IHSA National Championship Awards Big Winners Over the Weekend

SKIDMORE COLLEGE WINS COLLEGIATE CUP- USEF/CACCHIONE CUP AND NRHA INDIVIDUAL OPEN REINING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AWARDED

Harrisburg, Penn.—May 6, 2018—Competition Saturday at the 2018 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championship Horse Show included tiebreakers and exciting outcomes. The Skidmore Thoroughbreds maintained a lead throughout the show and finished with 30 points, earning them the right to take the Collegiate Cup home to Saratoga Springs. Reserve champions Savannah College of Art and Design were just two points behind and Stanford University was third with 22 points.

Skidmore head coach Cindy Ford credited the teamwork of assistant coach Belinda Colgan and the rest of the staff for their success. This group, she said, could work anywhere at the top of the industry. She also complimented her students for being academically strong, motivated and hard-working. The strong string of Skidmore horses also contribure to their success.

“I’m careful who I choose on my team,” Ford said. “We give them (the students) a lot of attention. I have an amazing group of horses that have been donated to us. They’re cared for as show horses. They have the best veterinarians, the best farriers and they mean the world to us. Between the horses, the staff and the students it’s just a no-brainer. And yet, It still does become the luck of the draw.”

Skidmore’s Clay, who produced many top rounds, was awarded the SmartPak Most Popular Hunter Seat Horse.

SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE’S MAKAYLA BENJAMIN WINS THE USEF/CACCHIONE CUP

Judges Diane Carney and Tony Sgarlata determined that the format of the final work-off phase of the USEF/Cacchione Cup would be a challenging course over fences. In a major upset, Makayla Benjamin, a senior at Sweet Briar went from eighth place in the top 10 to win the championship. She drew Collins who was reserve champion, Mollie Kowalchik’s draw in the first phase.

Benjamin has ridden all her life and competed in the Big Eq. Both her parents rode in the IHSA and met while competing at Purdue University. She has been on the IHSA team all four years at Sweet Briar. This is her first time at Nationals.

“Over fences is always my stronger suit,” she said. “I was third after the first phase. On the flat I had a really good horse, Gunner, from West Point. I was just happy to come back to test with the top 10. I thought, ‘I can do this.’”

When Benjamin knew she had drawn Collins, she made the decision to make the handier turn to the trot jump. “He was a joy to ride,” she said. “It (the course) posed a lot of questions and I answered most of them right. I was shocked that I was actually in the top three.”

Benjamin is superstitious and tends to keep to a ritual before competing. She has a lucky pair of socks that she wore yesterday and didn’t have on for the final phase.

“I put a clean pair of socks on,” she said. “I guess it worked.”

Benjamin is a mathematical economics major with a double minor in business and engineering. She will spend some time working at Bitterroot Ranch, a dude ranch in Wyoming, before starting her corporate job in February.

Collins, owned by Cazenovia College was awarded the Triple Crown High Point Hunter Seat Horse

ALL IHSA NATIONALS RESULTS

MICHAEL JANSON NABS A WIN FOR BOSTON UNIVERSITY IN COLLEGIATE CUP OPEN OVER FENCES

Michael Janson from Boston University competed in the Collegiate Cup Open Equitation Over Fences. The judges selected the top four to test over a shortened course that included two changes of lead. Riding Maverick, owned by Savannah College of Art and Design, Janson set him set himself apart by holding the counter canter and turning to the right rather than the left. His choice earned him the judges’ nod and the win.

“There was the option to be creative, which I liked,” Janson said about his round. “The horse was great. The competition was spectacular.”

Janson, a finance major from Berkley, Massachusetts, has ridden most of his life and has competed in the equitation and the jumpers. His family breeds and trains Zangersheide horses.

“Our team was really special this year—very horse-focused,” Janson said. “Thanks to our amazing coaches., being a part of IHSA has made this special for my senior year. I wouldn’t have been able to compete at such a competitive level if Phyllis hadn’t coached me.”

“He is an unbelievable human being,” said Boston University coach Phyllis Cervelli. “He comes with a lot of mileage. We’re just working on tweaking that intercollegiate part of it.”

Cervelli said it has been since 2001 since Boston University has won a class at Nationals. Most years they send individual competitors but haven’t sent a team since the mid-90s. Janson’s win helped Boston University finish the Collegiate Cup in fourth place.

MORGAN KNERR BREAKS A TIED SCORE TO WIN NRHA INDIVIDUAL OPEN REINING

Morgan Knerr from University of Findlay and her best friend, Tyler Kirby from Ohio State University were tied at 148 points after their first reining pattern. The judges asked the two top contenders to swap horses and return for a showdown. Knerr, who rode Karen Black’s Brie in the first round mounted up on Gunny, also owned by Black. In the end, the judges gave Knerr the top prize.

“She was so good,” Knerr said. “I knew it was a tough competition with Tyler. I know he’s a good rider. I was excited to go back in the arena and do it again.”

