Sweet Briar College’s Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team lost its leader and a great mentor when head coach Jon Conyers died in November after battling cancer. Then-assistant coach Emily Casali took over the team, and she and her Vixens rode their way to their first regional championship since 2006.

Conyers, who just last year received the IHSA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, seemed to be on everyone’s minds at the final regular-season show on Sunday, Casali said. Coaches from other schools congratulated the team and told Casali the win was a great way to memorialize him, she said.

Paige Kaylor and Meredith Newman tied for the reserve high-point rider at the Hollins show.The weekend of Feb. 21 and 22 was the last opportunity for Zone 4, Region 2 IHSA teams to accumulate points toward their season totals, with horse shows at Hollins University on Saturday and the University of Virginia on Sunday.

Sweet Briar entered the weekend one point behind region leader Bridgewater College and only two points ahead of Hollins. Both horse shows allowed only one rider per class to enter, resulting in undivided and therefore bigger and more competitive classes.

The Hollins show started off strong for the Vixens with a win in the Open Fences class from senior Meredith Newman. The win guaranteed Newman a spot in Open Fences at the regional post-season show. Greer Gordon ’12 followed with a fifth-place in Intermediate Fences. Paige Kaylor ’10 was third in Novice Fences – exactly what she needed to qualify for regionals in the class.

Gordon competed again, winning a third in Novice Flat. Newman also made another appearance in Open Flat, winning the third-place ribbon. Kaylor followed with a win in Intermediate Flat. This assured Newman and Kaylor a tie for reserve high-point rider of the day behind Randolph College’s Ashley Lovegrove.

Walk, Trot, Canter was won by first-year Emma Rakosky, who is now four for four in this class, having won every class she has entered. The day finished with a third-place from junior Alysha Norbury in Walk, Trot.

Sweet Briar’s point total stood at 35, guaranteeing them the high-point team ribbon for the day with Randolph College in second with 28 points. Hollins finished the day with 23 points and Bridgewater with 16. This moved the Vixens back into the top spot in the region, this time leading by 13 points.

The region showed again on Sunday morning at the University of Virginia’s home barn, the Barracks in Charlottesville. Sweet Briar struggled in the final regular-season show, totaling 21 points for the day. Sixth-place ribbons were won by Norbury in Walk, Trot and Gordon in Novice Flat.

Kaylor won Intermediate Flat, qualifying her for regional finals in that class as well as Novice Fences. Kaylor also was fifth in her debut in Intermediate Fences. Newman was second in Open Flat and Open Fences, putting her in the reserve high-point spot again behind Randolph’s Lovegrove.

Despite a weaker than usual performance, the Vixens kept an eight-point lead over Hollins, which moved up to second place past Bridgewater.

The regional point standings are as follows:

Sweet Briar College, champion team, 284 points
Hollins University, reserve champion team, 276 points
Bridgewater College, third place, 266 points
University of Virginia, fourth place, 251 points
Randolph Colleg, fifth place, 244 points
James Madison University, sixth place, 240 points

Sweet Briar will advance a team of riders to compete for the Collegiate Cup in Zone 4 on April 5 against Region 1 champion University of Mary Washington and Virginia Intermont College, who won Region 3. UMW will host the show in Fredericksburg. The top two teams from that competition will advance a team to the national IHSA championship in Murfreesboro, Tenn., later in April.

In Region 2, Hollins has won the regional championship nine out of the past 10 years, losing once to Bridgewater College. Sweet Briar was regional champion in 2006, although it was competing in a different region at the time. The Vixens went to the nationals that year, placing third.

Senior Open riders Newman and Alison Sims finished this year among the top Open riders in the region, in third and fifth place respectively.

The IHSA post season began Sunday afternoon, also at the Barracks in Charlottesville, with regional competition for individual riders. Sweet Briar was represented by four riders competing in five classes. Each had earned a spot by finishing among the top three in their classes.

Newman and Sims competed in Open Fences, Kaylor in Intermediate Flat and Novice Fences, and Heather McPheeters ’10 in Intermediate Fences. After these classes ran, Sweet Briar emerged with two individuals advancing to the zone competition, Sims who placed third in Open Fences and Kaylor, who was second in Intermediate Flat.

Sweet Briar’s IHSA team is shown with the regional trophy. From left are Meredith Newman, Townsend Horvath, Michelle Karpaitis, Alysha Norbury, head coach Emily Casali, Greer Gordon, Paige Kaylor, Heather McPheeters and Alison Sims.