Recap Courtesy of Sierra Dunn '22
Rutland, Mass. - March 26, 2022 - The Mount Holyoke Hunt Seat team finished the last show of the regular season with another victory at the Worcester State Show on Saturday afternoon. At the end of the day, Mount Holyoke was named the High Point College of the day with 38 points.
The day began with Open Flat, in which senior captain Sara Hearn (Tallahassee, Fla.) had a beautiful ride to win her class. Next in the ring was Open Fences, with Hearn returning to the ring along with seniors Kristina Lester (West Suffield, Conn.) and Tori Fletcher (Branford, Conn.). All three had lovely rides to finish in second, fifth, and sixth respectively.
Next up was Intermediate Fences, which saw three gorgeous trips from Mount Holyoke. First-year Camille Cheng (Goleta, Calif.) and senior Kristina Honour (Lake Forest, Ill.) had a one-two finish, while junior Caroline Sullivan (Groton, Mass.) finished just out of the ribbons. Intermediate Flat was up next, with Honour returning to the ring along with senior and manager Sierra Dunn (Florence, Mass.), senior Hannah Brown (Portland, Ore.), and junior Georgia Fish (Baltimore, Md.) to represent Mount Holyoke. All four had stunning rides, with Honour, Dunn, and Brown finishing one-two-three, and Fish taking sixth place.
The ring then moved on to three sections of Limit Fences. In the first section, junior Kristen Adolf (Moore, S.C.) had a solid ride to finish in fourth place. Brown returned to the ring along with first-year Lila McDougall (Shirley, Mass.) in the next section with beautiful rides to finish first and sixth, respectively. In the third section, junior Shemica Adenwalla (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) and sophomore Claire Williams (Zionsville, Ind.) put in solid rides to finish second and fourth, respectively.
Three sections of Limit Flat were in the ring next, the first of which saw Sullivan return to the ring with a stunning ride to finish third. In the next section, Fletcher and Adolf returned to the ring with lovely rides for third and fifth, respectively. The final section saw Adenwalla return to the arena with another solid ride to finish in third.
Next in the arena was Alumni Flat, which saw Mount Holyoke alum Tara Lowary '05 put in a beautiful ride to win the class.
Mount Holyoke moved on to two sections of the Introductory division. In the first section, sophomore Astrid Zhao (Beijing, China) and junior Janice Bi had strong rides to place third and fifth, respectively. In the next section, sophomore Blair Yuk (Northvale, N.J.) and senior Heidy Duan had beautiful rides for a one-two finish.
Junior Alex Taylor (Feeding Hills, Mass.) was next in the arena for MHC in the Pre-Novice division. She had a gorgeous ride in her IHSA debut to win her class.
The show wrapped up with four sections of the Novice division. In the first section, junior Rachel Banister (San Diego, Calif.) had a stunning ride to finish fourth. In the next section, junior Marlene Healey (Coventry, Conn.) and first-year True Usiatynski (Fayetteville, N.Y.) had solid rides to finish in second and third place respectively. Junior Daniela Fraser (Vero Beach, Fla.) was next in the ring with a strong ride to place second. In the final section, sophomore Chloe McElveen (Ridgeland, S.C.) had a gorgeous ride to win her class.
At the end of the day, Hearn and Honour were called back to the ring for additional testing for the Overall Reserve High Point Rider title. After a series of testing, Honour was named the Reserve High Point Rider of the day. Honour also earned the High Point Intermediate title, and Cheng received the Reserve High Point Intermediate title after being called back for a quizbowl. Additionally, Adenwalla was awarded the Reserve High Point Limit title after competing in a quizbowl.
The team finished the day with 38 points and won the High Point College Award again. UMass Amherst was named Reserve High Point College with 30 points.
Overall Team Results:
1. Mount Holyoke - 38 points
2. UMass Amherst - 30 points
3. Worcester State University - 26 points
4. Smith College - 18 points
5. Amherst College - 17 points
6. Springfield College - 9 points
7. Westfield State University - 8 points
8. Worcester Polytechnic Institute - 6 points
Congratulations are in order for the following riders, who qualified for regionals today:
- Rachel Banister - Novice
- Daniela Fraser - Novice
- Marlene Healey - Novice
- Tori Fletcher - Limit Flat
- Sierra Dunn - Intermediate Flat
Mount Holyoke concluded the season on top of the region with a total of 365 points, followed by UMass Amherst with 300 points and Smith College with 197 points. Mount Holyoke remained undefeated this year in Region 3.
Up next, the Mount Holyoke College hunt seat team will see 18 rides from 14 individual qualifiers at the Regional Championship, taking place on Sunday, March 27th at Maplewood Farm in Berlin, Mass. Riders advancing from the Regional Championship will also compete at Zones as individual qualifiers.
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