Birmingham, Pa. - December 8, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College riding team had an impressive showing at the 27th Holiday Tournament of Champions, hosted by Penn State at the Grier School on Saturday.
The Lyons produced 36 points on the day and edged out Goucher, Penn State Blue, Delaware Valley, Miami of Ohio University Red, UMass Amherst and Penn State White, which all placed in the Top 8. Mount Holyoke College was among a total of 20 teams that were competing.
After schooling of the horses and a course walk, the day began with a high bar set by junior Sara Hearn (Tallahasee, Fla.), who rode into first place for Open Equitation Over Fences. Second in the ring was first-year Georgia Fish (Baltimore, Md.), who rode beautifully in her second-ever tournament and finished just outside of the ribbons.
After the first sections of the High and Low Medal Flat classes, Mount Holyoke College had three student-athletes compete on the flat, including Hearn, Libby Sams (Atlanta, Ga.) and Sierra Dunn (Northampton, Mass.). Hearn continued her successful day with a first-place finish to secure another blue ribbon in Open Equitation on the Flat. Next, Sams received fourth overall in the Intermediate Equitation on the Flat, before Dunn put forth a stunning ride in the Low Medal Flat and awaited the results for a call back.
Next up was the Limit Equitation on the Flat, where senior Sarah Etzel (Northampton, Mass.) took second overall.
Hearn then returned to the ring with a beautiful ride in the second section of the High Medal Flat. After both sections of Low and High Medal Flat were completed, Dunn and Hearn were called back with in the top ten for each division of Fences.
After a short break consisting of schooling for Limit horses and a course walk for Medal finalists, first-year Marina McDonald (Northampton, Mass.) produced a stunning ride in Limit Equitation Over Fences, picking up a first-place finish for the Lyons. Next in the arena for Mount Holyoke College was senior Angela Cheng (Shanghai, China), who earned fourth overall in Intro Equitation on the Flat. Following Cheng, junior Sinead O'Sullivan (Worcester, Mass.) placed third in Novice Equitation on the Flat.
Lastly was the Low Medal Fences phase, followed by the Open Medal Fences to finish up the day. Low Medal finalist, Dunn represented Mount Holyoke College and placed seventh overall, before Hearn produced a third-place finish in Open Medal Fences.
Mount Holyoke College, which holds the place of Reserve Champion for the overall Tournament series, will next compete at the Winter Tournament of Champions, hosted at the Ronald Waranch Equestrian Center in Hardeeville, S.C.
For the latest updates on Mount Holyoke College Athletics, follow the Lyons on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
