SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College equestrian team took third place out of a competitive mix of five teams, all of them regional champions, as the Lyons hosted the IHSA Zone I Championships on Saturday at the MHC Equestrian Center.
Only one point separated Mount Holyoke from second-place University of Vermont and a team bid to IHSA Nationals, which take place May 2-5 at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, N.C. Region 5 champion Sacred Heart won the competition with 43 points, followed by Region 2 champion Vermont (33), Region 3 champion Mount Holyoke (32), Region 4 champion Stonehill (31), and Region 5 champion University of Rhode Island (28) in fifth.
However, senior Emmie Mirarchi (Harvard, Mass.) and junior Eimi Fujioka (Toda-shi, Japan) will represent Mount Holyoke at IHSA Nationals after Saturday's results. Mirarchi earned one of 16 spots nationally to compete for the Cacchione Cup individual championship at IHSA Nationals, while Fujioka will be one of 16 competitors in the Individual Introductory Flat division, after both finished second in those respective categories on Saturday.
Six riders competed for Mount Holyoke in eight collegiate classies, and eight riders competed in seven individual classes.
The first two classes of the day were Cacchione Cup Fences and Flat. Mirarchi went into the show ring with gorgeous rounds, placing second in the class and qualifying to compete in the IHSA National Cacchione Cup. After the Cacchione Cup, Mirarchi went back to the arena for Individual Open Fences with a beautiful ride, placing fourth in the class. Following with Team Open Fences, Mirarchi went back with another amazing trip to place third.
That was followed by Individual Intermediate Fences. Junior Camille Cheng (Goleta, Calif.) put down a wonderful ride to place eighth. In Team Intermediate Fences, sophomore Hallie Phillips (Santa Rosa, Calif.) went in with a lovely round, placing fourth. Following in Individual Limit Fences, two seniors, Sunita Pearson-Siegel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Hayley Halloran (Lewes, Del.) had fantastic rides, with Pearson-Siegel being called back for another round of further testing. In the end, Pearson-Siegel was placed third and Halloran sixth. In Team Limit Fences, first-year Carly Bitler (Seymour, Ill.) entered the ring with a gorgeous ride, placing fourth in the class.
Mirarchi came back into the show ring in Team Open Flat with a beautiful round and got fifth. Following that, junior Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.) placed fifth in Team Intermediate Flat. Immediately after, senior Chloe McElveen (Ridgeland, S.C.) and Bates rode in Individual Limit Flat, placing fifth and sixth, respectively. Sophomore Charlie May (Stockton, N.J.) then showed a lovely ride in Individual Novice Flat, placing sixth. Then in Team Limit Flat, Phillips came back in the ring with a wonderful ride and took home the blue ribbon.
In Team Novice Flat, junior Mara Downie (Holyoke, Mass.) had a gorgeous round, placing third. In the last two classes of the day, Fujioka had an amazing ride in Individual Introductory Flat winning second place and qualifying for nationals. Senior Catherine Kazel (Madison, N.J.), competing in Team Introductory Flat, had a fantastic ride to take home first place.
-- Reporting by Dekyi Deji
