WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College equestrian team had a nearly perfect start to its regular fall schedule on Saturday, winning the Williams College Show among seven competing teams and by a whopping 18-point margin over second-place UMass-Amherst at Bonnie Lea Farm.
Mount Holyoke's 47 points were two shy of a perfect score. UMass scored 29 points to finish second, followed by Springfield (28), Amherst (15), Williams (10), WPI (10) and Bennington.
Senior Emmie Mirarchi (Harvard, Mass.), junior Helena Weiss (Clifton, N.J.), senior Chloe McElveen (Ridgeland, S.C.), junior Mara Downie (Holyoke, Mass.), and senior Catherine Kazel (Madison, N.J.) all won honors at the end of the day for their performances. Mirarchi was both Overall High Point Rider and High Point Intermediate Rider. Weiss was Reserve High Point Rider honors, McLveen claimed Reserve High Point Limit Rider honors, Downie was named High Point Novice Rider, and Kazel won High Point Introductory Rider honors.
Starting the day off in Open Fences, Weiss won first place. In the next class, Mirarchi and junior Camille Cheng (Goleta, Calif.) had stunning rides in Intermediate Fences, placing first and second respectively. Following that we had our three sections of Limit Fences. In the first section, McElveen made her debut over fences, placing second in the class. Sophomore Charlotte Subak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also had a great ride, placing just outside of the ribbons.
Coming into the second section of the Limit Fences, two Mount Holyoke first-year students, Eliza Mutz (Stanford, Calif.) and Montse Hartwig (Santa Rosa, Calif.), had their IHSA debuts, placing fifth and fourth successively. Finishing the over fences, junior Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.), first-year Carly Bitler (Seymour, Ill.), and senior Sunita Pearson-Siegel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) delivered fantastic rounds over the fences. Pearson-Siegel placed third, Bates was fourth, and Bilter sixth in her IHSA debuts.
Moving on to the flat section of the day, Weiss returned to the ring in Open Flat with a beautiful ride, taking first place. Then in Intermediate Flat, Mirarchi returned and took home first place with a lovely ride.
Next in the ring were three sections of Limit Flat. First, Subak and Mutz returning to the show ring, placing first and fourth with their stunning rides. Next up, McElveen and Bitler came back to the arena with great trips, taking home second and fifth place. In the third Limit Flat class, Bates placed first and Cheng was just out of the ribbons.
On to the Introductory section, Mount Holyoke had three IHSA debuts in Kazel, junior Artemis Chen (Suzhou, China), and sophomore Megan Bliamptis (Lexington, Mass.), along with junior Ririka Kakuta (Tokyo, Japan). All did an amazing job, with Kazel placing first, Kakuta placing second, Bliamptis placing third, and Chen placing fifth.
Next in the arena, first-years Savannah Ma (Garden City, N.Y.) and Sabella Riccio (Jersey City, N.J.), made their IHSA debuts, and senior Astrid Zhao (Williamsburg, Va.) gave her Pre-Novice Flat debut. Riccio placed fifth, Ma was sixth, and Zhao was just outside the ribbons.
Wrapping up the day were two sections of Novice Flat. In the first, Downie and sophomore Charlie May (Stockton, N.J.) had wonderful rides and placed first and second, respectively. Finally, junior Madison Hurley (Portland, Maine) and senior Elliott Candela (Maynard, Mass.) put down strong rides to finish first and second place in the last class of the day.
At the end of the day, Weiss and Mirarchi were called back for additional testing for the High Point Rider with Mirarchi winning the High Point Rider and Weiss brought home the Reserve High Point. Mirarchi was also named Intermediate High Point. McElveen brought home the Reserve Limit High Point. Downie and Kazel won home the High Point and Reserve High Point for Novice/Introductory.
Team Standings
1. Mount Holyoke (47)
2. UMass-Amherst (29)
3. Springfield (28)
4. Amherst (15)
5. Williams (10)
WPI (10)
7. Bennington
Mount Holyoke next competes at the UMass-Amherst Show next Saturday and Sunday at Muddy Brook Farm in Amherst.
-- Reporting by Dekyi Deji '25
