Beckett Run Inc.              

HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS at Centenary College, New Jersey

December 5, 2009

Centenary College , the 2009 National Champs, placed 1st AND 2nd at the Holiday Tournament, but the surprise team was Matt Arrigon's Lynchburg College team finishing in a tie for 3rd place out of 28 teams!  Matt  (left) formerly coached the IEA high school team here at Beckett Run!

CENTENARY ROLLS THROUGH

Hackettstown, New Jersey, 12/5/09

      It was a return to comfortable normalcy for the big guns of collegiate riding, and at the same time a breakout performance for some young and inexperienced teams intent on making a name for themselves on the national stage that was Holiday Tournament of Champions.  This year’s Holiday Tournament was hosted by the 2009 National Champion team, December 5 at

.   The outcome was impressive, if not predictable – Centenary’s two teams finished Champion and Reserve Champion of the 28 teams in attendance.  Centenary’s Lindsay Mohr, currently leading the region for Cacchione Cup points, set the pace by winning the first class of the day, giving her “Team Jacob” the early lead and they never looked back, amassing an insurmountable lead by mid-day.  Lindsay Clark, 2009 National Cacchione Cup Champion, followed Mohr’s lead, winning Open B section as well.   Coach Michael Dowling’s Centenary team clearly dominated the 2009 Holiday Tournament, winning seven of the sixteen classes between the two teams and scoring an amazing 43 points – unheard of in this level national invitational. 

The next 8 teams were separated by only a blue ribbon in the end, and included the Lindsay Clark’s Centenary “Team Edward” bringing home the Reserve Championship with 25 points. 

Following that was a three way tie for 3^rd place, which included two teams of Mount Holyoke College

, who had a team National Championship in 2006, sandwiched between Reserve Championships in 2005 and 2007.  Coach CJ Law’s Holyoke team was the 2008 Tournament of Champions Series Champion, and one of the most consistently successful collegiate programs of the decade.   Their team balance is evidenced by their two teams tying with 22 points apiece. 

Tied with Holyoke was Lynchburg College , a hot upstart in their first year of national level competition, coached by Matt Arrigon.  Lynchburg competes in the highly competitive western Virginia region that includes Hollins, Sweet Briar, University of Virginia , Randolph , Bridgewater

, etc.  The young Lynchburg team finished the fall semester with Reserve Champion and Champion performances, and now has gained national attention with their performance at the Holiday Tournament.  Sophomore Kelly Gerland led the way for the Lynchburg Hornets, placing 3^rd in the open fences, and later grabbing a 6^th place in the Tournament of Champions Medal class. 

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Virginia Intermont finished in 6^th place with 20 points.  Intermont is never far from the top of the standings, having won the IHSA National Championship in 2004. ’06, and ’07.  They have won the Tournament of Champions Series Championship all but two years in the fifteen year existence of the trophy.  After a slow period the past couple years, Coach Eddie Federwisch is excited about his group of freshmen this year and anticipates a VI resurgence in the national standings.

One point back of Intermont was two more impressive young teams that are turning heads this year in collegiate riding.  Virginia Tech and The University of the South, or “Sewanee”, as they are known all across the south.  Sewanee won that tie breaker to gain the 7^th Place

ribbon, while Tech took home the 8^th.  Virginia Tech had previously brought home the Champion Trophy from the Tournament of Champions Preseason Classic in September.  Sewanee Coach Megan Taylor is excited about her young team this year that includes a cast of star freshmen to join an already solid team.  Olivia Schubert and Kaylee Beauchamp both took blue ribbons for Sewanee in Intermediate flat and fences, and Samantha Strouss took 2^nd place in the open fences. 

Following are the team ribbons for 2009 Holiday Tournament of Champions:

Champion: Centenary College Team Jacob, 43 points

Res.Champ,: Centenary Team Edward, 25

3^rd:       Mt Holyoke College Team Lyons , 22

4^th:       Mt Holyoke Team Columbia Blue, 22

5^th:       Lynchburg College , 22

6^th:       Virginia Intermont College , 20

7^th:       Sewanee: The Univ. of the South, 19

8^th:       Virginia Tech, Team Enter the Sandman, 19

The Tournament of Champions medal included 36 riders who had been nominated by their coaches.  They competed in groups of 12 on the flat, then 18 were called back to compete over fences.  Two were called for additional testing before the judge placed the top 12. 

.  It was the first trip to the Medal ribbons for both riders, edging out some names that are familiar from past Tournament Medals…

Tournament of Champions Medal placings:

Champion        Quinn Traendly, Stonehill College

Res. Champ     Kristy Kenn, Michigan

3^rd                    Liz Potariu, Cazenovia College

4^th                    Lindsay Mohr, Centenary

5^th                    Suzanne Snyder, St. Lawrence

6^th                    Kelly Gerland, Lynchburg College

7^th                    Lauren Duffee, Holy Cross

8^th                    Danielle Miranda, Lafayette

9^th                    Mariel Saccucci, Rhode Island

10^th                  Lauren Zapitelli, Wisconsin

11^th                  Kelly Arvidson, Centenary

12^th                  Nikki Ficano, Cazenovia

The show was judged by Linda Shahinian, USEF “R” judge from the state of New Jersey .  The announcer was Tim Cleary, courses designed by Michael Dowling.   Weather was suitably wintry, with big, fluffy snowflakes covering the riders’ coats and helmets as they made the walk from the indoor mounting area to the indoor show ring.

