BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Mount Holyoke hunt seat riding team placed seventh among 16 of the best collegiate equestrian teams in the country Saturday at the Holiday Tournament of Champions, held at the Alpin Stuart Livestock Arena at Virginia Tech University.

The Lyons scored 22 points to edge Sweet Briar for seventh place among 16 competing teams. Savannah College of Art and Design boasted the top two squads in the team standings, followed by Sacred Heart in third (31), Otterbein in fourth (28), Lynchburg in fifth (27), and Skidmore in sixth (24).

Kicking the Lyons off was senior Cate Bates (Montclair, N.J.) finishing just outside the ribbons in Open Fences. Junior Hallie Phillips (Santa Rosa, Calif.) took to the ring next, riding to a fifth-place finish in Intermediate fences.

A few classes later, Phillips returned to the ring for the High Medal flat class. Phillips finished that class and immediately remounted for Intermediate Flat, placing just outside the ribbons. Bates then returned to the ring for Open Flat, earning a first-place finish.

After a schooling break, first-year Emi Graf (Belmont, Mass.) claimed a sixth-place finish in Limit Fences. Up next, first-year Alyssa Martinsen (Arlington Heights, Ill.) rode in the Low Medal flat class.

Graf returned and earned another sixth-place finish in Limit flat. Next, in Intro flat, junior Megan Bliamptis (Lexington, Mass.) earned first place. And finishing off the day was first-year Bessie Huggins (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) in her Tournament debut, finishing third in Novice.

Mount Holyoke's next competition will be the Winter Classic Tournament of Champions, Jan. 25 at SCAD.

-- Reporting by Cate Bates