Sixteen Riders Compete in Regional Championships

Belinda Wenke

HADLEY, Mass. (Apr. 2, 2011) – Sixteen riders represented Mount Holyoke College today at the Zone 1, Region 3 Regional Championships at Hadley Farms. As a result of their performances at the show, a total of eight Lyons qualified for next weekend's Zone 1 Championships.

In order to advance to the Zone Championships, competitors must have placed either first or second in the respective classes.

Earning first place finishes for Mount Holyoke were senior Lindsay Sceats (open fences), junior Margaret Swanson (intermediate fences), junior Jordan McMullen (novice fences), senior Belinda Wenke (walk-trot), senior Amanda Ross (walk-trot-canter) and first year Alexa Lohrer (open flat).

Swanson (intermediate flat) and seniors JoJo Gutfarb (open fences) and Elizabeth Tripp (open flat) moved on by way of their second place results.

Gutfarb, who had already secured High Point Rider honors for Region 3, cemented her position as Reserve High Point Flat Rider and Reserve High Point Fences Rider. She will compete in the Cacchione Class at the National Championships.

Sceats and Tripp also received major awards at the competition. The duo left with a share of the Region 3 Reserve High Point Rider award. In addition, Sceats was honored as the High Point Fences Rider, and Tripp was named the High Point Flat Rider.

Mount Holyoke will host the Zone 1 Championships next Saturday at 9:00 a.m. In addition to the Lyons, Brown University (Region 1), the University of New Hampshire (Region 2) and Tufts University (Region 4) will by vying for a bid to the upcoming National Championships. The top two finishers will advance to the event, which is slated to take place from May 5-8 in Lexington, Ky. Additionally, the top two riders in each individual class will also move on to the National Championships.

Last weekend, the Lyons captured their sixth High Point title of the season. In doing so, they secured their third straight Zone 1, Region 3 Championship, finishing 47 points in front of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the final regional standings.