Only twice in the 40-year history of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships have two hunter seat teams tied for the Collegiate Cup overall high point title: 1980, when Southern Seminary College tied with SUNY Stony Brook, and 1989, when Colby-Sawyer College tied with Pennsylvania State University.
Sharing Hunter Seat Collegiate Cup
St. Lawrence University coach Mary Drueding and her defending national champion Saints will share the IHSA hunter seat high point team Collegiate Cup with last year's reserve champions, coach Cindy Ford and her Built Ford tough, Skidmore College Thoroughbreds.
© 2013 by Tim Moore
Add 2013 to that short list. St. Lawrence University coach Mary Drueding and her defending national champion Saints will share the IHSA hunter seat high point team Collegiate Cup with last year's reserve champions, coach Cindy Ford and her 'built Ford tough' Skidmore College Thoroughbreds.
"Sharing is better than losing to her," joked Drueding about her good friend and even better IHSA Zone 2 rival. Ford and Skidmore turned up the heat in the homestretch like true Thoroughbreds on the first Saturday in May and brought the race for high point team at the 40th IHSA Nationals, at the Farm Expo Equine Center in Harrisburg, PA, to a dead heat.
During a good-natured 'wrestling match' while accepting the silver trophy, it was clear each coach held the other in high regard. "I admire Cindy's work ethic. It's an honor to share this with her," Drueding said.
"We're friends and competitors. The respect is reciprocal,” said Ford. Each team finished with 22 points overall.
"At mid-year," Drueding mused, "we were behind in the standings. As the defending team that made me wonder, were we one-hit wonders? Although we've always been a little bit better in the spring than fall."
Indeed, St. Lawrence riders began blooming with the start of Collegiate team finals on Thursday, May 2, in front of special guest and 1986 creator of the Collegiate saddle, Weatherbeeta executive vice president, Jack Levy.
"We had a strong start," Drueding said. Saints rider Katherine Figueroa posted a win in Novice Hunter Seat Equitation, with Skidmore's Jessica Stoukides in reserve; and Alyssa Bokor won Intermediate Hunter Seat Equitation, again with Skidmore (Emory Wonham) second.
Friday team classes belonged to Stanford University and coach Vanessa Bartsch. In back-to-back rides that left Stanford not to be underestimated, Eliza Richartz won Walk/Trot and Victoria Greenen won Walk/Trot/Canter, contributing to the 20 points overall that would earn the West Coast team singular ownership of the 2013 Collegiate Cup reserve title.
Friday turned into Saturday and Skidmore's Flavia D'Urso won Open Equitation Over Fences, delivering the seven points needed to bring Skidmore neck-and-neck with St. Lawrence. "We just worked hard," said Ford, now a seven-time Collegiate Cup winner. "You never get tired of winning."
“To have our riders come all this way and leave as reserve national champions is incredibly gratifying,” said coach Bartsch. “We had a young team of first-year riders and sophomores, except for senior, Alison Smith. Winning back-to-back championships in Walk/Trot and Walk/Trot/Canter speaks to the work ethic of our riders and quality of our coaching staff.
“Eliza was on varsity sailing before learning to ride less than a year ago. Team captain, Claire Margolis, a sophomore, was the only rider to qualify in five classes (Individual Open Flat and Fences, Team Open Flat and Fences, and Cacchione Cup). She kept her focus and led her team, despite drawing first to go in all three over fences classes.” After her rides, Margolis, a Mathematics major, drolly noted to coach Bartsch that such odds had been 1 in 9,000.
By L.A. Pomeroy, IHSA Media