SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College equestrian team came within two points of a perfect score for the third time in four shows this season, winning the first Mount Holyoke Show of the year by a wide margin on Saturday at the MHC Equestrian Center.

The Lyons placed first among 10 participating teams with 47 points. Sharing second place with 30 points were UMass-Amherst and Springfield College. WPI (20) was fourth, followed by Bentley (16), Worcester State (16), Amherst (13), Smith (10), Bennington (4), and Williams (2).

Mount Holyoke senior Emmie Mirarchi (Harvard, Mass.) claimed another Champion High Point Rider ribbon to lead the Lyons. Junior Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.) won Champion High Point Intermediate Rider honors for the second consecutive show, and senior Catherine Kazel (Madison, N.J.) won Champion High Point Introductory Rider honors for the fourth time in as many shows this year. Senior Anno Kostava (Tbilisi, Georgia) won Reserve High Point Novice Rider honors.

The morning began with three Lyons Open Fences riders -- Mirarchi, junior Helena Weiss (Clifton, N.J.), and junior Camille Cheng (Goleta, Calif.), taking first, third and fourth places, respectively. Next in Intermediate Fences, Bates placed second, with sophomore Hallie Phillips (Santa Rosa, Calif.) taking fourth place and senior Hayley Halloran (Lewes, Del.) placing fifth.

Three sections of Limit Fences followed. In the fisrt, first-year Eliza Mutz (Stanford, Calif.) and sophomore Charlotte Subak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) took second and fifth places, respectively. Junior Madison Hurley (Portland, Maine) and first-year Carly Bitler (Seymour, Ill.) went 1-2 in the second section. In the third, senior Chloe McElveen (Ridgeland, S.C.), first-year Montse Hartwig (Santa Rosa, Calif.), and first-year Quinn Gilman (Honolulu, Hawaii) delivered first, fourth and sixth places, respectively.

The day moved on to the flat sections. In the first class, senior Astrid Zhao (Beijing, China) took first place in Pre-Novice, followed by first-year Lainey Nibbio (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) in second. First-year Sabella Riccio (Jersey City, N.J.) took first in the following class, followed by Weiss and Mirarchi both returning to the ring to place first in their classes as well. Weiss qualified for the regional championships in the spring in Open Flat.

In the single section of Introductory Flat, Kazel, junior Ririka Kakuta (Tokyo, Japan), and junior Artemis Chen (Suzhou, China) had a 1-2-3 Mount Holyoke sweep.

Next came four sections of Limite Flat classes. McElveen and Cheng returned to place second and fifth, respectively, in a competitive class. In the second section, Hartwig took fourth place. Hurley claimed the blue ribbon in the third class, and in the fourth, Gilman and Mutz claimed second and fourth places, respectively.

Moving into two sections of Intermediate Flat classes, Bates took first place in the first section, and Halloran placed second in the second.

Wrapping up the day were three sections of Novice Flat. Junior True Usiatynski (Fayetteville, N.Y.) took secodn place in the first. In the second, sophomore Nora Tripp (Westford, Mass.) placed second and first-year Grace Neumuth (Malrborough, Conn.) claimed fourth. Finally, Kostava's impressive ride yielded first place in the third section.

Mirarchi and Hurley were called back to the ring for a ride-off for High Point Rider honors, with Mirarchi prevailing.

Mount Holyoke will next compete at the Worcester State Show, next Saturday at Holiday Acres in Rutland, Mass.

-- Reporting by Dekyi Deji