Recap courtesy of Sierra Dunn '22
Southampton, Mass. - November 7, 2021 - On Saturday, the Mount Holyoke College riding team competed at the Grindstone Mountain Farm in Southampton, Mass., hosted by Amherst College and Westfield State University. Mount Holyoke succeeded in securing the High Point College title, ending the day with 36 points.
The day started with a beautiful winning round in Open Fences from captain Sara Hearn (Tallahassee, Fla.). Next up were two sections of Intermediate Fences. In the first section, Kristina Lester (West Suffield, Conn.) made a gorgeous trip over fences for a fifth place finish. Chloe Truett (Owensboro, Ky.) and Georgia Fish (Baltimore, Md.) delivered stunning rides in the next section to finish first and fourth, respectively.
Limit Fences followed the ring with three sections, first of which saw Claire Williams (Zionsville, Ind.) and Acadia Ferrero-Lampron (Denver, Colo.) have lovely rides for second and fifth, respectively. In the next section, Hayley Halloran (Lewes, Del.), Lila McDougall (Shirley, Mass.), and Kristina Honour (Lake Forest, Ill.) had strong rides. Halloran secured fourth place, and McDougall finished in fifth place, and Honour unfortunately finished just out of the ribbons. Emmie Mirarchi (Harvard, Mass.) and Caroline Sullivan (Groton, Mass.) were up next, where they both delivered beautiful trips to finish second and fourth, respectively.
Wrapping up the jumping portion of the day was Alumni Fences, with Mount Holyoke alum Emma Recchi '19. Recchi had a strong ride, securing fourth place.
After a short break for schooling, the ring moved onto the flat section of the day. Recchi returned to the ring with a lovely ride in Alumni Flat, securing third place. Next up, Hearn returned to the ring with a beautiful ride in Open Flat, securing third place for MHC.
Up next were two sections of Intermediate Flat. In the first section, Lester entered the ring again with a stunning ride to win her class. In the second section, manager Sierra Dunn (Florence, Mass.) had a solid ride to secure fourth place.
Four sections of Limit Flat followed in the ring. The first section saw Halloran return to the ring with a beautiful ride for the win. In the next section, the ring saw Mirarchi and Truett return with strong rides to secure second and third place for MHC. Ferrero-Lampron returned to the ring with Kristen Adolf (Moore, S.C.) with two beautiful rides, finishing second and fifth, respectively. The final section of the division saw Hannah Brown (Portland, Ore.) and Fish deliver solid rides to finish third and fourth, respectively.
The show then moved onto Introductory with two splits. First up, senior and Frances Perkins Scholar Hope Coss (Shoreline, Wash.) entered the ring with Annastazia Zhang (Bradenton, Fla.), with both displaying lovely rides. Coss placed first, while Zhang unfortunately finished just out of the ribbons. In the second section, sophomores Astrid Zhao (Beijing, China) and Alina Yuk (Northvale, N.J.) put forth strong efforts, finishing one-two in their class. This was Astrid's IHSA debut.
Following the ring were two sections of Novice, first of which saw Sunita Pearson-Siegel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Yixuan He (Nanjing, China) have wonderful rides to secure second and third places, respectively. In the final section, Marlene Healey (Coventry, Conn.) delivered a lovely ride to win her class.
Wrapping up the day were several sections of Pre-Novice, where Piper Kilgore (Deerfield, N.H.) had a strong ride to finish in fourth. In the final section, Dekyi Deji (Beijing, China) had a stunning ride to finish in fifth place.
At the end of the day, Halloran was announced as Reserve Limit High Point Rider after being called back for a quizbowl.
Overall, MHC finished the day with 36 points, earning the High Point College title.
Final Team Results:
- Mount Holyoke - 36 points
- UMass Amherst - 34 points
- Springfield College - 24 points
- Smith College - 22 points
- Worcester State University - 19 points
- Amherst College - 17 points
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute - 14 points
- Westfield State University - 5 points
- Bennington College- 2 points
Once again, thank you so much to all of those who came to support us today!
We will continue our regular season next weekend - Saturday November 13th at Mount Holyoke - to finish off our fall season at home. Spectators will be allowed at this show: spectators will be asked at check in to show either proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test within 72 hours. We hope to see you there!
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