Fink Earns Blue Ribbon in Novice Flat at Winter Classic
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Goucher competed at today's Winter Classic Tournament of Champions, earning a team score of 17 points to finish in ninth place among the 20 teams which represented 17 of the top riding programs in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
Only Four Teams Finish Ahead of Goucher in Annual Series
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Goucher competed at today's Winter Classic Tournament of Champions, earning a team score of 17 points to finish in ninth place among the 20 teams which represented 17 of the top riding programs in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
The Tournament of Champions is a non-sanctioned exhibition series where each of the three annual events — the Preseason Classic in September, the Holiday Classic in December and this month's Winter Classic — are structured like an IHSA riding show.
The high point team at today's event was Mt. Holyoke with a score of 42 points. Virginia Intermont entered two teams and one placed second with 33 points and the other third with 32. Delaware Valley and Virginia Tech shared fourth place with 27 points apiece; St. Andrews Presbyterian and Cornell tied for sixth place by scoring 21 points apiece.
Lynchburg took eighth place with a score of 20 points, and right behind Goucher in a tie for 10th place were Lafayette and Penn St. with 15 points apiece.
Karli Postel (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian School) returned from the competition with a red ribbon for placing second in open equitation over fences.
Joey Fink (Pikesville, Md./The Park School) represented Goucher in the novice division and placed first in the flat phase and sixth in jumping. Addie Jabin (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) was awarded fifth place in the flat phase and sixth in the jump phase of the intermediate division.
Callie Hodge (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) placed sixth in advanced walk-trot-canter equitation.
Even though director Patte Zumbrun's riders attended only the Holiday Classic and the Winter Classic, Goucher was still able to finish fifth overall in the 2011-12 Tournament of Champions Series with 45 points. The four teams ahead of Goucher were Mt. Holyoke in first (77 points), Virginia Intermont in second (61), Delaware Valley in third (58) and Virginia Tech in fourth (47).