Morton-Jackson Tandem Leads Goucher Equestrian's Good Showing At IHSA Maryland/American Show

GAITHERSBURG, Md. – Courtney Morton (Clarksburg, Md./Clarksburg) was named High Point Rider and Cole Jackson (Denver, Colo./East) nabbed Reserve High Point Rider after both riders won two event to help Goucher College finish in a first-place tie at the Maryland/American IHSA Show over the weekend.

Morton won open flat and open fences while Jackson took first in limit flat and limit fences. There were four riders that won both of their classes to force a horsemanship question to break the deadlock. Morton earned the most points to earn the status of High Point Rider and Jackson was second to take home Reserve High Point Rider on Saturday.

Cherise Madrid (Braintree, Mass./Braintree), who won the national championship in walk trot last year, finished first in novice flat to qualify for the IHSA Zone IV Region I Championships in the spring.

Morton then finished second in. the open flat and the open fences to qualify for regionals and Jackson was first in the limit flat to also qualify for regionals on Sunday.

Courtney Sloan (Annandale, Va./W.T. Woodson), who qualified for the regional championships earlier this year, finished first in open flat and third in open fences. The senior finished fourth in open fences on Sunday.

Noelle Gulley (Eldersburg, Md./Century) (intermediate fences), Celeste Fazioli (Seabrook, Texas/Clear Falls) (limit flat), Makaylin Shoop (Davidsonville, Md./South River) (limit flat), Anna Wright (New Hope, Pa./New Hope Solebury) (limit flat) and Flannery Supplee (Monkton, Md./Hereford) (pre-novice flat) each won their classes.

Shoop and Jackson were the only riders to win an event both days after Shoop was first in the limit fences on Sunday. Sydney Smith (Falls Church, Va./George Mason HS) (limit flat), Lexi Mason (Lothian, Md./Southern) (novice flat) and Eunoh Lee (Seoul, South Korea/South Kent) (introductory flat) also picked up wins on the second day.

Halle Taylor (Dakar, Senegal/International School of Dakar) finished second in the limit fences one day after finishing third in the limit flat. Emily Fewester (Towson, Md./Carver Center for Arts and Tech) (intermediate flat), Sarah Schultheis (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) (limit flat) and Elizabeth Sheehy (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz)  (pre-novice flat) finished second in a class on Sunday.

Also on Saturday, Lucas Terry (Portland, Ore./Grant) was fourth in introductory flat and Victoria Wheeler (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (intermediate flat) and Isabella Marini (Taunton, Mass./Liberal Arts and Science Academy) (novice flat) each recorded a fifth-place standing.

Also on Sunday, Marini was third in the novice flat, Wright was third in limit flat while Gulley was fourth intermediate fences.

The Gophers tied Georgetown for the top spot on Saturday with 45 points and finished second by one point to George Washington on Sunday with 43 points.

Goucher leads the IHSA Zone IV Region I Standings after the fall slate with 247 points, 27 points ahead of George Washington (220) while George Mason (211), Maryland (184), Towson (175) and Georgetown (172) round out the Top-6 teams.

IHSA competition is broken up into five categories based on experience. The Open division has the most experienced rider, while intermediate is No. 2, limit is No. 3, novice is No. 4 and introductory equitation is No. 5. The top three categories include two sub-sections; the "flat" which is a pattern that does not include jumping, and a fences section. In addition, when teams are on the road they are using the horses at the home stable. The riders are judged on their ability to adapt, communicate, and perform with an unfamiliar horse. If you are familiar with equestrian terms and not a novice to the sport, IHSA changed the names for the classes of the bottom three classes over summer (walk trot was switched to introductory equitation, walk trot canter became novice and novice became limit). With these changes, senior Cherise Madrid is the last person to earn a national championship in the classification of walk trot in 2019. 

Goucher will have one more event this semester when the team travels to the Holiday Classic Tournament of Champions on December 6-7.