SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – It was an outstanding team effort on Saturday as the Mount Holyoke College riding team posted victory in their final regular season show of the fall. The Lyons, who saw two riders earn individual honors, posted 35 points overall to hold off UMass-Amherst, who had 32 points.
Open fences got the day off to a great start with MHC riders sweeping the top spots. First year Grace Tice took home the blue, junior captain Bridget Finnerty was second, and Mollie Kowalchik was fourth.
Intermediate fences had three sections and in the first section, Emma Recchi took fifth place. Genevieve Couldwell won the second section and Cam Carter was fourth. Rounding out the division was Laura Von der Porten, who placed third.
Next up, the Lyons took on a large novice fences division. Kicking things off was sophomore Taryn Isenburg and senior Jackie Azelby, who took first and second, respectively. First year Daisy Sears and sophomore Emily Holowczak were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the second section, while in the third section sophomore Mika McKinney placed fourth and junior Allee Platanitis was fifth.
First year Avery Hanlon and sophomore Haley Lamoureux were third and sixth, respectively, in their class. Finishing up the division, junior Ellie Demmons placed fourth and senior Suyin Taunton placed third.
Alumni Over Fences saw Tara Mathews, Ila Addanki, and Courtney Findeisen placed first, second, and fourth, respectively. Findeisen made her alumni fences debut. On the flat, Mathews won again, Findeisen was second, and Addanki was fourth.
In advanced walk-trot-canter, senior Callie Schultz won the first class and sophomore Morgan Brachfeld placed fifth. In the next class, junior Regina Brecha placed fourth and first year Frances Eisinger placed sixth. Junior Liana Ghiron took third place in the third section.
MHC cleaned up in the open flat division. In the first class, Tice, Finnerty, and Carter went 1-2-3. Sophomore Maddy Skrak won the second section, and first year Julia Robinson placed fifth.
The first two of the five novice flat classes went next. Taunton placed second in her class, while Lamoureaux and Holowczak were second and third, respectively in the second class.
MHC posted double wins in intermediate flat as Von der Porten and Platanitis took top honors in their sections. In the third section of novice flat, junior Sarah Felman and Hanlon were fourth and sixth, respectively. First year Emma Recchi won the next class with Demmons in reserve. Isenburg placed fourth in the final section.
Junior Katia Kiefaber and sophomore Wendy Ho went 1-2 in the first section of walk-trot and first year Katherine Marshall-Kramer was third in the second section. Beginner walk-trot-canter finished out the day as first year Tess Ahlers brought home the blue ribbon in her class and classmate Sierra Thomas was fifth in the final class.
At the end of the day, Tice was named overall high point rider for her double blue ribbon rides in open flat and fences. Von der Porten was intermediate high point rider.
The Lyons also saw several riders qualify for Regionals, including Felman (novice flat), Holowczak (novice flat), Skrak (open flat), Tice (open flat), Finnerty (open fences).
The final team results are as follows:
Mount Holyoke - 35
UMass - 32
Smith - 25
Williams - 21
Hampshire - 18
Westfield State - 17
Amherst - 16
Springfield - 9
Bennington - 0
Above photo of Tice, High Point Rider (right) and Von der Porten, Intermediate High Point Rider (left). Show release courtesy of Laura Von der Porten. Photos courtesy of Carol Law.