Stonehill Finishes Second in Region 4


Lorusso

Skyhawks place third at Brandeis, second at Boston College show

EASTON, Mass. (March 29, 2011) – The Stonehill College equestrian team finished second in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Zone 1, Region 4 standings and won't qualify for the Zone Championships after placing third and second at a pair of shows hosted by Brandeis University and Boston College, respectively.

Stonehill finishes behind Tufts University in the Region 4 standings by just three points after placing third behind the Jumbos and Brandeis on Saturday and then finished second to Tufts at BC on Sunday. It marks just the second time in ten years the team has not qualified for zones as a team.

On Saturday at Brandeis, sophomore Cassandra Lorusso (Wrentham, Mass./Dana Hall School) was reserve high point rider with her first place finish in open equitation over fences to go with a second place finish in open equitation on the flat.

Junior Rebecca Rossi (Cranston, R.I./Bay View Academy) qualified for regionals after winning her novice flat class, while sophomore Martina Tramontozzi (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) won her novice fences class to also qualify for regionals.

At Boston College on Sunday, senior co-captain Kayla Schneider (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) led Stonehill by placing first in her open fences class, while classmate and co-captain Kate Perez (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) qualified for regionals with a first place finish in her novice flat class.

Junior Christine Dwyer (Park City, Utah/Kentucky Country Day) and freshman Kristen Stachnik (Westhampton, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) both collected first place ribbons for their intermediate fences class. Junior Lexi Keller (South Burlington, Vt./Stoneleigh-Burnham School) rounded out the Skyhawks first place finishers with her top place in her novice fences class.

Stonehill will be back in action when its regional qualifiers take part in the IHSA Zone 1, Region 4, Championships, hosted by Boston University, at Holly Hill Show Stables in Hanover, Mass., starting at 9 a.m.

Stonehill's Regional qualifiers are:

Kayla Schneider – open flat and fences

Cassandra Lorusso – open fences

Sophomore Alexandra Fenner (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) – walk-trot-canter

Senior Alisha Wielgozinski (Amherst, N.H./Brewster Academy) – walk-trot-canter

Senior Diana Cabral (West Bridgewater, Mass./West Bridgewater) – novice flat and fences

Kate Perez – novice flat

Rebecca Rossi – novice flat

Martina Tramontozzi – novice fences