Jackson Powers Goucher Equestrian At IHSA George Mason/George Washington Show

HERNDON, Va. – Cole Jackson (Denver, Colo./East) won three events including two on Sunday to earn High Point Rider for the Goucher College equestrian team at the IHSA George Mason/George Washington Show over the weekend. The team had 12 first-place finishes in the two days including seven on Sunday.

Jackson finished first in the limit fences and fourth in limit flat to help the Gophers to a second-place standing on Saturday and then won both the limit flat and limit fences on Sunday to earn High Point Rider while Goucher won the team competition on the final day and extended its IHSA Zone IV Region I lead to 10 points.

Anna Wright (New Hope, Pa./New Hope Solebury) was also a two-time winner on the weekend after finishing first in the limit flat each day.

Courtney Sloan (Annandale, Va./W.T. Woodson) (open flat), Sydney Smith (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) (limit flat) and Eunoh Lee (Seoul, South Korea/South Kent) (introductory flat) also took home victories on Saturday while Nicole Gulley (Eldersburg, Md./Century) (intermediate fences), Adeline Callihan (Keane, N.H./Making Community Connections Charter) (novice flat), Isabella Marini (Taunton, Mass./Liberal Arts and Science Academy) (pre-novice flat) and Lucas Terry (Portland, Ore./Grant) (pre-novice flat) won an event on Sunday.

Sloan also finished fourth in the open fences on the first day and fifth on the second day while Gulley was third in both the intermediate fences and limit flat on Saturday and third in the limit flat on Sunday.

Also on the first day, Courtney Morton (Clarksburg, Md./Clarksburg) was second in both the open flat and open fences while Mia Dimson (Los Angeles, Calif./Chadwick) placed second in intermediate fences and Victoria Wheeler (Kennelon, N.J./Kennelon) was second in the intermediate flat. Elizabeth Sheehy (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) finished third in pre-novice flat while Sarah Schultheis (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) (limit fences) and Cherise Madrid (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) (novice flat) each had a fourth-place standing.

Also on Sunday, Morton finished second in the open flat while Wheeler (intermediate flat), Shulthesis (limit flat) and Lexi Mason (Lothian, Md./Southern) (novice flat) all recorded second-place finishes. Celeste Fazioli (Seabrook, Texas/Clear Falls) was third in limit flat and Madrid finished fourth in novice flat.

George Washington won the first day with 39 points while Goucher, Georgetown and George Mason all finished tied for second with 33 points. The Gophers won the event on Sunday with 45 points while George Washington (38 points) and Maryland (37 points) finished in the next two spots.

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 returns to action at the Maryland/American IHSA Show on Saturday and Sunday at The Other Left Farm in Gaithersburg, Md.