From May 6-9, the Lyons equestrian team will be riding at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. With a resounding victory at the Zone 1 Championships earlier this month, the Lyons secured their team title with a total of 47 points, finishing nine points ahead of second-place Stonehill College. This is the 19th time overall that the outstanding performances of the Mount Holyoke riding team have advanced them to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championships.
Having seen the team’s achievements at previous Championships, Lindsay Sceats ’11, the team captain, is very much looking forward to the coming competition and optimistic about the team’s performance. “We have had a great year so far, and we hope to continue our strong riding at Nationals. While we certainly aim to be in the top ten – maybe even win – we know that it is an honor just to compete in Kentucky. But if everything goes our way, we have riders capable of earning a national championship.”
Sceats herself nabbed top honors in both the open fences and open flat divisions in the earlier Championships. She was crowned Cacchione Cup High Point Champion for Zone 1 and will compete for the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Cacchione Cup at the National Championships.
According to Sceats, Mount Holyoke’s riding team for Kentucky include Belinda Wenke ’11 who’ll compete in Walk Trot, Amanda Ross ’11 for Walk Trot Canter, Jordan McMullen ’12 for Novice Flat, Sally Gibb ’13 in Novice Fences, Allison O’Neill ’13 in Intermediate Flat and Fences. Sceats herself is also in the team, competing in Open Flats and Fences. Indeed, riders in the Kentucky team all have excellent records. Ross has just won at this year’s Intercollegiate Dressage National Championships, which were held at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina, from April 23-26. Gibb and O’Neil joined Sceats as champions in their divisions in the past Zone 1 Championships. As a result of their performances in the individual portion of the Zone Championships, three individual riders also qualified for the National Championships in their divisions. Margaret Swanson ’12 earned a Reserve Championship in the novice fences division and will compete in Novice Fences, Elizabeth Tripp ’11 claimed top honors in the open fences division and will ride in Intermediate Fences, and Sceats is competing for the Cacchione Cup.
The team has definitely been working extremely hard for the national honors. Sceats talked about their preparations: “To prepare, we have been riding as much as possible (hello 7 a.m. practices!) on many different horses. We have also been lucky enough to train with Linda Langmeier, a nationally recognized coach and judge, in addition to our regular team practices.” Besides training, all riders,” as Sceats puts it, “are all trying to think as calmly and positively about the show as possible. No matter what happens, as a captain I am so proud of the work my team has done to get this far. Now we just need to prove it!”
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