Western Team Qualifies for IHSA National Championships!

by Guest Blogger Coach Carla Wennberg

Florida State University was Host college
17 other Universities represented; Top Four placing out of 16 riders per class move forward to nationals.

Results for St Andrews University;
Jarret Vaughn, from Gastonia, NC was 3rd in Intermediate  Horsemanship
Logan Teeter, from Henderson, NC was first in Novice Horsemanship
Both students advance to Nationals as Individuals in those divisions

Top three Teams winning points advance forward to Nationals IN Springfield, Mass. First weekend of May!
1. University of Findlay 32 points
2. St Andrews University 31 points
3. Black Hawk College 22 points

4. Middle Tennessee State University
5. Alfred State University
6. University of Fla.
7. Cal Poly Pomona
8. University of Delaware

Great Competition, Lovely location!
We fought all the way through the weekend to stay consistent and not make mistakes!!!
It paid off. I am soooo Proud of my Team and their Sp
All the hard work and determination!
It takes a Village to make this all work!!
Thank you to Lindsey Agaliotis and Peggy McElveen!!!
Jennifer Sansbury for care and driving our horses to competition
Kara Copeland and Cailey Culp for great warm up riding!
Very Proud Coach!!!
Carla

Colleges and Universities represented;
Kutztown, Lenoir-Ryne, University of AZ, Rutgers, Iowa State, Florida State University, Murray State University, Centenary College, Knoxville, United States Military Academy, Western Ky University, Illinois State University, Va Tech, University of Central Fla, NE Oklahoma A&M, Missouri State University, NC State University.

Full Teams competing;
1. Alfred University, New York
2. Black Hawk College, Ill
3. Cal Poly Pomona, Calif
4. Middle Tennessee State Univ, Tn
5. St Andrews University, NC
6. University of Delaware, De
7. University of Findlay, Ohio
8. University of Fla, Fla

A Member of the Western Team

Written by Sarah Murvin for Equine Business Management class. 

Last weekend the St. Andrews Western team competed at Campbell University. The team finished the weekend with Reserve High Point team on Saturday and High Point team on Sunday. The scores allowed St. Andrews to maintain a region lead of 12 points heading into the final show of the competitive season that will be hosted by Liberty University on February 28. 

This team has thrived in the IHSA region for many years. They have been the Regional Champion team from 2005-2014; and have qualified 7 of those years for the National Championship show as a team.

As a Western team member, you experience the benefits of being a part of a team and you are constantly building friendships. Each member makes an important effort to improve their equestrian skills. Their experience begins before entering the show ring and extends long after the end of the show. Coach Carla Wennberg always has something inspiring to say about her team: “You know I am always in awe of my teams each year. It seems my great leaders of the upperclassmen really teach the freshmen early on how to be great citizens, help each other, share, and do what is right. The lessons we learn are because of the horse and responsibility and competition.” Coach Carla is an immense asset to this team, as well as Assistant Coach Lindsey Agaliotis. They both offer great insight and they help this team come together as a family. 

Due to personal reasons I wasn’t able to be a member of the team this semester; but as a member for 2 years I created many relationships with this team. I have built many friendships and still feel connected to the team. Carla is a very understanding coach and she is willing to work with you to help you feel more confident as a rider. When I first came to this school I had never ridden a Quarter horse, or even competed on a riding team. Carla knew exactly how to shape me into a western rider. Riding with Carla for three years has benefited me in ways I couldn’t imagine. Being a part of this western team is more than an experience it’s a privilege; and it’s worth being involved in. 

IHSA Results

The IHSA teams started off the season with a bang! The Western Team was Champion both Saturday and Sunday at our first home shows. They lead the region with 68 pts; Reserve Champion on both days was NCSU who have 62 pts. The Hunter Seat team earned 4^th place at the Tournament of Champions at Goucher College in MD – a very respectable placing in a competitive tourney.

Josh and Red Ted had an excellent showing at Special Olympics in Raleigh – more on that in a future post.

Go Knights!

Results from Western Shows

Saturday

Champion St. Andrews 34 pts.

Reserve Champion NCSU 30 pts.

