At right: High medalist Hallie Phillips.
LONG VALLEY, N.J. -- The Mount Holyoke College hunt seat riding team had eight riders compete Saturday at the 35th annual Holiday Tournament of Champions, hosted by Centenary University, and the Lyons came away in 12th place among 16 highly competitive teams at the pre-nationals show.
The show day started with senior Hallie Phillips (Santa Rosa, Calif.) riding Vesper and placing third. Next up was sophomore Emi Graf (Belmont, Mass.) in Intermediate Fences riding Duke, and she finished just outside the ribbons.
Phillips went back into the ring for the High Medal flat phase on Eddie, and three classes after, rode Buzz for Open Flat. Phillips placed sixth in Open Flat and was called back for the Over Fences phase of the High Medal.
Next in the ring was senior Kate Smith (Wells, Vt.) for Intermediate Flat riding Mo, and placed first. First year Sophia Bull (Lumberton, N.J.) entered the ring next for Limit Fences, riding Kip, and rode to a fifth-place ribbon. Senior Lia Liang (Beijing, China) went into the ring, riding Eli, and earned sixth place in the Introductory Division. Junior Grace Neumuth (Marlborough, Conn.) rode Berdento in the Low Medal flat class. In Limit Flat, sophomore Bessie Huggins (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) rode Biggie and delivered a strong ride, finishing just outside the ribbons in a highly competitive class.
In the last class of the day, first-year Salome Hizanishvili (Newton, Mass.) made her tournament debut aboard Carboni in Novice. She put in a solid performance, narrowly missing the ribbons in a very competitive division.
Congratulations to Hallie Phillips for placing fourth in the High Medal! And congratulations to seniors Kate Smith and Hallie Phillips, who are graduating this semester.
At the end of the day, Mount Holyoke finished strong at 12th place out of 16 teams. The top 9 teams from the 2025 IHSA Nationals (which includes us!) were in attendance, with the exception of Purdue University.
Final Team Results:
1) Savannah College of Art & Design - 42 points
2) Skidmore College - 32 points
3) University of Delaware - 29 points
4) Saint Lawrence University - 27 points
5) Sacred Heart University - 27 points
6) Emory & Henry University - 26 points
7) Delaware Valley University - 26 points
8) Centenary University (Blue) - 23 points
9) University of Lynchburg - 22 points
10) Goucher College - 21 points
11) Centenary University (White) - 16 points
12) Mount Holyoke College - 15 points
13) University of Rhode Island - 13 points
14) Sewanee University of the South - 13 points
15) Miami University of Ohio - 10 points
16) Pennsylvania State University - 9 points
High Medal Results:
1) Alexander Alston; Savannah College of Art & Design
2) Aislinn Birmingham; Centenary
3) Annabelle Glitterman; Saint Lawrence University
4) Hallie Phillips; Mount Holyoke College
5) Amaya Beilifield; University of Lynchburg
6) Emily Richardson; University of Rhode Island
7) Grace Allen; Delaware Valley University
8) Olivia Del Pinal; Emory & Henry University
-- Reporting by Grace Neumuth
