Fabulous Weekend for All Equestrian Team Members!

“Intense” is one word to describe our weekend in the Equestrian Program with all three disciplines competing at their final regular season shows. There are many individual successes and stories to share but for this post I’ll focus on the results. My team (dressage) fought hard at a double header hosted by Averett University. Lindsey Agaliotis and Kristen Parker qualified for Nationals in First Level and Intro respectively. After a lot of ties were broken Averett beat us by 4 points.


At home on Friday the western team led by Coach Carla Wennberg won the IHSA Regional Championship advancing them to Semi-Finals in Kentucky in March. Ella Brave earned the title of Reserve Champion AQHA High Point Rider. On Saturday Ella Brave, Michelle Hustad, Dugan McDermott, Brittany Powell, Jake Nix, Kali Cram and Katie Mosca all qualified as individuals for Semi-Finals.

On to Hunter Seat! Sunday this team travelled to ECU. This team placed third overall but held onto their regional lead with 248 points to UNC-Chapel Hill’s 213 points. Individually Senior Kim Graves won the Cacchione Cup (high point rider) for the region and advances to Nationals. The team will compete at Zones hosted by St. Andrews in early April. Individual riders who qualified for Regionals at this show were Tori Burkey and Kim Graves who join several St. Andrews students already qualified.

Reserve Regional Champion IDA Team

Regional Champion Western IHSA Team

Snow Last Weekend; This Weekend Rain

After last weekend’s snow we are looking forward to a wet weekend coming up and once again it is busy! Friday the western team hosts the last regular show of their competitive season at the equestrian center. They are looking to hold on to their lead 18 point lead over NCSU and qualify for Semi-Finals in Kentucky in March. Saturday is IHSA Western Regionals which qualifies individuals for Semi-Finals. Friday evening the team is holding a dinner on campus for the region. The year-end awards for western will be given out at this event.


Saturday the dressage team heads to Danville, VA for a double header show at Averett University to decide the regional winners in intercollegiate competition. The dressage team trails Averett by one point. With riders in contention in three of the four IDA divisions, this weekend’s shows should be intense.

Sunday the IHSA hunter seat team will travel to Eastern Carolina for the last regular show of their season. The hunter seat team has a 29 point lead over UNC-Chapel Hill with ECU just a few points back. This weekend will decide who takes the title of Regional Champion for all three disciplines and advances to the next level.

At home Saturday is Admitted Students Open House. We are looking forward to welcoming many future students and their families to the campus and the equestrian center.

Riding in a Snow Globe!

The St. Andrews Equestrian Program hosted our spring semester dressage show Saturday.  Being in the covered with the snow coming down we felt like we were in a snow globe! The snow did not stop the almost military precision of the show organization and certainly enhanced the atmosphere of the show! (Have you ever watched snow fall to Rhapsody in Blue? Thanks to Eq. staff member Andrew Michael we had a superb movie sound track all day long.) Riders from all disciplines worked together to prepare the horses, time warm up rides and run tests between the judge and the scoring office. If you have never attended an event at the equestrian center you have not witnessed the “events management machine” in action; our students rise to the occasion magnificently. Sophomore Claire Pollard served as Horse Show Chair to organize and coordinate the workforce.

The St. Andrews dressage team ended the day in third place. Senior Lindsey Agaliotis (who drew the first ride of the day) had an outstanding ride earning 78.108% and the high point rider award for the day. Although a 78% in academia earns a grade of a “C”; in dressage this is considered an outstanding score. (Dressage riders are usually very happy with scores around 65%.) Lindsey had several scores of 9 out of 10 for various movements on her test which was also the most advanced test that was offered in today’s competition. The dressage team travels to Averett University next weekend for a double header to end the 12/13 competitive season.

Dressage Seat Equitation has been added successfully in other IDA regions so we decided to try it out. It is currently not a recognized class but we hope to have a national championship division in the near future. The format is the same as any equitation class where riders are judged on their position and effectiveness. (The horse is not judged just the rider.)

 

First Level Lindsey Agaliotis stands in second place with 18 points one point behind the regional leader with 4 riders chasing them with 13 points. At Upper Training Brianna Carter is tied for second place with 12 points trailing a 20 point lead. At Lower Training Sarah Jones leads the region with a one point lead of 16 points. At Intro Kristen Parker maintains her commanding lead of 21 points with the closest challenger at 12 points. Our last two shows are next weekend and will decide who goes to Nationals at Mount Holyoke College in April.
 

Regional Points

Averett 23
St. Andrews 22
NCSU 18
Elon 10
Longwood 2

Results Feb. 16th
First Level Test 2
1^st Lindsey Agaliotis 78.108% High Point Rider – her best score ever!
5^th Abigail Skillman 62.837%

Training Level Test 3

3^rd Hannah Firth 66.2%
6^th Brianna Carter 61.4%

Training Level Test 1

3^rd Sarah Jones 72.291%
4^th Megan Pustarfi 68.541%
6^th Bridget Newman 63.958%

Introductory Level Test B

5^th Logan Teeter
 

Dressage Seat Equitation

Class 1.

2^nd Claire Pollard
4^th Elizabethe Weeks

Class 2.

1^st Kristen Parker
2^nd Logan Teeter

Dressage Home Show Sat.

This Saturday’s dressage show is an important one for the St. Andrews dressage team. We currently have a 2 point lead over Averett. The Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) scores each team’s win with 7 points while 5 points goes to the second placed team. Unlike the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) which accumulates points earned at each show throughout the competitive season. Mathematically it is easy to see that our two point lead is easily lost. After this weekend’s home show we travel to Averett the following weekend for a double header Saturday and Sunday. These last two shows of the year gives them a significant home team advantage. We are practicing hard and trying to be smart about who rides at which shows.