Open Horsemanship A

2^nd Becca Alden

3^rd Kara Copeland

Intermediate Horsemanship II A

1^st Jarret Vaughn

Open Horsemanship B

2^nd Katie Mosca

Intermediate Horsemanship II B

2^nd Sarah Murvin

Advanced Horsemanship A

2^nd Phillip Alden

Intermediate Horsemanship II C

1^st Cailey Culp

5^th Samantha Bollinger

Advanced Horsemanship B

4^th Mark Mowbray

Intermediate Horsemanship II D

1^st Connor Smith

Reining A

2^nd Katie Mosca

Novice Horsemanship

1^st Logan Teeter – Section A

3^rd Erica LeSeur – Section A

2^nd Michelle Eld – Section B

1^st Natasha Worker – Section C

Beginning Horsemanship B

1^st Austin Trockenbrot

Sunday

Champion Team - St. Andrews - 34 points
Reserve Ch Team - NCSU - 32 points

Open Horsemanship
Becca Alden - 3rd - Section A
Kara Copeland - 3rd - Section B
Katie Mosca - 1st -Section B

Advanced Horsemanship
Phillip Alden - 3rd - Section A
Mark Mowbray- 2nd - Section B

Novice Horsemanship
Natasha Worker - 1st -Section A
Michelle Eld - 1st - Section B
Erica LeSeur - 5th -Section B
Logan Teeter Carter - 2nd - Section C

Intermediate Horsemanship
Dillon Vaughn - 1st - Section A
Alysse Lemme - 3rd - Section B
Cailey Culp - 2nd - Section C
Jarret Vaughn - 1st - Section D
Austin Trockenbrot - 1st - Intermediate I

Beginner Horsemanship
Danielle Eads - 1st - Section A
Tiffany Burch - 1st - Section C

Reining
Katie Mosca - 2nd and Reserve High Point Rider for the day

Tournament of Champions – Goucher College, MD

1st - Goucher College - 41 points
2nd - Savannah College of Art & Design - 36 points
3rd - Mt. Holyoke College - 34 points
4th - St. Andrews University - 30 points
5th - Randolph College - 28 points
6th - Bridgewater College - 27 points

Also competing - Virginia Tech, Lafayette College, West Virginia University, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Mary Washington, University of Wisconsin, University of Delaware, Rutgers University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Villanova, and Otterbein. Thanks to Goucher College for hosting such a great show!
All of our riders contributed points to the team total. Sabrina Vlacich won Intermediate Fences and Jessica Story won Walk, Trot, Canter. Cami Glaff was second in Intermediate Flat and Briley Branden was second in Novice Flat. Kelsey Kocher was fifth in Open Flat and Katie Thomas was fifth in Novice Fences. Paola Sierra-Danielsen was sixth in Walk, Trot and Kelsey Kocher was sixth in Open Fences. Congratulations riders and coaches Matt Arrigon and Tara Algieri!

Our Upcoming Weekend

Ride-Like-A-Knight is heading to Special Olympics today! Josh Dazey and Red Ted will be competing in several classes with Brooke Ellington as their coach. Liz Dulski and 5 students are travelling to help organize and staff the horse show. At home we are preparing for back to back western shows Saturday and Sunday to kick off the horse show season. The western team has some new riders, the region is growing so will some exciting competition at the barn this weekend!

Fall 2014 Begins!

So as always the beginning of the semester has been a whirlwind at the Equestrian Center! Lessons started on September 1^st (yes we have school on Labor day, but get the Wed. before Thanksgiving off) and from all accounts have been going well. The hunter seat coaches adopted the motto, “Stirrup free September” so all riders that are able have been riding without stirrups. Those that are not quite ready for that have been in 2 point for extended periods to get their legs deep and secure. Dressage has done some no stirrup work on and off the lunge finding muscles that these riders had forgotten about. Western riders have had equally demanding lessons with Carla and Lindsey.

Last weekend Matt did a teaching marathon for the IEA boot camp. Hunter seat riders volunteered to get the horses ready and on Sunday we held an IHSA style show with a beach themed draw table. Ride-Like-A-Knight started up on Sept 8. The program has a couple of new horses that are being eased into the program, Nora a Norwegian Fjord and Cooper an adorable paint pony. Riding Council has had its first general meeting with info on work study, what to wear, TH volunteering, plans for our 5k in Oct, team tryouts, the eventing club, up-coming western shows and a reminder from Peggy to do well in all things academic.

So this weekend is tryouts for IHSA, IDA and the hunter seat show team. Next weekend RLAK heads to Special Olympics in Raleigh, we have our first western shows of the year and a few students are going to Pinehurst to work the dressage shows at the Harness Track. 

Equestrian Program Reviews - Western Team

Alyssa Lemme reported on the great success of the IHSA Western team for the 2012 - 2013 academic year. Regional and Zone Champions and Reserve Champions at the IHSA National Championships!
Click here to read Alyssa's report.

