Dartmouth Hosts 2019 IHSA Zone I, Region 2 Regional Championships

Saturday, March 30

Etna, N.H.

10:00 AM

Dartmouth College

Regional Championships

Sophie Lenihan riding a horse at morton farm

Photo by: Doug Austin

Dartmouth Hosts 2019 IHSA Zone I, Region 2 Regional Championships

4/1/2019 10:21:00 AM | Equestrian

Big Green sending riders through to Nationals after strong showing at Zones.

By: Sue Mohieldin

ETNA, N.H. – The Dartmouth Equestrian team hosted the 2019 IHSA Zone I, Region 2 Regional Championships at Morton Farm on Saturday. Dartmouth had concluded the regular season by clinching the reserve regional champion title the previous week and was presented with the hardware.

Eleven schools from Region 2 had riders competing on Saturday for an individual shot at qualifying for the Zone I New England Championships at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, on April 6.

Riders need to finish first or second in their respective classes at Regionals in order to qualify for Zones. On Saturday, the Big Green qualified three riders in three different classes for regionals: Olivia Champ '19 in Open Fences, Shira Hornstein '21 in Novice fences and Sophia Kocher '21 in Walk Trot Canter.

Champ secured a second-place finish in her Open Fences class and will be competing at Zones next week for a place at Nationals in Syracuse, New York. Hornstein placed fifth in her competitive Novice fences class and Kocher placed third in her 15-person class of Walk Trot Canter.

Captain Olivia Champ and junior Captain Sophie Lenihan also competed at the Open Challenge class, where the top-10 riders from the Open Division competed against one another. Dartmouth swept the Challenge class with Champ claiming the title of Open Challenge Champion for the third year and Lenihan claiming reserve champion.

Dartmouth also hosted a Battle of the Alumni class where multiple Dartmouth Equestrian alumni returned for a friendly challenge. Janna Wandzilak '14 came in sixth place, Lindsey Seewald '16 came in fifth place and Storey Dyer Kloman '17 claimed the champion title.

Regional awards were presented at the show where Dartmouth's horse Bodie was voted the Zone 1 Region 2 MVP of the Year, for his impeccable skills and reliability. Furthermore, team manager Suehayla Mohieldin '19 won the 2019 USHJA/IHSA Regional Sportsmanship Award. The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association, in collaboration with United States Hunter Jumper Association opened nominations for the award where one student-athlete from each IHSA region was selected. The award aims to recognize exceptional sportsmanship exhibited throughout all levels of riding across the country. Mohieldin was nominated by her teammates and was then voted for by the entire region.

The team is preparing to compete at the Ivy Championship Show at Cornell on April 14.