SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) recently announced its All-Academic recipients and 31 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 13 riders earn First Team recognition. Those honored included senior Morgan Brachfeld (Washington, D.C./Home Schooled), sophomore Maya Brody (Weatogue, Conn./Simsbury), first year Nora Cyra (Bothell, Wash./Sky Valley Education Center), junior Jessica Feng (Beijing, China/Wyoming Seminary College Prep School), seniors Emily Holowczak (South Windsor, Conn./East Catholic), Taryn Isenburg (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional), Mollie Kowalchik (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) and Cat Lamond (Leeds, Mass./Northampton), along with sophomores Sesil Lee (Jeju, South Korea/Beijing Royal School) and Wenji Li (Guangzhou, China/Guangdong Experimental).
Also on First Team was first year Sinead O'Sullivan (Worcester, Mass./F.W. Parker Essential School), senior Maddy Skrak (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia Prep) and sophomore Honami Tanaka (Fukuoka City, Japan/Chikushi Jogakuen Senior).
The Lyons' 18 Second Team honorees included sophomore Hanye Chen (Dachang, China/Beijing Huijia), junior Lily DeBenedictis (Newton, Mass./Newton North), sophomores Franny Eremeeva (Northampton, Mass./Stonleigh Burnham) and Sarah Etzel (Northampton, Mass./Northampton). Also earning recognition was first year Kari Fossum (Omaha, Neb./Duchesne Academy), senior Sabrina Fox (Westfield, Mass./Westfield), junior Jordan Green (West Springfield, Mass./Holyoke Catholic), first years Ellie Hansen, Yixuan He (Nanjing, China/Nanjing Foreign Language School) and Sara Hearn (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon).
Rounding out the Second Team was senior Haley Lamoureux (Holliston, Mass./Holliston), sophomores Evelyn Li (Shijazhuang, China/Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School), Emy McLaughlin (Portland, Maine/Casco Bay) and Indra Rapinchuk-Souccar (Cummington, Mass./The Academy at Charlemont), junior Emma Recchi (Newfane, Vt./Leland and Gray Union), senior Anna Rzchowski (Madison, Wisc./West), along with first years Libby Sams (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) and Sabrina Talir (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood).
Mount Holyoke is coming off a victory at the Zone 1 Championships on April 7th. With the win, the Lyons will now compete at the IHSA National Championships held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pa. Action begins on May 3rd and will run through May 6th.