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day 5

We had an early start to our last day at the Farm Show Complex. The first draw was scheduled for 7:15. We left the hotel at 6:30 but were still behind Carla, Lindsey and Kara who had horses to school even earlier.

With the hunter seat competition complete the focus was on western. Our day started with the NRHA High Point Reining with the 26 riders being split into two sections. Kara’s lovely horse Vinnie ran the pattern a total of 3 times, the last time with Michelle Hustad which helped Michelle earn her overall 3rd place in that competition. Up next were Mark Mowbray for the team Advanced, Erin Hudson in Individual Intermediate, Dugan McDermott in Team Intermediate and Vicki Weise in Individual Beginner. All of the riders followed the team’s motto of, “practice like you've never won and ride like you've won everything,” putting in solid rides to earn good placings (see below).

The horses that travelled with us represented St. Andrews very well. Zoey was voted Western Horsemanship horse of the show (Carla was interviewed by the AQHA Journal for an article on Zoey), Reggie helped several riders earn good placings and Ziggy was so fabulous the western horse selection committee elevated him to the status of St. Ziggy. Michelle drew Benji for the last class of her collegiate career for the Team Open Flat earning the yellow ribbon and valuable points for the team. Austin was also interviewed for an article on his success in the Team Walk/Trot. The story of how Carla converted lacrosse players to riders starting with Dugan two years ago is likely to go public!

At the end of a very exciting couple of days the western team earned 3rd place with 24 points behind Ohio State (29) and Findlay University (25).

As the last class of the show was going on (we had no horses or riders) we scrambled to get the barn packed up, the horses ready for shipping, the 2 rental cars returned and everyone’s stuff stowed into the bus. Parents and students helped to get the horses loaded and on the road for the long ride back to NC. Following the western team awards the bus was ready to leave at 7:00 p.m. arriving in Laurinburg at 3:30 a.m. The horses took a little longer as the driver was dropping one in VA on the way.


Hunter Seat – 7th
Jessica Story 1st Team Walk, Trot, Canter
Jake Hobson 6th Team Walk, Trot Equitation
Kelsey Kocher 9th Team Open Equitation on the Flat

Western – 3rd
Michelle Hustad  - 3rd Team Reining and 4th Individual Open Horsemanship,  3rd Team Open Flat Horsemanship, 3rd NRHA High Point Rider,
Logan Teeter - 3rd Team Novice Horsemanship
Austin Trockenbrot – Champion Team Walk/Trot
Mark Mowbray – 3rd Team Advanced Horsemanship
Dugan McDermott – 5th Team Intermediate Horsemanship

Erin Hudson – 4th Individual Intermediate Horsemanship
Vicki Weise – 6th Individual Beginner Horsemanship

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day 4

Our day started with Team Open Over Fences, Kelsey Kocher earned 9th place. After the Cacchione Cup ride off IHSA recognized Eddie Federwisch with the IHSA Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to IHSA and the collegiate equestrian world. A break in the ring followed for schooling before we rolled into the rest of our day.

Kelsey Kocher started off our day in the Team Open Equitation for the team. She won 9th place. Not bad for a college freshmen competing at her first IHSA Nationals! The hunter seat team ended the competition with a total of 8 points putting them in a tie with Mt. Holyoke for 7th place.

The awards ceremony is an opportunity to recognize the many people that have worked to make IHSA and the National Championships possible. Some awards are voted on my committee others by the membership. One award is the volunteer award for someone that has gone above and beyond. This year the Bob Cacchione was caught by surprise when he was awarded the volunteer award. After tearing up he rose to the occasion saluting the crowd to a standing ovation. With hunter seat over the focus turned to western.

Michelle Hustad rode in the NRHA High Point Rider Horsemanship Flat phase. Tomorrow she will compete in the Reining phase of this competition. Coach Carla Wennberg was very pleased with her rider’s performance. Last up for St. Andrews for today was Austin Trokenbrot riding in Team Walk/Trot. Austin who came to St. Andrews to play Lacrosse marched into the ring like he had done this many times before and walked off with the Champion Trophy and ribbon. “A year ago he had been on a horse but knew absolutely nothing. It has been fun to see him turn into a show rider,” said Carla.

St. Andrews leads the competition with 15 points followed closely by Findlay and Ohio State with 14 and 13 points. “My strategy will be the same that it has been at every competition. I want my riders continue to ride their personal best, make as few mistakes as possible, and be very confident. If they stay consistent that way, more times than not we stay in the hunt. Always proud of how well they work together, taking care of the horses and looking after each other,” said Carla.