Also at Saturday’s show we will be hosting a couple of Dressage Seat Equitation classes. This will be a first for our region. Other IDA regions have hosted them and they have been well received. Our show on Saturday is a relatively small one, so we decided to give dressage seat eq. a go and offer more opportunities to compete to our member teams. The team is ready to compete and we hope to host a well organized show. Good luck to all the IDA team members and many thanks to the hunter seat and western teams who are helping with horse holding and show organization.

Success for Dressage and Western Teams !

The Equestrian program had a busy weekend hosting western shows at home and sending the dressage team to NCSU on Saturday. Students and coaches enjoyed much success at both shows. At NCSU the dressage team won first place honors with Sarah Jones winning high point rider in lower training and Kristen Parker continuing her winning streak in Intro B to accumulate 21 division points, almost certainly guaranteeing her an individual slot at Nationals. “Assistant Coach Lindsey and I are struggling with our strategy for the last three shows,” said Coach Jackie Dwelle. “We host next Saturday and Averett has significant home team advantage Feb. 23 & 24 with a double header to close out the regular season. Kristen will point out with one more win and then it will be up to our other riders to step in and earn the points. It is going to be a couple of busy and exciting weeks!”

Junior Sarah Jones who scored 67.5% for the Reserve High Point Rider for the day said, “Hard work really does pay off! And having a great team to help and support me throughout the day makes everything a lot easier.”

Regional Standings after 3 shows

St. Andrews 18pts.
Averett University 16 pts
NCSU 13 pts.
Elon 10 pts.
Longwood University 2 pts.

First Level 1
4th Lindsey Agaliotis 62.4%

Training Level 2
2nd Brianna Carter 66.057

Intro Level C
2nd Sarah Jones 67.5% - Reserve High Point Rider

Intro Level B
1st Kristen Parker 64.375%
4th Claire Pollard 61.250%

For a complete report of the western team success click here.

Lindsey Agaliotis, Jackie Dwelle, Claire Pollard, Sarah Jones, Brianna Carter, Kristen Parker

Sarah Jones on her way to earning the Reserve High Point title.

Just Another Weekend at the Barn!

February is going to be one of those busy months with shows and events happening at home and away. Take this weekend for example. We are hosting back to back western shows Saturday and Sunday at the Equestrian Center to help out our friends from NCSU who were planning to host but ran into difficulties. The Ride-Like-A-Knight Therapeutic Horsemanship program is hosting a PATH Int. Mentor Training Workshop led by Pebbles Turbeville and Sandy Webster. As if that was not enough for one weekend, the dressage team travel to Buckhorn Farm in Apex, NC to compete in an IDA show hosted by the NCSU dressage team. Social Media Kim Graves and myself will be working hard to report results from the two shows and share the experiences of the students participating in the TH workshop.

IHSA Hunter Seat 2-2-2013

Saturday was cold as is the norm in early February, however it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the St. Andrews Equestrian Team as they pulled together to host our first IHSA show on the new footing in the Dansby Arena. The addition of tons of sand and the recycled sneaker footing made the arena visually lighter as well as springier for the horses. Several of the older equines showed their delight with the shock absorbing surface with very forward gaits!


Coach Arrigon led the team to a clear victory earning 43 points to UNC – Chapel Hill’s 37. Matt’s comment, “Yes, we had a good day…” summed up the event for all concerned. For Seniors Sami and Kali Cram this was the last IHSA home show and they ended it in style with a three way tie with Junior Abi Skillman for high point rider. The ride off was bareback on western horses and Sami came out ahead of Kali and Abi.

RESULTS
Open Flat Section A
2nd Kim Graves

Novice Flat Section A
3rd Nikki Napoleone

Novice Flat B
1st Caitlin Karolak
2nd Tara Algieri

Open Flat C
4th Katie Hansen

Novice Flat C
2nd Anastasia MacNaught

Novice Flat D
6th Chandalyn Chrzanowski

Open Fences
A 1st Katie Hansen

Open Fences B
2nd Kim Graves

Novice Flat E
1st Cami Glaff

Intermediate Flat A
1st Kali Cram
3rd Keli Van Den Heuvel


Novice Flat F
1st Rachaell Dockery

Beginning WTC
2nd Lacy Burke

Intermediate Flat
4th Alexandra Fullerton

Novice Flat G
4th Michelle Eld

Beginning WTC – C
1st Shiloh Kozlowski

Intermediate Flat C
1st Sami Cram

Novice Flat H
1st Abi Skillman

Intermediate Flat D
5th Park Hoey

Intermediate Fences A
1st Sami Cram

Intermediate Fences B
1st Nikki Napoleone

Intermediate Fences C
1st Kali Cram

Novice Fences B
2nd Cami Glaff

Novice Fences C
1st Abi Skillman

Novice Fences D
1st Alexandra Fullerton

Walk Trot A
2nd Amanda Rucker

Advanced WTC A
1st Madison Edwards

Walk Trot B
1st Jake Hobson

Advanced WTC B
4th Heather Moch

Advanced WTC C
1st Tori Burkey

Advanced WTC D
3rd Sam Taylor

Advanced WTC F
1st Julie Griffin
3rd Kirsten Farley

Year to Date IHSA Standings

St. Andrews University          208

UNC-Chapel Hill                    179

East Carolina University           171

North Carolina State                 155

UNC-Charlotte                         154

UNC-Wilmington                      139

Duke University                       127

Virginia Commonwealth           122

Coastal Carolina University     92

Martin Community College       28

Campbell University                  23

Davidson College                      0