Senior Emily Dolan was Reserve High Point Rider at Saturday's Boston University Show. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Skyhawks place third at Boston University and Mount Ida Shows, lead Region 4 by two points at close of fall season

EASTON, Mass. (October 29, 2012) – The Stonehill College equestrian team has taken over first place in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Zone 1, Region 4, standings at the conclusion of the fall season as a result of a pair of third place finishes over the weekend.

Stonehill finishes the fall portion of its schedule with 132 points to lead Boston University (130 points) by two points. The Skyhawks took third place at the Boston University Show on Saturday with 33 points, trailing just High Point Team Tufts University (35 points) and host BU (35) as Reserve High Point Team. Stonehill posted 33 more points in a third place finish at the Mount Ida College Show on Sunday, behind host Mount Ida (39) as High Point Team and Reserve High Point Team Wellesley College (36).

Senior Emily Dolan (Lacrosse, Wis./Aquinas) led Stonehill at Holly Hill Show Stables on Saturday by earning Reserve High Point Rider honors. She placed second for both open equitation over fences and open equitation on the flat.

Sophomores Cassandra Otis and Kayleigh McDonnell both collected blue ribbons for novice flat on Saturday. McDonnell followed that up with a second blue ribbon on Sunday. (PHOTO BY Kristen Stachnik)

Junior Miranda Williams (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) and freshman Rachel Fox (Smithfield, R.I./Smithfield) led four Stonehill riders to bring home blue ribbons on Saturday. Williams turned in a first place finish for her intermediate equitation over fences class, while Fox placed first in her intermediate equitation on the flat class. Sophomores Kayleigh McDonnell (Rutland, Vt./Rutland) and Cassandra Otis (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) both placed first in their novice flat classes.

Senior Martina Tramontozzi (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) placed second for intermediate equitation on the flat, while sophomore Danielle Franchi (Islip, N.Y./Islip) took third in open equitation over fences. Junior Sara Kelly (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) rounded out the top three finishers for the Skyhawks with her third place ribbon for intermediate fences.

Franchi led three blue ribbon performances for Stonehill at Mount Ida on Sunday with a first place finish in her open equitation over fences class. McDonnell earned a blue ribbon for the second straight day in her novice flat class, while freshman Chloe Robertson (Marion, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) placed first for walk-trot-canter.

Dolan followed up Saturday's performance with a second place finish in open flat to go with fifth place in open fences. Fox took second for intermediate flat and junior Caitlin Wright (Old Lyme, Conn./Mercy) placed second in walk-trot-canter. Otis collected a third place ribbon for novice flat on Sunday, while freshman Casey Gross (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) placed third in her novice fences class to round out the Skyhawks top three finishers on Sunday.

Stonehill is now off until the spring season when it will look to clinch a second straight Zone 1 Region 4 championship. The spring schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.