HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Holyoke College riding team took to action on Saturday, competing at the UMass Amherst Show, hosted by Hampshire College. The Lyons posted 30 points on the day, good for third overall in the field of nine teams.
Classes began with open fences, which saw rides from sophomore Franny Eremeeva and senior Mollie Kowalchik, who put in solid efforts to finish first and third, respectively. A second split saw strong riding from senior Maddy Skrak and first year Kari Fossum to post third and sixth, respectively.
First year Sara Hearn and senior Anna Rzchowski were next in the ring for the first section of intermediate fences. Both delivered lovely rides to finish first and third, respectively. The following section saw senior Taryn Isenburg with a sixth place finish.
Novice fences was next in the ring with three splits. In the first section, sophomore Katerina Alvarez and first year Libby Sams put in solid trips to post first and third respectively. The second section saw junior Jordan Green and sophomore Harriet Thomson put in nice rides to finish second and third respectively. In the final section, sophomore Indra Rapinchuk-Souccar had a lovely round to secure first place.
The jumping portion of the day wrapped up with the Alumni division. Mount Holyoke assistant coach and UCONN Alumni Tara Mathews put in a nice ride in the class for first place. The alumni division also kicked off the flat portion of the day, and Mathews put in another lovely ride for a fifth place finish.
Two sections of open flat moved into the ring next, the first of which saw Eremeeva and Skrak return for a large class. Both put in lovely rides, with Eremeeva finishing second and Skrak unfortunately finishing just out of the ribbons. In the second section, Kowalchik returned with a lovely ride to secure second place.
Sophomore Maya Brody continued the day's action by opening the first of three advanced walk trot canter classes. She put in a lovely ride for second place. The second section saw an equally stunning ride from senior Cat Lamond to finish fourth. Sophomore Abby Watkins wrapped up the division with a nice ride in the third section for a fifth place finish.
Two sections of intermediate flat were next in the ring. The first section saw Isenburg return with a nice ride for a second place finish. In the second section, senior Emily Holowczak and junior Emma Recchi put in nice rides to finish third and sixth, respectively.
Junior Lily DeBenedictis and senior Haley Lamoureux kept the day moving along with lovely rides in the first of four novice flat classes to finish one-two. The second section saw solid rides from Sams and senior Avery Hanlon to finish third and fifth, respectively. In the third section, first year Ellie Hansen put in a lovely ride for a first place finish. Hearn rounded out the division with a beautiful ride for a fifth place finish.
Two sections of walk trot entered the ring next. The first section saw excellent riding from sophomores Sesil Lee and Doris Wang to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. In the second section, sophomore Wenjie Li had a beautiful ride to secure first place.
First year Nora Cyra wrapped up the day with her IHSA debut in beginner walk trot canter, where she had a beautiful ride to win the class.
At the end of the day, sophomore Eremeeva was called back to the ring for a ride off for the reserve high point rider award. She had a truly lovely ride but unfortunately was not granted the title.
MHC ended the day with 30 points and a third place finish. Smith College took the high point college title with 36 points and UMass Amherst took the reserve high point college title with 35 points.
Team results:
Smith College- 36 pts
UMass Amherst- 35 pts
Mount Holyoke College- 30 pts
Westfield State Unniversity- 23 pts
Amherst College- 16 pts
Hampshire College- 13 pts
Bennington College- 11 pts
Williams College- 10 pts
Springfield College- 4 pts
