The Centenary IHSA team remains undefeated for the first time in years, winning all six of their horse shows with 244 points. State University of New York—New Paltz (SUNY) is in second in the High Point Team standings with 164 points and the United States Military Academy (USMA) is hot on their heels with 154 points. Centenary senior Cori Reich is leading the Cacchione Cup standings with 74 points and senior Kelsey Bernini is in second with 69 points. Centenary had a High Point Rider at all six shows and had a Reserve High Point Rider at five shows. Centenary coaches Michael Dowling and Heather Clark are excited about the 78-member team and have high hopes for all of them in the spring semester. Centenary will be hosting the IHSA Zone 3, Region 3 Regionals on March 9, 2013.
“We have good captains, officers, and a good team this year,” said Clark. “All the kids are active and they’ve impressed me since day one. The upperclassmen have to be role models for the underclassmen and they’ve done a great job so far this year.”
The team hosted two home shows at the Equine Center and the first Zone 3 Holiday Invitational on December 1st. The Invitational was designed to promote camaraderie between the IHSA teams in Zone 3. The classes were divided up into an Individual and Team class for each division. Riders qualified by earning the most points in their division over the fall semester. The top rider earned a spot on the Region All Star team and the second and third place riders were placed into the Individual classes. The Region 3 team was victorious, which was comprised of 5 Centenary riders, 2 Marist College riders, and 1 USMA rider. Region 2 was the Reserve Champion, Region 1 was third, and Region 4 was fourth.
Photo: (photo credit: Katie St. Cyr) The Region 3 All-Star Team: (l-r) Marist coach Clare Knapp, William Patterson coach Hayley Rooney, Centenary coach Heather Clark, Centenary riders Cody Wooten, Anthony DeSimone, Kelsey Bernini, Cori Reich, Shelby Cashman, Marist College riders Kim Koenig and Cassie Yettru, USMA rider Thomas Milligan, USMA coach Sherry Cashman, Sarah Lawrence coach Lori Rakoczy, and Centenary coach Michael Dowling.