WESTERVILLE, Ohio (Sept. 24, 2011) – The Mount Holyoke College riding team kicked off its 2011-12 campaign with a seventh place finish at the prestigious Preseason Tournament of Champions Horse Show today. Twenty teams representing 15 colleges from around the nation were present at the first installment of the three-part Tournament of Champions series. This year's event took place at the Otterbein Equestrian Center in Westerville, Ohio.
Miami University racked up 30 points en route to the High Point Championship. The RedHawks finished just in front of Virginia Intermont College's Team Gold, which grabbed Reserve High Point honors with 28 points.
Mount Holyoke amassed 23 points to secured seventh place overall. The Lyons were paced by junior Paulina Erni, who took home top honors in the walk-trot division. Sophomore Felicia Harrsch collected third place in the open fences division, while sophomore Ella Pittman (novice flat), first year Madeline Shortt (novice fences) and first year Maura Zaldonis (intermediate flat) each earned fourth place ribbons.
Sophomore Alexa Lohrer and senior Margaret Swanson each competed in the Medal Class. Lohrer finished 11th.
The Lyons will get their regular season slate underway at the Smith College Intercollegiate Horse Show on Saturday, October 8.