Knerr is a freshman studying pharmacy. She hopes to have a career in hospital pharmacy and continue riding. “Both my parents are involved in reining and I’ve grown up in the reining industry,” she said.

Before joining the University of Findlay, Knerr and Kirby rode at Autumn Rose with the Griffiths and competed together in the NRHA.

USEF/Cacchione Cup and Western Divisions Featured Second Day of IHSA National Championship

The 2018 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championship Horse Show resumed for the second day of action at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The first two phases of the coveted USEF/Cacchione Cup, the Equitation Over Fences and the Equitation on the Flat took place. The Western riders and horses also began competition, featuring AQHA Team Open Reining and Individual Open Western Horsemanship. All teams participated in the colorful Parade of Teams.

Kowalchik Leads the USEF/Cacchione Cup First Two Phases

In the USEF/Cacchione Cup Equitation Over Fences, Mollie Kowalchik, the captain of the Mount Holyoke College team, produced the leading round aboard Collins, owned by Cazenovia College.

“I just love that horse Collins,” said C.J. Law, head coach at Mount Holyoke. “I’ve known about him for a while and when she drew him I was so pleased.”

Halle Kutsche from Kansas State University and Gunner, owned by the US Military Academy.

Law shared that Kowalchik is such a petite rider that it can be challenging. “Many times, we have to wrap the stirrups as many as three times,” she said. “When she got on she said, ‘CJ I’ve already gone up 10 holes.’ We only had six holes left!”

As it turned out, Kowalchik had enough holes in the stirrup leathers to make them the perfect length and Law said she and Collins made for an elegant pair. “It was a good round— a very organized ride,” Law said.

The judges agreed.

Going into the flat phase, Kowalchik was two points ahead of the pack with Halle Kutsche from Kansas State University in second. Both riders maintained their positions after the flat phase with only one point separating their scores. The top 10 riders will return for the work-off phase Saturday morning.

“I’m going to try to be confident because now I know I have it in me,” said Kowalchik, a senior from Loveland, Ohio, studying exercise science. “I’m going to enjoy it because it is my last ride in the IHSA, as an undergrad. It will be an emotional day, but I’m excited.”

ALL IHSA NATIONALS RESULTS

University of Wisconsin River Falls Notches First Win in AQHA Team Open Reining

Danielle Paulson from the University of Wisconsin River Falls has been on the team for two years and qualified for Nationals for the first time this year.

“Last year I had a rough go at Semi-Finals and making it back to Nationals this year was an incredible opportunity,” said Paulson, who is from Rochester, Minnesota.

While watching the warmup, she spied Juice, a cute chestnut mare owned by St. Andrews University.

“I liked Juice when I saw her warming up. I thought, ‘I want to draw her!’ I ended up drawing her! I was really excited and I asked her owner for tips. I went in the ring and just let her take care of me. I pushed her to go how I thought she could run and she circled really nice for me. Her spins were great, her stops were awesome. She was a heck of a mare to ride.”

Though Paulson has shown American Quarter Horses for 10 years, this is her first year competing in reining.

“My coach Janie Huot is awesome,” she said. “She has always been there for me. All I’ve done is practice on reining horses at my school. It’s a huge accomplishment.”

Paulson will also compete in NRHA Individual Open Reining and AQHA High Point Western Rider.

Individual Open Western Horsemanship

The third time is a charm for Codi Uecker from Rocky Mountain College who piloted Terrell, owned by the University of Findlay to the win in the Individual Open Western Horsemanship. Uecker hails from Lewistown, Montana, and is a junior studying biology. She has qualified and competed at Nationals every year of her college career.

“I’m so excited,” said Uecker. It’s taken three years, so it’s good.”

IHSA Members Giving Back

IHSA members actively give back in a variety of ways. Many teams have fundraising projects and some align with worthy nonprofits to volunteer and raise funds. For instance, the Centenary University equestrian team just completed a fundraising project for the Equestrian Aid Foundation and University of British Columbia fundraises for JustWorld International.

There are some outstanding IHSA members that quietly give back. Kelsi Okun is a 20-year-old sophomore at Stanford University from McLean, Virginia. She is studying symbolic systems with plans for a career on the business side of tech. Okun qualified to compete in the USEF/Cacchione Cup at Nationals. That alone is impressive.

But when Okun was 8 years old, she and her 10-year-old sister Rachel founded ThanksUSA, an organization that that gives away $3,000 scholarships to family members of the military. Since its founding, ThanksUSA has awarded $13 million in scholarships.

“It was started around our kitchen table,” Okun said. “Now it has its own employees and its own operating unit, but at its heart, it is really a family foundation. It’s something I’ve grown up with my whole life.”

The Okun sisters were inspired by their neighbors, the Wards who had a daughter their age. The father had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“That was our first exposure to a military family because I wasn’t a military brat myself,” Okun said. “There was a disconnect that we noticed between the quality of education that would be accessible. I was in second grade and it was apparent. As two schoolgirls growing up—the only thing we knew was school. It was the best way we knew to give back. People were very kind and it snowballed into what it is today.”

For more information go to thanksusa.org