EMORY, Va. – The spring 2020 season of intercollegiate athletics is one that most certainly will be remembered. Unfortunately, it will not be the excitement of competition, the camaraderie between teammates that leads to lifelong friendships or the pride which comes from representing one's school that will be remembered. The memory will be that the season was cut short. Cut short by a thing so small, but one that has made a huge impact on our world as we know it.
The Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics will take pause over the next four weeks to reflect on these uncompleted spring seasons and look at what was, what might have been and what will be going forward. Some sports were in the middle of their seasons on Friday, March 13 when play was suspended. Others had barely gotten started.
Today, we continue our review with the Intermont Equestrian teams, who posted regional championships in both dressage and hunter/jumper competition.
"Both the IDA and IHSA teams had completed their regular seasons as regional champions," commented, Lisa Moosmueller-Terry, IDA Coach and Director of the Equestrian Center. "The IHSA Team was heading to Zones with a strong group of riders including many from last year's National Championship Team. They were poised to continue on to the National Finals in Syracuse, New York to defend the Championship. The IDA Team was headed to South Hadley, Massachusetts for the National Championships with a very strong team and a good chance to bring home some hardware. We are proud of our student-athletes and know that they would have had great rides at the Championships in both disciplines. We look forward to having our teams back on campus and will greatly miss our seniors, but we know they will make us proud and make a difference!"
Intercollegiate Dressage Association
The seven-time national champion IDA Team continued its unblemished dominance of Region H, winning their 20th consecutive team title and once again qualifying for IDA Nationals. E&H posted a trio of show wins and took three reserve-champion finishes on their way to the season championship. The Wasps earned five major show awards on the year with sophomores Allison Inggs (Mount Edgecomb, SOUTH AFRICA) and Sofia Inchausti (Bloomsbury, N.J.) taking two each.
Junior Delaney Dunne (Kingsport, Tenn.) was named Region Champion in the Upper Training Level while Inchausti won the Lower Training Level. With their blue ribbons, the pair also earned a spot to the IDA National Championship to ride on "individual day".
In First Level competition, senior Bobbie Jo Adsit (Montpelier, Va.) was the Reserve Region Champion while sophomore Becca Pagnini (Beaverdam, Va.) took Region Reserve Champion honors in the Introductory Level. These two riders would have been placed into "wild card" consideration along with the other reserve champions from the rest of the country for the final individual spots at nationals.
The IDA National Championship was to have taken place from Thursday, April 23 to Sunday, April 26 at the Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
"The Intermont Equestrian program helped give me opportunities I would not otherwise been able to have," said Adsit. "The success I experienced is largely due to the hard work (IHSA Coach) Heather (Richardson) and IDA Coach Lisa (Moosmueller-Terry) put into me over the last four years. I have watched myself mature over my time at Emory into a strong woman that will serve me well as I take a leadership position professionally in the horse industry. The IHSA & IDA Teams supported me in times when I had no one else, and for that I am eternally thankful. Their support system over the last four years was also a part of my success."
Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association
The defending national-champion IHSA Team won five of its nine shows and finished second in the other four en route to its third Zone 4-Region 5 Championship in four years. Adsit was named High-Point Open Rider of the Year and a Z4-R5 Cacchione Cup qualifier for her success over the course of the season. She earned three High-Point Rider of the Day honors and was the Reserve Champion in Open Over Fences at the Z4-R5 Finals.
Emory & Henry had seven riders compete a total of eight times at the Region Finals with five, including Adsit, qualifying for the Zone 4 Finals. Senior Kira Boerst (Seymour, Wis.) and sophomore Abby McCoy (Cogan Station, Pa.) went 1-2 in Intermediate Over Fences to earn qualification. In Limit competition, senior Gwenyth Stromdahl (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) won on the Flat while sophomore Josie Sumner (Hampshire, Ill.) was the champion Over Fences. Sophomore Brinley Thomas (Farmville, Va.) won at Introductory while Pagnini was one place away from reaching Zones in Novice, finishing third.
The Zone 4 Finals would have been held on Saturday, April 6 at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The IHSA National Finals would have taken place from Thursday, April 30 through Sunday, May 3 at the New York State Fair Exposition Center in Syracuse, New York.
"My time with Intermont Equestrian was the best four years of my life," said senior Emily Trice. "The lessons I learned from Heather, Lisa and (Assistant Coach) Jess (Denniston) in and out of the arena I will carry with me throughout my entire career. Being on the IHSA & IDA Teams created friendships I know I will have for life. I will be forever grateful for the experiences I got to have because of the team. The equine studies program at Emory & Henry is unparalleled to any other program and helped to shape me into the rider I am today. thank you is not enough."
