SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College hunt seat riding team hosted its second and final Mount Holyoke Show of the fall Saturday at the MHC Equestrian Center, ultimately tying for second place in points among 11 competing teams.
UMass-Amherst scored 40 points to place first in the team standings, followed by the Lyons and Bentley University in second with 31 points apiece. It is the first time in six shows this fall that the Lyons didn't place first. Rounding out the field were Amherst (25), Worcester State (22), Springfield (20), Trinity (20), Smith (19), WPI (15), Williams (7) and Bennington (3).
Senior Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.) was the first trip in the first class of the day, laying down a nice round in Open Fences A and earning 3rd place. In Open Fences B, senior captain Camille Cheng (Goleta, Calif.) drew the same horse and earned the same third-place ribbon.
Three sections of Intermediate Fences ran. In Section A, sophomore Montserrat Hartwig (Santa Rosa, Calif.) finished third. Sophomore Eliza Mutz (Stanford, Calif.) rode to another third place finish in Section B. Sophomore Carly Bitler (Seymour, Ill.) finished fifth in Section C.
In the first of Limit Fences classes, first-year Alyssa Martinsen (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and senior True Usiatynski (Fayetteville, N.Y.) earned fifth and sixth place, respectively. Junior Charlotte Subak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) entered the ring in Section B, taking home a fifth place ribbon. Junior Charlie May (Stockton, N.J.) took the win in Section C, with senior Mara Downie (Holyoke, Mass.) taking fourth.
The ring was cleared of jumps, more horses were schooled, and then it was time for flat.
In Introductory Flat, sophomore Anna Ji (Shanghai, China) rode to a fourth place finish in Section A, and senior Zhuohan Shen (Shanghai, China) took the win in Section B.
In the one section of Open Flat, Cheng and Bates returned to take fifth and sixth place, respectively. That class was followed by Intermediate Flat A, where junior Hallie Phillips (Santa Rosa, Calif.) earned a second place ribbon.
First-year Nicole Richards (Middletown, R.I.) was next in Novice Section A, where she earned her first win in IHSA. In Section B, junior Nora Tripp (Westford, Mass.) finished third. First-year Emma Jablonka (Westfield, N.J.) was third in Section C, and sophomore Lainey Nibbio (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) finished fifth in the final section.
Mutz returned to the ring for a fifth place finish in the B Section of Intermediate Flat. Subak returned next, taking the win in Section C. On to Pre-Novice, sophomore Christine Niu (East Windsor, N.J.) and senior Ririka Kakuta (Tokyo, Japan) finished next to each other in second and third place.
Bitler led the charge into the Limit Flat classes, finishing just outside of the ribbons. Senior Mads Hurley (Portland, Maine) won Section B, with junior Kate Smith (Wells, Vt.) taking fourth. May returned to win a second blue ribbon that day in Section C, followed by another blue ribbon for Martinsen in Section D. The final class of the day was Pre-Novice B, where senior Faith Marley (Belchertown, Mass.) finished third.
After a ride-off, May was declared Overall Reserve High Point Rider, as well as Limit High Point Rider. Additionally, Shen won Introductory High Point honors.
Mount Holyoke competes at the Holiday Tournament of Champions at Virginia Tech on Dec. 7, before the holiday break.
-- Reporting by Cate Bates