The final show of the 2009-2010 Tournament of Champions series will be the Winter Classic, January 30, 2010 at the University of Mary Washington,

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS TOP 5 SERIES LEADERS:

Virginia Tech             48 points

Centenary                  43

Virginia Intermont     39

Complete class placings and photos available upon request.

For questions or additional info, contact Jim Arrigon at 513/839-5607 or jimarrigon@hotmail.com

 VIRGINIA TECH WINS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS PRESEASON CLASSIC, Roanoke VA, Sept '09

Brett Flower, Kim Escobar, Paige Messick, Katie Hanley, Megan Ebling, Anna Norwood, Coach Sherri West

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS is a non-sanctioned exhibition series in the team tournament format of the IHSA Collegiate Cup competition.  Each team brings one rider in each of the 8 IHSA class divisions, all riding for team points against the best 8 riders from the best teams we can get to attend, usually a wide variety of top teams from all across the country. 

      Coaches have found there is no better experience - no other way to get this level of compeition, other than Nationals - for their riders than the tournaments.  We can make the arguement that we're even more competitive than Nationals, because often the best teams in the nation eliminate each other in the process of getting to Nationals.  We invite the top Regional and Zone Champions, but we can also invite the top 2nd and 3rd place teams from the best areas of the country where those teams are sometimes better than some teams that make it to Nationals. 

       Best of all, since this is a non-sanctioned IHSA compeition, riders don't earn IHSA points, so it is the perfect way to get riders top level experience while holding them back from ponting out to the next level.

       There is a team champion for each show - with a lot of media attention in the horse magazines and websites - but more importantly, the points accumulate for the series each year.  

       There is also an individual Medal class at each tournament, with top riders from attending teams, as well as top riders from other teams across the country.  We also accept top alumni for the medal class as well.  Medal is held in a format of flat first, then top half of riders caled back for fences, and top entries return for testing. 

       Teams interested in attending or hosting a Tournament should contact JimArrigon@hotmail.com.  

PreSeason Classic is always held in late September.  It is the smallest of the Tournaments, because many teams are not organized enough to get together for it.  We usually have somewhere between 16 and 20 teams, and about 24 Medal riders for the PreSeason Classic.  Recent hosts include Mount Holyoke Colege in Massachusetts in 2008, St. Andrews Presbytarian College in 2007, Hollins University in Virginia in 2006.  Other hosts traditionally have been UConn, Virginia Intermont, Purdue, etc.

Holiday Tournament of Champions  is the granddaddy of them all - established in 1990 - and has grown to be what coaches call "Winter Nationals".  We generally have about 24 to 26 of the top teams in the nation, along with 36 of the best open riders and former collegiate champions.  It's BRUTAL!  Winners from the Holiday Tournament are generally amongst the tops at Nationals later in the year.It is always held the first full weekend of December.   Recent hosts include Lake Erie College in Ohio in 2008, Centenary College in New Jersey in 2007, Cazenovia College in New York in 2006, and previously St. Andrews, Findlay, Morehead State, Midway College, etc. 

Winter Classic  is a new project just the past few years.  Similar in format to the Preseason Classic, if is held in late January in a southern location.  University of Georgia hosted the first Winter Classic in 2007, and 2008 Winter Classic was at Chatham Hall boarding school in Virginia, hosted by UNC Charlotte.  We couldn't find a date/location in 2009.  Teams interested in hosting should contact Jim. 

Spring Break Classic  was an annual event for nearly a decade, hosted by New Mexico State University and West Texas A&M University in the late '90's till about 2004.   Teams willing to host should contact Jim.

UPCOMING SHOWS

• 2009 Preseason Classic -   September 26, Hollins University, Roanoke, Virginia.  
• 2009 Holiday Tournament - December 5, Centenary College, Hackettstown, New Jersey.
• 2010 Winter Classic -                   January 30, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA
• 2010 Preseason Classic,      September 26, Goucher College, Baltimore MD
• 2010 Holiday Tournament,   December 4, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia
•                           

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP

2009-2010

WINTER CLASSIC at

University of Mary Washington

Fredericksburg, Virginia

January 30, 2010

DEL VAL WINS! 

Whether they went home winners or losers, every team at the 2010 Tournament of Champions Winter Classic can claim to have taken part in one of the most memorable and historic of two decades of Tourname

Click Here for full story and photos.

PRESEASON CLASSIC at Hollins University, September 2009 

As reported by Rebecca Morehouse Hall

While the weather was horrid on Saturday, Sunday became sunny

and a perfect show day for one of the most smoothly run horse

shows I’ve ever attended, as either a spectator or competitor...

CLICK for the full story.

Hollins Univeristy's Katie Furches wins the T of C Medal, Sept. '09.

MAKING ROOM AT THE TOP –

VIRGINIA TECH WINS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS PRESEASON CLASSIC

     It’s become a routine in college riding…  It’s PreSeason Classic time, which means a new beginning for everyone, an equal chance for every team to be champions in the new season.  In reality, we have to go back five years to find a time when the PreSeason Classic was not won by either Mount Holyoke

or Virginia Intermont - that also has become routine.  CLICK  for full story.