Gophers Rise Above All Challengers at Winter Classic II

COOLVILLE, Ohio — Goucher's riders capped off the IHSA's 2015-16 Tournament of Champions series with a first-place finish at the Winter Classic II at Stonegate Farm this afternoon.

The Gophers, who placed no higher than eighth at either of the first two events in this year's series, earned a score of 40 points today. Savannah Art & Design also finished with 40 points, but the tie was broken in favor of head coach Jen Bunty's squad by the number of blue ribbons each team was awarded: Goucher came home with four blue ribbons, twice as many as SCAD.

Ohio State placed third with 36 points, followed by Penn State in fourth (30 points), Mt Holyoke in fifth (29), Virginia Tech in sixth (27) and Emory & Henry in seventh (26).

The 40 points also left Goucher with a final series score of 63 points, good for second place overall. SCAD tallied 42 points at the Holiday Tournament of Champions and finished the series with 82.

Second place is Goucher's best showing ever in the Tournament of Champions, which is a non-sanctioned exhibition series structured like an IHSA riding show.

Mt. Holyoke was four points behind Goucher in third place with a score of 59 points. Penn State was fourth (58 points), Randolph was fifth (49), Delaware Valley was sixth (48) and Centenary (N.J.) was seventh (46).

The four riders who claimed blue ribbons and picked up seven points for Goucher today were Cary Hundley (Ellicott City, Md./Marriotts Ridge) in open equitation on the flat, Clea Lerner (Los Angeles, Calif./Renaissance Arts Academy) in novice flat, Sarah Lummis (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) in walk-trot-canter equitation, and Ari Schlossberg (Barrington, Ill./Barrington Community) in walk-trot.

Anna Carmichael (Colorado Springs, Colo./William J. Palmer) added five points to Goucher's total with her second-place performance in intermediate flat.

Kaduk Sherpa (East Aurora, N.Y./The Park School of Buffalo) was awarded third place in novice equitatio over fences and Ashley Bent (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area) was fourth in open fences.

Hundley and Bent also competed in the Tournament of Champions medal class, an extra event designated for open class riders, and finished fourth and sixth, respectively.

Up next for the Gophers is a IHSA Zone IV, Region I riding show at The Other Left Farm in Oatland, Md. on February 13.