The Seniors
Additionally, the Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics wishes to honor seniors whose seasons were unexpectedly cut short this spring by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Bobbie Jo Adsit
Bobbie Jo is a native of Montpelier, Virginia and a graduate of Patrick Henry High School (Ashland). A member of both the IDA and IHSA Teams, she has had an outstanding career in the ring, representing Intermont Equestrian on the national stage seven times and earning multiple champion and reserve champion honors at the Region, Zone and National level for both IDA and IHSA. She has also been recognized as High-Point Rider of the Day 11 times during her career for regular-season shows. Bobbie Jo was the 2019-20 Zone 4-Region 5 High-Point Rider of the Year and set to compete in the Zone 4 Finals for the Cacchione Cup. An equine studies major, Bobbie Jo has already accepted a position as an assistant trainer at Shadow Pond Stables.
Kira Boerst
Kira is a native of Seymour, Wisconsin and a graduate of Seymour High School. A member of the IHSA Team, she was the 2020 Zone 4-Region 5 Champion at Intermediate Over Fences. An international business major with a minor in Spanish, Kira is also a member of the Phi Eta Sigma honor society and the Spanish Club. She plans to either move abroad, work domestically in business or to go into the horse industry.
Maddie Bonner
Maddie is a native of Powhatan, Virginia and a graduate of Powhatan High School. A member of both the IDA and IHSA Teams, Maddie was the Region H Reserve Champion in Upper Training DSE this year. She has also represented Intermont Equestrian at the Zone 4 Championships for IHSA. An equine studies major and a student-worker in the E&H strength & conditioning department, Maddie will be working for Milestone Farm as a rider and groom and would like to manage a farm of her own in the future.
Cara Brooks
Cara is a native of Suwanee, Georgia and a graduate of North Gwinnett High School. A member of the IHSA Team, Cara finished in third place at the Zone 4-Region 5 Championships at Novice in 2019. She is the sports editor for The Whitetopper, has worked in the Athletics Communications Office and is the vice president of the E&H Fly Fishing Club. A mass communications major with a minor in business, Cara plans to get a job in either marketing & communications or magazine journalism.
Carley Gunnell
Carley is a native of Haymarket, Virginia and a graduate of Battlefield High School. She is a four-year member of the IHSA Team. A biology major with a minor in mammalian management, she is also a member of the Beta Beta Beta biology honor society. Following graduation, she plans to attend graduate school and work in wildlife conservation.
Emily Johnston
Emily is a native of Gloucester, Virginia and a graduate of Gloucester High School. A member of both the IDA and IHSA Teams, Emily was the 2016-17 Region H Reserve Champion at the Introductory Level and represented E&H at the 2017 IDA National Championships, placing fifth as an individual. Emily is a biology major and a member of the Beta Beta Beta biology honor society and the Sigma Upsilon Nu sorority. She is also a ROTC Cadet through E&H's agreement with ETSU and will be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army following her graduation.
Madison McKinsey
Madison is a native of Waynesboro, Virginia and a graduate of Robert E. Lee High School. A member of the IHSA Team, she helped lead E&H to an eighth-place finish at the IHSA National Finals in 2017 and also finished fourth at the Zone 4-Region 5 Finals in Intermediate Over Fences in 2018. A biology major with a minor in chemistry, Madison is also a member of the Beta Beta Beta biology honor society, the Blue Key National Honor Society, the E&H Honors Program, the Delta Omicron Pi sorority and is a sweetheart for the Dom-I-Necher fraternity. She will be attending the College of William & Mary to pursue her master's degree in biology.
Taylor McMichael
Taylor is a native of Lexington, Virginia and a graduate of Rockbridge County High School. A member of the IHSA Team, Taylor was the 2017 Zone 4-Region 5 Champion at Introductory and also competed at the Zone 4 Finals. She has also been a member of the E&H cheerleading squad, the Phi Eta Sigma honor society the Blue Key National Honor Society and the Kappa Phi Alpha sorority. A mathematics education major with a minor in equestrian studies, Taylor will complete her master's degree in education from Emory & Henry in December and plans to teach middle school.
Gwenyth Stromdahl
Gwenyth is a native of Fernandina Beach, Florida and a graduate of Fernandina Beach High School. A two-year member of the IDA and IHSA Teams, she spent two years at the University of Findlay prior to transferring to Emory & Henry. While with Intermont, she won the 2019 Region H Championship and IDA National Championship in Lower Training DSE and was the 2020 Region H Champion in Upper Training DSE. She also won the IHSA Zone 4-Region 5 Championship at Limit on the Flat. Gwenyth is an equine studies major and a student-worker in the E&H strength & conditioning department and plans to work in the horse industry following graduation.
Emily Trice
Emily is a native of Gainesville, Georgia and a graduate of North Hall High School. A member of both the IDA and IHSA Teams, Emily finished in sixth place in both Limit Over Fences and Limit on the Flat at the Zone 4-Region 5 Finals in 2019. She has been the social media coordinator and sports information liaison for Intermont Equestrian for the past two years, and was named "Most Detailed Social Media Ambassador" by the Intercollegiate Dressage Association for 2019-20. An equine studies major and a member of the E&H Honors Program, Emily is currently choosing between several offers to continue her riding career professionally.