Gophers Achieve Best Finish Ever at IHSA Nationals

Carmichael Earns Seven Points for First in Novice Fences

HARRISBURG, Pa. — When Anna Carmichael (Colorado Springs, Colo./William J. Palmer) was awarded first place in novice equitation over fences following a five-person ride-off on Thursday, Goucher was in sole possession of first place in the Collegiate Cup Hunter Seat team standings at the 2013 IHSA National Horse Show with seven points.

The Gophers were unable to add to their point total in either of the other two classes conducted Thursday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center. Following the completion of three more classes on Friday, the Goucher riding team's total remained stuck on seven points.

Down to the final two classes before the IHSA crowned its national champion for 2013, Goucher had Karli Postel (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian School) competing today in both open equitation over fences and open equitation on the flat.

Postel was selected as the runner-up in the jumping phase, which netted Goucher five additional points. She added a sixth-place finish in open flat, picking up one more point to bring the team total to 13.

Of the 15 intercollegiate riding programs which took part in the Collegiate Cup, Goucher wound up tied for fifth place with Centenary (N.J.). Skidmore and St. Lawrence were declared co-national champions after both finished with 22 points. Stanford was two points behind in second place.

Also ahead of Goucher in the final team scoring were Savannah Art & Design (18 points) and Mt. Holyoke (17).

The score Carmichael was given for her performance in novice fences put her in third place in the field of 16 competitors, but the judges believed the scores of the top five riders were close enough that they called for a ride-off. Once the five had performed a second time for the judges, Carmichael received the high score of 84 points.

Later Thursday, Carmichael competed in novice flat and Joey Fink (Baltimore, Md./The Park School) finished ninth in intermediate flat.

On Friday, Fink placed 10th overall in intermediate fences. Kaili Janette (New Haven, Conn./Hebrew High School of New England) and Kaduk Sherpa (East Aurora, N.Y./The Park School), were Goucher's entrants in walk-trot and walk-trot-canter, respectively, and both rode on Friday.

Postel placed second behind Flavia D'Urso from Skidmore in today's open fences ride.

Goucher's previous best finish at the IHSA National Horse Show was last year's tie for seventh place when the Gophers earned nine points.

In addition to the team competition, Goucher had two riders competing in individual events at the three-day event. Addie Jabin (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) took third place in intermediate fences and ninth in intermediate flat; Fink came in 10th in novice flat.