Just when we thought SCAD had peaked… They had won six consecutive Tournament of Champions events over the course of a year-and-a-half. They had won three of the last four Tournament High Medals, and seven of the last ten Low Medals. They were on a roll… we thought…
SCAD won their seventh straight Tournament on December 7, 2019, hosted by Penn State at The Grier School in central Pennsylvania. SCAD’s Adam Edgar won both the open classes and the High Medal – his second; Brady Martino won both Limit classes and the Low Medal – his FIFTH, which is an all-time Tournament record. But the big story was that SCAD scored a team total of 54 points out of a possible 56 – one second-place ribbon short of a perfect score. The SCAD score was the highest team score in the 28-year history of the Tournament of Champions Series. The previous high was SCAD’s 49 at 2017 Preseason Classic at Randolph College, then Centenary’s 46 in 2016 at the Holiday Tournament at Centenary. SCAD has four prior Holiday Tournament of Champions titles with previous wins in 2018, 2017 and 2014.
Other outstanding riders included Penn State’s Julianna Empie, Reserve Champion in the High Medal; and also SCAD’s Karyn Armstead, who was Reserve Champion in the Low Medal. Mount Holyoke’s Sara Hearn won the other section of Open Fences to start the show.
Miami had a strong start, with a 2nd and 1st in the first two classes – Open and Intermediate fences – to mount the only real challenge to SCAD early in the day. Seton Hill also started strong, and Mount Holyoke was excellent as usual, with three blue ribbons to claim the Reserve Champion spot. SCAD was one of two teams to score points in every class, with an unbelievable seven blues and a red. Goucher also got a ribbon in every class. Penn State and Goucher were the only other teams to win more than a single blue ribbon, with two apiece.
In the Equestrian Talent Search Medal, outstanding high school aged riders competed for prizes and the attention of college coaches. They also had the opportunity to work with the coach of their choice for the day. The winner of ETS Medal was Lindsay Shaw, senior at The Grier School, working with the Otterbein University coaches.
The judge was Creigh Duncan, USEF R, from Princeton, New Jersey.
Team Results:
Champion – SCAD – Savannah, GA – 54 pts
Reserve Champion – Mount Holyoke College – South Hadley, MA – 36
3 – Goucher College – Baltimore, MD – 29
4 – Penn State University – Team Blue – State College, PA – 28
5 – Delaware Valley University – Doylestown, PA – 26
6 – Miami University – Team Red Oxford, OH – 25
7 – University of Massachusetts – Amherst, MA – 24
8 – Penn State University – Team White – 22 – won tie breaker
9 – Miami University – Team White – 22
10 – Sacred Heart University – Fairfield, CT – 18 – won tie breaker
11 – Lake Erie College – Painesville, OH – 18
12 – Seton Hill University – Greensburg, PA – 15
13 – Rutgers University – New Brunswick, NJ – 9
14 – University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI – 7- won tie breaker
15 – Dickinson College – Carlisle, PA – 7
16 – University of Delaware – Newark, DE – 6
16 – Otterbein University – Westerville, OH – 6
Tournament of Champions Collegiate High Medal:
Champion- Adam Edgar – SCAD
Reserve Champion – Julianna Empie – Penn State University
3 – Sara Hearn – Mt. Holyoke College
4 – Emily Kowit – Otterbein University
5 – Nicole Lindquist – Lake Erie College
6- Melissa Kay – University of Delaware
7 – Carly Alder – SCAD
8 – Courtney Sloan – Goucher College
9 – Fiona Brock – Miami University
10 – Tess Von Hemel – Miami University
The Tournament’s 28th Annual season will continue January 25, 2020 at SCAD Equestrian Center near Savannah. The season finale will be March 14 at University of Findlay in Ohio.
Questions concerning the Tournament should be addressed to Tournament Director Jim Arrigon at jimarrigon@hotmail.com.
All photo credits to Jim Arrigon.
Tournament of Champions Collegiate Low Medal:
Champion – Brady Martino – SCAD
Reserve Champion -Karyn Armstead – SCAD
3 – Hannah Belich – Lake Erie College
4- Alyssa Kinney – Sacred Heart University
5 – Ally Kirk – Penn State University
6 – Abigail Moller – University of Massachusetts
7- Sierra Dunn – Mt. Holyoke College
8- Madison Theodore – Miami University
9- Sofia Priller – Otterbein University
10 – Abigail Bonita – Delaware Valley University
ETS (High School) Medal Challege
Champion: Lindsay Shaw, Newark DE
Res. Champ: Gracie Herman, Easton, PA
3 – Sophia Olivero, Katanah, NY
4 – Cassidy Rein, Raleigh, NC
5 – Halley Moak, Estes Park, CO
6 – Camile Phillips, Lenoir City, TN
7 – Sydney Thompson, Rye, NY
8 – Lilly Fraley, White Haven, PA
2019-20 Tournament Series Leaders – Top 20 (average score to date)
SCAD – Savannah, GA – 43 + 54 = 48.5 average
Mount Holyoke College – South Hadley, MA – 35+ 36 = 35.5
Goucher College – Baltimore, MD – 27 + 29 = 28 average
Penn State University – State College, PA – 28
Delaware Valley University – Doylestown, PA – 26
Roger Williams University – Bristol, RI – 25
Sacred Heart University – Fairfield, CT – 29 + 18 – 23.5
Miami University – Oxford, OH – 22 + 25 = 23.5
University of Massachusetts – Amherst, MA – 20 + 24 = 22
Marist College – Poughkeepsie, NY – 18
Lake Erie College – Painesville, OH – 18
Cornell University – Ithaca, NY – 17
Seton Hill University – Greensburg, PA – 15
Bridgewater College – Team Gold – 12
Rutgers University – New Brunswick, NJ – 9
Mount Holyoke College- Team Yoke – 9
University of Connecticut -Team Husky – 9
Boston University – Boston, MA – 8
Trinity University – Hartford, CT – 6
University of Rhode Island – Kingston, RI – 4
