SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) recently announced its All-Academic recipients and 23 members of the Mount Holyoke College riding team were honored for their outstanding academic efforts.
The IHSA Academic Award recognizes riders who carry a strong grade point average with national honors. Those athletes with a 3.8 GPA or higher are First Team honorees, while those with 3.5 or better are on the Second Team.
Mount Holyoke saw nine riders earn First Team recognition. Those honored included junior Allee Platanitis (Granville, Mass./Southwick-Tolland Regional), sophomore Anna Rzchowski (Madison, Wisc./West), sophomore Illianna Termuehlen (Wauwatosa, Wisc./Brookfield East), sophomore Taryn Isenburg (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional), first year Karen Dong (Singapore/River Valley HS), sophomore Mollie Kowalchik (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland), senior Stephanie Lewis (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional), first year Nina Luo (China/Hamden Hall Country Day School) and first year Emma Recchi (Newfane, Vt./Leland and Gray Union),
The Lyons 14 Second Team honorees included sophomore Wendy Ho (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam/Thornton Academy), senior Genevieve Couldwell (Salt Lake City, Utah/Rowland Hall St. Marks), first year Tess Ahlers (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista), senior Jackie Azelby (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill), sophomore Morgan Brachfeld (Washington, D.C./Home Schooled), first year Lily DeBenedictis (Newton, Mass.), junior captain Bridget Finnerty (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr School), first year Rachael Fulop (Normal, Ill.), junior Liana Ghiron (Newton, Mass./Newton South), junior Katia Kiefaber (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View), sophomore Cat Lamond (Leeds, Mass./Northampton), sophomore Mika McKinney (Montville, Maine/Belfast Area), first year Daisy Sears (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) and senior Suyin Taunton (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional).
Mount Holyoke is coming off a runner-up finish at the Zone 1 Championships, which earned it a spot at Nationals. The Lyons will compete at the IHSA National Championships held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky from May 5-8.
