LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Mount Holyoke College hunter seat riding team finished in fifth place among 16 teams Saturday at the conclusion of the 2023 IHSA National Championships, the Lyons' best effort at nationals since placing second in 2016.
Mount Holyoke's 28 points topped the sixth-place team, the University of South Carolina, by two, and trailed fourth-place Long Island University Post (38) by 10 points. Skidmore (46.5) edged Savannah College of Art and Design (45.0) for the team title, with Emory & Henry (42.0) placing third.
Sophomore Helena Weiss (Clifton, N.J.) competed in two events for Mount Holyoke, Team Open Equitation Over Fences and Team Open Equitation On The Flat, on the final day of the three-day event Saturday.
Friday Recap
With three scoring performances, including junior Emmie Mirarchi's second national runner-up showing in as many days, the Mount Holyoke College hunter seat riding team remained in third place at the end of the second and penultimate day on Friday.
Mirarchi (Harvard, Mass.) placed second out of 10 riders in Team Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, trailing only Caroline Mancini of Centenary University, to score eight points for the Lyons for the second day in a row.
First-year Em Cantalupo (Candia, N.H.) finished off the day by earning fourth place in the Team Novice Equitation class, winning six team points for the Lyons.
In between, junior Lingdang Zhang (Chengdu, China) took ninth place in Team Introductory Equitation to score one point for Mount Holyoke. Junior Kerina Li (Guangzhou, China) also competed for Mount Holyoke, in Individual Introductory Equitation.
Thursday Recap
After top-five performances by Mirarchi and sophomore Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.), the Mount Holyoke College hunter seat riding team stood in third place among 16 teams Thursday.
Mirarchi placed second out of 10 riders in Team Intermediate Equitation on the Flat, trailing only Sydney Jasny of Skidmore, to score eight points for the Lyons. Meanwhile Bates finished fifth out of 10 riders in Team Limit Equitation on the Flat, scoring five more team points.
2023 IHSA Nationals
Final Team Standings
1. Skidmore College (46.5)
2. Savannah College of Art & Design (45.0)
3. Emory & Henry College (42.0)
4. Long Island University Post (38.0)
5. Mount Holyoke College (28.0)
6. University of South Carolina (26.0)
7. Centenary University (22.5)
8. Goucher College (22.0)
9. Sacred Heart University (18.0)
9. University of Findlay (18.0)
11. Otterbein University (16.5)
12. University of Southern California (15.5)
13. Purdue University (15.0)
14. Stanford University (9.0)
15. University of Wisconsin (8.0)
16. University of Delaware (2.0)
