SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Holyoke College riding team concluded the fall portion of its regular season on Saturday, hosting its second IHSA Show of the season at the MHC Equestrian Center. The Lyons put forth an outstanding performance, garnering High Point College honors behind a 44-point effort on the day.
The day got underway with open fences, which saw beautiful trips from all three of MHC riders. In the first section, Franny Eremeeva secured second place while Bridget Finnerty received fifth. The second section saw Mollie Kowalchik post the first blue ribbon of the day.
Intermediate fences was next and the first section saw nice rides from Emily Holowczak and Taryn Isenburg to secure first and fifth, respectively. In the second section, Rachael Fulop and Cam Carter rode well to also post first and fifth, respectively. The final section saw strong rides from Daisy Sears and Sarah Felman to finish second and sixth, respectively.
Novice riders were the last in the ring to jump. Indra Rapinchuk-Souccar and Katerina Alvarz opened the division with two lovely rides to post first and fourth, respectively, in the first section. In the second section, Lily DeBenedictis and Avery Hanlon put in nice rounds to secure first and sixth, respectively. The final section saw lovely rides from Ellie Demmons and Emelia McLaughlin to finish one-two.
The flat portion of the day followed with two sections of advanced walk-trot-canter. The first section saw strong rides from Tess Ahlers and Christa Berry to finish third and reserve, respectively. In the second section, Sarah Etzel had a lovely ride for a first place finish.
Open flat took to the ring next in two sections. The first section saw a slew of strong rides, two of which came from Finnerty and Kowalchik to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. In the second section, Eremeeva and Cam Carter also posted lovely rides for first and third, respectively.
Two sections of novice flat were next in the ring, the first of which saw a strong ride from Harriet Thomson for the blue ribbon. In the second section, Sabrina Fox and Emma Recchi put in lovely rides to finish one-two.
Intermediate flat broke up the large novice flat division with three sections. Mika McKinney and Demmons were first in the ring to ride well, securing first and sixth, respectively. The second section saw a lovely ride from Sears for second place. In the final section, Sarah Felman rode well to a fifth place finish.
The final two sections of novice flat took to the ring next, the first of which saw lovely rides from Rapinchuk-Souccar and McLaughlin for first and fourth place finishes, respectively. The final section saw a stellar ride from Hanlon to take blue.
Mount Hoyloke saw a large walk-trot division head into the ring next. The first section saw great rides from Nina Luo, Honami Tanaka, and Sesil Lee to finish second, fifth, and sixth, respectively. This marked Tanaka's IHSA debut. The second section saw lovely rides from Karen Dong and Wenjie Li to finish second and third, respectively.
MHC wrapped up the day with two sections of beginner walk-trot-canter. The first section saw strong riding from Charlotte Pletsch and Madeline Ketley to finish first and fifth, respectively. The final class of the day saw a strong ride from Morgan Remillard for the blue ribbon.
With her two blue ribbon rides, Rapinchuk-Soucarr was named overall high point rider and novice high point rider. In a tie breaker with another Williams College rider, Eremeeva rode a series of tests at the end of the day to secure the overall reserve high point rider award. Additionally, Sears claimed the reserve high point intermediate rider title with her rides.
Mount Holyoke finished the day with 44 points to secure the high point college title. Smith College and UMASS Amherst each received 30 points to secure the reserve high point college titles.
College Results:
Mount Holyoke- 44
Smith College- 30
UMASS Amherst- 30
Westfield State University- 29
Williams College- 29
Hampshire College- 15
Bennington College- 12
Springfield College- 9
Amherst College- 4
At the end of the regular season, Mount Holyoke leads the region's team standings with a total of 238 points. Smith College currently sits in second with 177 points. UMass trails with 167 points, followed by Williams College with 154 points, Westfield State with 109 points, Bennington College with 75 points, Amherst College with 61 points, Hampshire College with 50 points, and Springfield College with 25 points.
Additionally, Finnerty currently leads the region in the high point rider standings with 60 points combined between open fences and open flat. Eremeeva currently holds second place with 54 combined points.
The Lyons will be back in action on December 3 when a team of riders heads to Ohio to compete in the Holiday Tournament of Champions.
