is of the 2002 ANRC National Championship team, many of who will be here this weekend. Click here for the schedule of Alumni events. These events include the annual Ride-Like-A-Knight horse show which starts at 10:30 on Saturday with demonstrations by the equestrain team followed by classes for participants in the program.  

Josh Dazey, Red Ted and Philip Radford at the 2012 RLAK show.

Meanwhile this year's ANRC team is competing in Baltimore at the 2013 National Championships in both the Open and Novice divisions. Good luck to all our riders, coaches and horses.

Don’t forget to support the 2013 Nationals teams by eating at Jersey Mikes in Lbg. tomorrow between 4 & 9 p.m. or shopping at our online store .