HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Holyoke College equestrian team opened the spring portion of its schedule on Saturday, finishing as the Reserve High Point Champions at the UMass Horse Show. The Lyons' second-place finish was just four points behind UMass. MHC still holds a sizable lead in the regional standings.
MHC opened the day with Open Fences as senior Felicia Harrsch placed third, senior Lexie Lohrer placed sixth and senior Ella Pittman was seventh. In Intermediate Fences, junior Jess Murray came in second place, juniors Erinn Lew and Anne Waldo were both third, and junior Claire Herlin finished fourth. Rounding out the over fences portion of the day, junior Laura Von der Porten rode to second place in Novice Fences, junior Sam Stone came in fourth, and first year Cam Carter was sixth on a tough draw.
In Open Flat, senior Nell Maynard earned the first blue ribbon of the day for the Lyons, with Lohrer and Harrsch each coming in second and Thornton in third. Next was Intermediate Flat, where sophomore Genevieve Couldwell placed second and junior Maddi Shortt was third.
The Lyons dominated Novice Flat with Lew and senior Ruby Rodell each winning their sections while first year Sarah Felman came in second and Von der Porten in sixth. Continuing the strong showings, sophomore Suyin Taunton and senior Catherine Geeslin each won their sections of Walk-Trot-Canter with senior Robin Barson placed sixth.
In the beginner section of Walk-Trot-Canter, first year Haley Lucian placed second while sophomore Jordan Lassonde was reserve in her Hunt Seat IHSA debut. In the final division of the day, Walk-Trot, three more MHC riders made their IHSA debuts with junior Ruxin Jia placing third, first year Flora Fei fifth, and senior Mia Landsbergis sixth.
The following riders qualified for Regionals today, to be hosted by Amherst College on March 29th:
Felicia Harrsch - Open Flat and Fences
Nell Maynard - Open Flat
Suyin Taunton - Walk-Trot-Canter
The final college placings were:
High Point College - University of Massachusetts Amherst, 35 points
Reserve High Point College - Mount Holyoke College, 31 points
3rd Place - Amherst College, 28 points
4th Place - Smith College, 25 points
5th Place - Westfield State University, 18 points
6th Place - Springfield College, 17 points
7th Place - Williams College, 11 points
Mount Holyoke returns to action next Saturday when it hosts the MHC Horse Show at the Equestrian Center.
Story courtesy of Anne Waldo, MHC Equestrian Rider.
