KUET News and Info

Nationals this year will be held in West Springfield, Massachusetts from May 3-6. Kutztown has 4 riders competing; Freshman Linda Beyer, Sophomore Lauren Casale, and Alumni riders Leah Moyer and Chrystal Coffelt. Congratulations!

K.U.E.T. finished off the show season as the regions Champion Hunt Seat Team, and Reserve Champion Stock Seat Team. Great Job!

K.U.E.T. is currently number one in the region for hunt seat team, and will go into the Spring 2007 semester as the leading force!

Chrystal Coffelt, a Kutztown University MBA candidate and an alumni member of the KUET, recently showcased her 9-year-old Arabian stallion, True Blue Goldmine+++/, in the 2006 AHA Sport Horse National Championships September 20th-24th in Boise, Idaho. For the past 2 years, True Blue Goldmine+++/ has been under the training of Bruce Lachiusa, coach of the KUET. Cierra Danese, a student of Coffelt’s, rode True Blue Goldmine+++ / in the competition, placing third in the nation in equitation.

At the 2006 IHSA National Championships held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA on May 4th-7th, the Kutztown University Equestrian Team distinguished itself as one of a select few, as each KUET rider finished within the top ten of their respective classes-- an unprecedented accomplishment.

Molly Lowman - 9th place, Intermediate Equitation over Fences (6)
Christine Geib - 7th place, Intermediate Western Horsemanship (12)
Chrystal Coffelt - 4th place, Alumni Western Horsemanship (17)
Shari Seidman - 7th place, Alumni Western Horsemanship (17)
Lauren Casale - 10th place, Open Western Horsemanship (15)

Congratulations to the entire KUET for an exceptional 2005-06 performance! Pictures from 2006 IHSA Nationals can be found here.

Congratulations to Megan Lissi! Megan is the 2006 recipient of the Zone 3 Joan "J.J." Johnson Award, offered annually to one rider within each of the nine IHSA Zones. This scholarship prize is awarded to a recipient who has demonstrated superior leadership and dedication to the IHSA.

As the 2005-06 season draws to a close, the Kutztown University Equestrian Team can again look back on a year of accomplishments and success. This year, the KUET fielded its largest team ever, welcoming a talented group of approximately 20 freshmen to the team. Within the hunt seat division, the KUET finished as the highest-ranked PASSHE team, advancing a regional high of 23 rides to the Regional Championships held at Briarwood Farm in New Jersey on April 1^st. Three of these riders (MBA student and KU alumni Chrystal Coffelt, freshman Molly Lowman, and senior Leah Moyer) advanced to the Zone Championships held in Delaware on April 9^th, which determine who has the right to go on to the IHSA National Horse Show. At Zones, Lowman won her class and will be representing Kutztown University in the Intermediate Fences division at Nationals.

Under the stock seat division, the KUET ended an extremely close race finishing as the regional Reserve High Point Team. The KUET is also proud to claim freshman Lauren Casale as the region’s Reserve AQHA High Point Rider of the Year, also the result of a hotly contested competition. Four riders from the KUET will be riding at the National Championships—these are Casale, Coffelt, sophomore Christine Geib, and senior Shari Seidman.

Additionally, Casale was also the recipient of the Newcomer of the Year Award, presented annually by Steve Maxwell, editor-in-chief of the nationwide collegiate equestrian magazine Campus Equestrian. This award was presented at the Regional Banquet held in New Jersey on April 1^st, at which time Coach Bruce Lachiusa was also recognized for his role in the 2005-06 KUET season with the Coach of the Year Award. Drawn from a pool of no less than 11 nominees, Lachiusa received the award as he marks his tenth anniversary as KUET Coach.

In all, the KUET will be sending 5 riders to Nationals, one of the highest numbers of individual qualifiers from any one school in the Zone. The KUET wishes each of these riders the best of luck at the National Championships and looks forward to continuing under the guidance of Coach of the Year Lachiusa during the upcoming 2006-07 season.

Following up on a fantastic job two weeks ago, the KUET again had an excellent day at the second hunt seat show of the spring semester, hosted by Princeton University and Moravian College at Briarwood Farm. Kutztown University finished as Reserve High Point Team, collecting blue ribbons in 11 out of 27 total classes. Of the 5 riders in the ride-off, 2 were from KU, open rider Lauren Casale and novice/intermediate rider Tara Davies. Casale finished the day as High Point Rider. Next up: the KUET stock seat team, tied for first place in the Region, will be traveling to West Virginia this coming weekend for 3 shows, followed by a hunt seat show on Sunday at Passport.

Great job, KUET! Apparently unaffected by a three-month break between shows, the KUET picked up right where it left off last fall at the hunt seat semester opener hosted by Bloomsburg University at Centenary College. When all was said and done, Kutztown University posted a season high 37 points as High Point Team. KUET was also well-represented in the ride-off at the end of the day by captain-elect Lauren Casale, and could claim blue ribbons in 6 out of 26 total classes. Four regular season hunt seat shows remain before Regionals, as the point-spread between the top teams in Region 4 narrows.

President - Christine Geib
Vice President - Caitlin Johnson
Treasurer - Tara Davies
Secretary - Heather Scales
Captains - Lauren Casale and Lindsay Clements
Fundraising Chair - Casey Adkinson

Way to go KUET! On Saturday, November 12th, the KUET stock seat team won Reserve High Point Team at the morning WVU show at the 4T Arena in Fairmont, West Virginia. Later that afternoon, the KUET did one better and could claim not only High Point Rider Lauren Casale, but also High Point Team for the show! Kutztown is now tied for stock seat High Point Team in Regions 1, 3, and 4.

Eight hours after returning home from West Virginia, the KUET hosted its hunt seat show at Passport Farms in Oley, PA. After a long day, the KUET won Reserve High Point Team for the show. A three-way ride-off between KUET riders Megan Lissi, Molly Lowman, and Laura Vandegrift placed Lowman as High Point Rider for the day and Vandegrift as the Reserve High Point Rider.

The KUET hunt seat team finished as the reserve high point team at Centenary College!

Congratulations to the KUET stock seat team for a great job at Spring Valley Farm! The KUET is currently the reserve high point team for the region! Check out pictures from the show here.

Once again, KUET will be hosting its annual team hayride. This year's event will be held at 7 PM on Thursday, October 27th, at the barn, with great food to follow.
BDUs (battle dress uniforms) consisting of eye protection, knee pads, and Kevlar vests are encouraged as usual. Night vision devices, weapon systems, two-way radios, and excessive ammunition are frowned upon. Coordinated attacks, espionage, and ambush sites are also encouraged as usual. Freshmen, this ain't your mama's hayride.

The team has had a fantastic spring season. We finished as the Regional High Point Team in Hunt Seat, and the Regional and Zone High Point Team in Stock Seat. One of our freshmen, Ashley Force was the runner up in the regional Cacchione Cup race. We also had 4 Regional Champions on the flat, and 2 Zone riders going on to Nationals in Tennessee. In all, the KUET will be sending 10 riders to the Championships this spring to compete both as a Team, and individually.

Robert Cacchione visited our region's horse show on October 11th and here pictured is Bruce Lachiusa with Robert Cacchione and Kutztown's high point ribbon.