Lennon |
Goharzadeh |
Whittaker |
Stonehill capped the regular season with multiple top-five finishes including second and third place finishes two weeks ago at the Wheaton/Bridgewater State Show and Brandeis/UMass Lowell Show show. Overall as a team, the team finished second and the Skyhawks will now prepare for IHSA Zone 1 Championships which are scheduled for Saturday, April 9 at the Equestrian Center in South Hadley, Massachusetts hosted by Mount Holyoke College.
This is the third-straight year that Equestrian has sent multiple riders to Zone 1, Region 4 Championships to compete. It marks the first-ever appearances for Ariel Goharzadeh, Hannah Lennon, and Haley Whittaker.
Lennon, a senior, qualified for the regionals when she took home first place in novice flats for the first time in her collegiate career two weeks ago at the Wheaton/Bridgewater State Show. Overall on the season, Lennon competed at two other shows (Stonehill Show-Oct. 17 and Bentley University Show-Oct. 31) where she finished in fifth and third during novice. In her career, Lennon has recorded four second-place finishes all in walk-trot-canter during her freshman season.
Goharzadeh, a junior, qualified for regionals after her first-place finish in the limit flat event at the Brandies/UMass Lowell Show. For the season, she partook in all five regular-season shows, and in the first three shows (Boston University Show, Stonehill Show, and Bentley University Show), she was in the intermediate fences with finishes of fourth, third, and fifth respectively. In the fourth show (Wheaton/Bridgewater State), Goharzadeh was fifth in the limit flat. For her career, Goharzadeh has one other first-place finish which was at her IHSA debut at a Boston University Show when she won in limit flat. She also competed in the limit flat two other times and placed in second and third. Goharzadeh competed in the intermediate fences once in her career and finished sixth.
Meanwhile, Whittaker qualified for regionals when she finished first in novice and novice flat events during the Boston University and Wheaton/Brandies shows. In her career, Whittaker has two other first-place ribbons both in novice at the Bentley/Wheaton Show and Stonehill Show during the 2019-20 season. That season was also her IHSA debut and in her first show (Tufts University), Whittaker collected a second-place finish in the novice flat.
The top two ribbon winners at the Zone 1, Region 4 Championships from each of the events this weekend at Holly Hill Farm in Hanover, Massachusetts will advance to the IHSA Zone 1 Championships.
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