Riding Captures Fifth Straight Zone 1 Title

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Apr. 6, 2013) - The Mount Holyoke College riding team punched its ticket to the IHSA National Championships with a dominant performance at the Zone 1 Championships on Saturday. This year's Nationals are slated to take place in Harrisburg, Pa., from May 2-5 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. The Lyons will be making their fifth straight appearance and their 22nd under the direction of longtime head coach C.J. Law.

This season's Zone Championships were once again held at the Equestrian Center. In addition to the team competition between the four regional champions - The University of Rhode Island (Region 1), the University of New Hampshire (Region 2), Mount Holyoke (Region 3) and Tufts University (Region 4) - riders representing colleges from around New England were vying for individual championships in their respective divisions.

Mount Holyoke piled up 51 points to secure the team title. The Lyons ended the day 15 points in front of New Hampshire (36). Rhode Island (31) and Tufts (31) rounded out the field.

Junior Alexa Lohrer had an outstanding day, winning all three of her classes. She won the Open Team Collegiate Jumping, the Open Team Collegiate Flat and the Overall High Point Rider, Cacchione Rider class (which was both flat and jumping).

The Lyons had a number of individuals qualify for Nationals with outstanding performances, including Felicia Harrsch in Open Individual over fences and Abby Raucher in Novice Individual Fences. Additionally, both Clara Tate and Morgan Cooley qualified as the pair swept the Novice Individual Flat.