Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics
Mount Holyoke Riding beat six teams and placed first at the Williams College Show at Bonnie Lea Farm in their season opener on Saturday, Oct. 14.
By Baya Jaiswal ’27 and Genevieve Zahner ’26
Staff Writer | Sports Editor
Mount Holyoke College Riding competed at the Williams College Show at Bonnie Lea Farm on Saturday, Oct. 14, placing ahead of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Springfield College, Amherst College, Williams College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Bennington College. The Lyons came in first place with 47 points, an 18-point advantage over UMass Amherst, who placed second with 29 points.
Team Captain Emmie Mirarchi ’24 shared her thoughts on the team’s win.
“I was so proud of the team's performance today,” she said. “We couldn't have started off the season much better, so we're hoping to continue that. We had a lot of riders show for the first time or for the first time at a new level, so that was very exciting.”
The first event was open fences, in which Helena Weiss ’25 took first place. Emmie Mirarchi ’24 and Camille Cheng ’25 took first and second place in intermediate fences, and Chloe McElveen ’24 competed over fences for the first time and took second in the class. Charlotte Subak ’26 also competed in open fences and placed outside ribbons.
In limit fences, Eliza Mutz ’27 and Montse Hartwig ’27 placed fourth and fifth in what was their Intercollegiate Horse Show Association debuts. Sunita Pearson-Siegel ’24 placed third, Cate Bates ’25 placed fourth and Carly Bitler ’27 placed sixth.
Next, Weiss took first place in open flats, while Mirarchi took first in intermediate flats. In the three limit flat sections, Subak and Bates won two first-place ribbons. McElveen took second, Mutz took fourth and Bitler took fifth.
In the introductory event, Catherine Kazel ’24 placed first, followed by Ririka Kakuta ’25 and Megan Bliamptis ’26 in second and third place. In the pre-novice flat event, Sabella Riccio ’27 and Savannah Ma ’27 took fifth and sixth place in what was their first IHSA competition.
In the first section of the novice flat event, Mara Downie ’25 and Charlie May ’26 took first and second place. In the final section, Madison Hurley ’25 and Elliot Candela ’24 concluded the tournament, finishing in first and second place.
By the end of the tournament, Weiss won Reserve High Point recognition while Mirarchi won Overall High Point Rider and Intermediate High Point honors. McElveen was awarded Reserve Limit High Point honors, and Downie and Kazel swept the High Point Novice Rider and High Point Introductory Rider titles.
The riding team has had a strong start to the season, previously placing third place among 13 teams at the prestigious Pre-Season Tournament of Champions.
McElveen stated that she looks forward to the rest of the season.
“I’m both excited to see our new members get into collegiate competition and I’m proud of my team members that I’ve seen grow throughout the years into lovely strong riders,” she said.
Equestrian Coach C.J. Law shared the team’s goals for the year.
“[Our goals are] for each of the riders to do well and to feel positive about their rides in the arena, [and] to learn from every ride and to build upon their experiences,” she said. “Ultimate goals are to win the region, to advance to the IHSA Nationals and to do well at Nationals."
The Lyons will next compete on Saturday, Oct. 21, at the UMass Amherst Show.
Editor’s note: Savannah Ma ’27 is a member of Mount Holyoke News.