After the show ended we had our graduation ceremony for the 4 Seniors who are competing on the western team. This has become a St. Andrews tradition at IHSA Nationals which almost always falls on graduation weekend. Peggy has developed the ceremony over the years to include bagpipe music over the PA system. The graduates process in with an escort that they have chosen. Peggy introduced the ceremony and read a beautiful post from last year’s graduate Kali Cram. Carla had asked Katie Mosca to write her speech which was perfect moving all of us to tears. We made the ceremony official with their diplomas and Peggy pronounced them college graduates. This was followed by lots of hugs, congratulations and photos.

Tomorrow is our last day in PA, wishing good luck to the Western Team. We will be packing up our stuff and loading the 5 wonderful western horses to make the long drive back to NC.

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day 2.5

Peggy, Liz, myself and our helper April from Delaware Valley  felt very accomplished as we plinkoled 38 riders for the Cacchione Cup this morning in a relatively short time! Kelsey Kocher was the St. Andrews representative drawing a mare named Lucy and scoring a 74.5 on her jumping round. Currently waiting to see if she makes the cut for the top 24 to go forwards to the flat phase of that competition. Cami Glaff competed in Intermediate Team Over Fences having a beautiful round apart from one short distance.

This afternoon we have 9 classes starting with Team Reining and then alternating between hunter seat flat classes and western horsemanship. The horses are currently schooling for these classes and we hope to get back to competition fairly soon. 

The parade of teams at lunchtime today

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day Two

Today started with jumping classes. My day started and continued with plinko. My job is to attend to stray pucks and help them if they get stuck, Liz types everything into Google Docs so all the officials know who has drawn which horse. Peggy instructs the students on the rules of plinko and organizes every draw. There are of course the usual difficulties with technology that so far have been overcome by some very smart people.

Kelsey Kocher was our first rider of the day having a great ride in Individual Open Equitation over Fences She missed one flying change putting her in the lower end of the class. Caitlyn Woychik was our next rider with the last ride in Novice Equitation Over Fences. Caitlyn was thrilled with her ride earning 7th place. Emilee Wilson and Madison Edwards represented St. Andrews in the Team Novice Hunter Seat and Individual Walk, Trot, Canter Equitation classes and Cami Glaff ended the day for hunter seat with a 7th place in the Intermediate Equitation. The hunter seat team members headed to dinner in small groups with the many parents that had arrived while Liz and I had command of the charter bus to take us to dinner.

As the hunter seat classes ended for the day the western horses started their schooling and horse selection. Carla met with the horse selection committee while Lindsey and the western team schooled the horses and took care of them for the night. Around 9:00 the bus took us back to the horse show to pick up the western team who where by this time very hungry. Tomorrow will be another early start for the teams and volunteers.

The plinko demonstration prior to every draw

Cami Glaff

IHSA National Championships 2014 - Day One

The five western horse arrived this morning having traveled all night from NC. They were happy to settle into their stalls and rest after the long ride. While the western team was caring for the horses the hunter seat team watched the schooling of the hunter seat horses and made notes on each ride. Liz and I helped Peggy and Carla with whatever they needed and learned that we would be playing plinko all weekend at the draw table. A Dad of one of the St. Lawrence students has built a giant plinko board that 4 riders at a time will drop discs down to determine which horse they ride. We are looking forward to this new twist on the draw table!

Late afternoon the western horses were happy to school a little in the warm up arena and when the hunter seat schooling had finished were happy to experience the atmosphere in the arena. They took everything in their stride and marched around like the pros they are. Carla, Lindsey and Kara stayed to school Vinnie with some of the other reiners while the rest of us went to dinner.

Tomorrow the first class starts at 8:30 so will be an early start for everyone. Go Knights! 

Western Reserve Champions in 2013

Peggy, Liz and I enjoyed picking up a few home comforts for the barn. Carla was ready for a comfy chair!

Logan and Benji and Erin and Zoey checking out the competition arena

IHSA National Championships 2014

A total of 21 students and staff left from campus at 11:00 a.m. for the IHSA National Championships in Harrisburg, PA. The hunter seat and western IHSA teams and coaches, individual riders, warm up riders, draw table crew and of course Peggy. We arrived at the Hampton Inn in rain and cooler weather about the same time the commercial shipper was picking up the 5 western horses in the Burg. They should be here early tomorrow morning. Carla and the western team will be at the barn early to prepare the horse’s stalls and get them settled in. Schooling and horse selection starts tomorrow.