HARDEEVILLE, S.C. -- The Mount Holyoke equestrian team began its spring semester of competitions Saturday at the Winter Tournament of Champions, hosted by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia. This show was the third in a series of four competitions in the fall and spring that feature top equestrian teams from around the country.
Senior Emmie Mirarchi (Harvard, Mass.) stood out among the Lyons' eight riders at the show, earning fourth place in High Medal competition, while as a team, Mount Holyoke finished in 12th place in a very difficult competition, with 14 points. The host SCAD Yellow Team won the competition with 54 points.
The competition Saturday got under way with Mirarchi in Open fences, where she had a beautiful round, finishing in fourth place. Junior Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.) was next up in Intermediate Fences, laying down a great trip to secure sixth place.
Next, Mirarchi reentered the ring in Flat Section A of the High Medal division. She had a lovely ride, and the team waited to hear for callbacks. Next, junior Helena Weiss (Clifton, N.J.) entered the ring for section B of the High Medal class with a beautiful ride before waiting for callbacks. The show moved onto Intermediate Flat, where Bates reentered the ring and put down a wonderful ride to finish in fifth place. Next, Weiss reentered the ring in Open Flat and delivered a great ride to finish in sixth place. It was announced that Mirarchi was called back for the fences round of the high medal, where she laid down a lovely trip.
After a brief schooling break, first-year Carly Bitler (Seymour, Ill.) entered the ring in Limit Fences and put in a beautiful round, securing a fourth-place ribbon. Next in the ring, sophomore Hallie Phillips (Santa Rosa, Calif.) delivered a great ride in the Flat Phase of the Low Medal division and waited for callbacks.
Phillips then returned with a lovely ride in Limit flat to secure a sixth place ribbon. Next, senior Sunita Pearson-Siegel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) entered the ring for a great ride in the second section of the Low Medal and waited for callbacks.
Senior Lingdang Zhang (Chengdu, China) was up next, delivering a great ride in the Intro division for a sixth place finish. Senior Anno Kostava (Tbilisi, Georgia) then entered the ring two final times with lovely rides in both section C of the Low Medal flat and the novice flat class, earning a fifth place ribbon in the novice flat class.
Final College Results:
1. SCAD Yellow – 54 points
2. SCAD Black – 49 points
3. Hollins University – 33 points
4. Stanford University – 31 points
5. Sacred Heart University - 30 points
6. University of South Carolina – 24 points
7. Miami University of Ohio – 24 points
8. Purdue University – 24 points
9. University of Vermont - 24 points
10. Skidmore College – 23 points
11. Penn State University - 22 points
12. Mount Holyoke College - 14 points
High Medal Results:
Champion: Alex Alston, SCAD
Reserve Champion: Celia Cram, SCAD
3. Ryan Kenney, SCAD
4. Emmie Mirarchi, MHC
5. Emma Grimes, Sacred Heart
6. Abby Talcott, Purdue
7. Camryn Lubner, USC
8. Rafi Wolf, Stanford
-- Reporting by Emmie Mirarchi
