SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Holyoke College riding team hosted the final show of the regular fall season at home on Saturday. The Lyons had another spectacular show, ending the day with 47 points – just two shy of a perfect score and their second time this season – while also finishing the fall season with 247 points in the region. It gives MHC a 66-point lead over the second-ranked team in the region, UMass-Amherst.
The day began with a large open fences division, which ran in two splits. In the first section, sophomore Franny Eremeeva and senior Mollie Kowalchik put in lovely rides to post one-two. The second section saw impressive riding from senior Maddy Skrak and first year Kari Fossum to finish in second and reserve, respectively.
One large intermediate fences section entered the ring next. Mount Holyoke saw solid rides from a large group, including seniors Emily Holowczak, Taryn Isenburg, and Haley Lamoureux, along with juniors Emma Recchi and Lily DeBenedictis. Holowczak, Isenburg and Recchi were first, third, and fifth respectively, while Lamoureux and DeBenedictis unfortunately finished out of the ribbons.
The novice fences riders were next in the ring with a slew of impressive rides, resulting in a clean sweep of the entire division. First year Ellie Hansen, senior Avery Hanlon, and junior Jordan Green were first to go in the ring and finish in first, second, and third respectively. In the second section, senior Cat Lamond and sophomore Harriet Thomson finished one-two. The same results were repeated by sophomore Emy McLaughlin and senior Morgan Brachfeld in the final section.
The jumping portion of the day wrapped up with a large alumni over fences class. Lyons assistant coach and UConn graduate, Tara Mathews, delivered a beautiful ride for a first-place finish, she went on to kick-off the flat classes with another victory.
Walk trot riders were next to enter the ring. In the first of two sections, sophomores Hanye Chen and Doris Wang had lovely rides for first and fourth place finishes, respectively. The second section saw equally lovely rides from sophomore Wenjie Li and first year McKenzie Sumner in her IHSA debut. The pair finished in second and sixth, respectively.
Several novice flat riders entered the ring next, starting with sophomore Katerina Alvarez and Hanlon. Both delivered lovely rides to finish in first and reserve, respectively. A second split of the division saw strong riding from Thomson and Lamoureux to finish first and fourth, respectively.
Two sections of open flat broke up the novice division. The first section saw beautiful riding from Eremeeva, Kowalchik and Holowczak to finish in first, third, and fourth, respectively. In the second section, Skrak and Fossum had lovely rides to finish in third and sixth.
The final two sections of novice flat entered the ring next, the first of which saw lovely rides from Lamond and DeBenedictis for second and third place finishes, respectively. The final section saw stellar rides from sophomore Indra Rapinchuk-Souccar and McLaughlin for first and third, respectively.
One large split of beginner walk trot canter was next in the ring, and saw strong rides from first years Carol Law and Louisa Zebrowski, who finished in sixth and reserve, respectively.
Senior Sabrina Fox and Recchi rode next in the first of two intermediate flat splits. After strong riding, the pair finished one-two. Isenburg had a nice ride in the second split for third place.
The day concluded with two sections of advanced walk-trot-canter, the first of which saw a nice ride from sophomore Maya Brody for a sixth-place finish. The final class of the day saw additional strong riding from sophomore Abby Watkins and first year Grace Herrmann for first and fourth, respectively.
At the end of the day, Eremeeva was called back to the ring in a tie breaker for Overall High Point Rider. After riding a series of tests, she secured the overall Reserve High Point Rider title. Additionally, Isenburg claimed the High Point Intermediate rider title, Recchi was awarded the Reserve High Point Intermediate title, Thomson secured the High Point Novice rider award, and Lamond was named Reserve High Point Novice rider.
Special congratulations to the following riders for qualifying for regionals today:
Franny Eremeeva- Open Flat
Mollie Kowalchik- Open Fences
Haley Lamoureux- Novice Flat
Indra Rapinchuk-Souccar- Novice Flat
Harriet Thomson- Novice Fences
Mount Holyoke finished the day with 47 points to secure the high point college title. Smith College and Williams College each received 24 points to secure the reserve high point college titles.
College Results:
Mount Holyoke- 47
Smith College- 24
Williams College- 24
Westfield State University- 16
Hampshire College- 13
Amherst College- 9
Bennington College- 8
Springfield College- 4
At the end of the regular season, Mount Holyoke leads the regions team standings with a total of 247 points. UMass Amherst currently sits in second with 181 points. Smith College trails with 154 points, followed by Westfield State University with 124 points, Williams College with 87 points, Hampshire College with 74 points, Bennington College with 65 points, Amherst College with 61 points, and Springfield College with 18 points.
The Lyons will continue the regular season in the spring, hosting a show on March 3rd at the Equestrian Center. Additional shows for the regular spring semester will be held on February 24th at Smith College and March 10th at UMass. In the meantime, MHC will also send two teams of riders to Ohio for the Holiday Tournament of Champions on December 2nd at the University of Findlay.
Show release courtesy of MHC Riding team manager, Taryn Isenburg. Release photo courtesy of MHC Riding.
