Six Individuals Join Equestrian Team at Zone 1 Championships

Stonehill returns to Zone Championships after a seven-year hiatus


McConville

Hanson

Kotfila

Scibek

Solar

McCutcheon

Gorsky

Lennon

Cerretani
 

EASTON, Massachusetts (April 5, 2019) – Six members of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Zone 1, Region 4 champion Stonehill College equestrian program will join the team in competition at the IHSA Zone 1 Championships after their individual performances at Zone 1, region 4 Championships, hosted by Boston University at Holly Hill Show on Saturday.

Stonehill, which qualified for Zone 1 Championships as a team for the 10th time, won the region by 22 points after three-straight first-place ribbons to cap the regular season. The team will ride with six individuals at the IHSA Zone 1 Championships this Saturday, April 7 in South Hadley, Massachusetts, hosted by Mount Holyoke University. The team returns to Zone 1 Championships after a seven-year hiatus, last riding in 2012.

One of the individuals, junior Emma McConville, will be competing in open fences and open flat for the Cacchione Cup as she was named the Cacchione Rider after the final show of the season. This season she totaled five blue ribbons in the open division and she also qualified for her second IHSA Zone 1, Region 4 Championship in open fences this season and will be appearing in her second IHSA Zone 1 Championship.

Also in her second appearance at Zone Championships, junior Mariah Hanson will competed in two categories, including, novice flat and intermediate fences. At Regionals, Hanson took home first in novice flat and second in intermediate fences. The junior has totaled now eight first-place and two high point rider ribbons this season alone.

The third Skyhawk, junior Kaitlin Kotfila, also showing in her second Zone Championships, will compete in intermediate fences after her champion performance at Regionals last weekend. She qualified for intermediate fences in her first show of the season with a fourth place finish at Brandeis University.

Senior Rachel Scibek will show in novice fences in her first Zone Championships appearance. Scibek qualified for her first Regional performance after pointing out in her first show this season with a first-place ribbon at Boston College. At Regionals, Scibek took home reserve champion in novice fences.

After competing in their first Regional Championship, junior Laura Solar and sophomore Molly McCutcheon both qualified for the Zone 1 Championship and will ride for their first appearance. Solar took home second place in novice flat at Regionals after she qualified for the Championship in her first ride of the season at Brandeis University. McCutcheon, in her second season on the team, qualified at the Endicott Show in March to get to Regionals, where she earned her fourth blue ribbon of her career.

The individuals that will compete for the team at Zone Championships include:

McConville in open fences
Kotfila in open flat
Scibek in intermediate fences
Hanson in intermediate flat
Solar in novice fences
Shannon Gorsky in novice flat
Hannah Lennon in walk-trot-canter
Olivia Cerretani in walk trot

Stonehill finished on top of the region at the conclusion of the regular season and the team will compete at Zone 1 Championships on Saturday, April 6 at the Equestrian Center in South Hadley, Massachusetts, hosted by Mount Holyoke College. The top two ribbon winners at the Zone 1 Championships from each of the events and the top two teams overall will advance to the IHSA National Championships which will take place from Thursday, May 2 to Sunday, May 5.

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