WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College equestrian team took first place among eight teams at the Williams College Show Saturday at Bonnie Lea Farm, winning the first show of the regular IHSA season by a six-point margin over UMass-Amherst.
Mount Holyoke finished the day with 37 points. UMass placed second with 31, followed by Springfield (24), Smith (21), Amherst (19), Worcester State (6), Williams (5), and Bennington (3).
THe Lyons' first placing of the day was senior Camille Cheng (Goleta, Calif.), taking third place in Open Fences. Senior Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.) followed in Intermediate Fences, taking fourth. Continuing the jumping trips in Limit Fences Section A was sophomore Carly Bitler (Seymour, Ill.) in third and sophomore Montse Hartwig (Santa Rosa, Calif.) in fourth. In Section B of Limit, first-year Emi Graf (Belmont, Mass.) took third, and sophomore Eliza Mutz (Stanford, Calif.) fifth. Senior Madison Hurley (Portland, Maine) rode to a third-place finish in Limit Fences Section C, with first-year teammate Alyssa Martinsen (Arlington Heights, Ill.) in fourth.
After flat schooling, Mount Holyoke's Limit riders got right back to it. Hurley and Graf led the charge into the flat portion of the day, with a third and fifth, respectively. Junior Megan Bliamptis (Lexington, Mass.) and senior Zhuohan Shen (Shanghai, China) came into the ring for Intro flat, with Bliamptis taking home the blue ribbon and Shen third. In the second section of Intro, senior Lakshyaa Sreekumar (Mississauga, Ontario) made her IHSA debut and earned third. Another section of Limit then ran, with junior Hallie Phillips (Santa Rosa, Calif.) taking second and Mutz in sixth.
In Pre-Novice A, sophomore Christine Niu (East Windsor, N.J.) and junior Lila Hancock (Morrisville, Vt.) took second and third, respectively. In Pre-Novice section B, junior Victoria Schubarg (Dobson, N.C.) finished fifth, and senior Faith Marley (Belchertown, Mass.), in her IHSA debut, took home the blue ribbon. A third and final section of Limit Flat saw Martinsen in second and Bitler in fifth.
Senior True Usiatynski (Fayetteville, N.Y.) won Novice section A, with fellow senior Mara Downie (Holyoke, Mass.) taking second in Novice section B. Rounding out the day, Cheng took second in her Open flat debut, and Bates with a second in Intermediate flat.
After some quiz bowl questions, Bliamptis was crowned Intro High Point Rider, Usiatynski the Novice High Point Rider, and Bates the Intermediate High Point Rider.
Mount Holyoke competes Sunday, Oct. 6 at the UMass/Springfield Show, held at Muddy Brook Farms in Amherst.
-- Reporting by Cate Bates
