EAST WINDSOR, Conn. -- The Mount Holyoke College Hunt Seat Team traveled to Light House Hill Farm for their first IHSA show of the spring semester on Saturday, hosted by Springfield College, taking second place among 11 competing colleges.
MHC sophomore Emi Graf (Belmont, Mass.) finished as Reserve High Point Intermediate Rider, while senior Lila Hancock (Morrisville, Vt.) won High Point Novice Rider honors, and first-year Nory van Rhyn (Montclair, N.J.) took Reserve High Point Novice Rider honors in her IHSA debut.
To switch things up a bit, Limit fences went into the ring first, with sophomore Bessie Huggins (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) placing first in Section A. Junior Lainey Nibbio (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) entered the ring in Section B and placed fifth. Next up was Limit flat, with first-year Sophia Bull (Lumberton, N.J.) placing first and Huggins placing sixth in their respective sections.
In the ring next was Novice. In Section A, first-year Salome Hizanishvili (Newton, Mass.) placed second. In Section B, Hancock placed first, qualifying for Regionals. In Section C, van Rhyn made her IHSA debut and placed first.
The introductory division was up next with sophomore Natsume Maeda (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and sophomore Peixi Jia (Dongguan, China) placing third and second, respectively.
After a quick schooling break, junior Eliza Mutz (Stanford, Calif.) went into the ring for Open Fences and placed fourth. In Intermediate Fences, Graf placed first, and junior Carly Bitler (Seymour, Ill.) placed sixth. In Intermediate Flat, Mutz placed fourth, qualifying for Regionals, and senior Charlotte Subak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) placed second, also qualifying for Regionals. Lili Evans ended the day in Open Flat and placed fourth.
Hancock (Novice), Mutz (Intermediate Flat), and Subak (Intermediate Flat) all qualified for regionals with their performances.
Final Team Results:
1) University of Massachusetts Amherst - 37 points
2) Mount Holyoke College - 30 points
3) Amherst College - 28 points
4) Worcester Polytechnic Institute - 27 points
5) Bentley University - 21 points
6) Trinity College - 15 points
7) Smith College - 14 points
8) Springfield College - 12 points
9) Worcester State University - 11 points
10) Westfield State University & Williams College - 6 points
Mount Holyoke competes in its second show of the weekend Sunday at Bonnie Lea Farm in Williamstown, Mass.
-- Reporting by Grace Neumuth
