Sweet Briar College
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On Sept. 27, six Sweet Briar College riders competed at the Tournament of Champions Pre-Season Classic hosted by Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., bringing home four individual ribbons in the first Intercollegiate Horse Show Association action of the year.
The Tournament of Champions is a non-sanctioned exhibition series in the team format of the IHSA National Collegiate Cup competition. Each team brings one rider in each of the eight IHSA class divisions, all riding for team points. The tournaments are invitation only and bring together a wide variety of top teams from all across the country.
“Many people consider them even more competitive than the IHSA national finals, where the best teams in the nation often eliminate each other in the process of just getting to nationals,” said Sweet Briar’s IHSA coach Ian McCartney. “Unlike nationals, where certain teams might come from ‘weaker’ areas of the country, the tournament’s invitational format brings the best teams from the best areas of the country to compete against each other.”
This year’s tournament featured teams from such perennial IHSA powerhouses as Mount Holyoke, Berry College, the College of Charleston, Savannah College of Art and Design, Virginia Intermont, Virginia Tech, Hollins, Mary Washington University, and Bridgewater, Lynchburg, Randolph and Goucher colleges — and, of course, Sweet Briar. In all, 20 teams from as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Georgia came to compete.
Riders from Sweet Briar included IHSA team newcomers Kelly MacDonald ’10, Liz Koslow ’13, Elizabeth Hansbrough ’13 and Brianna Belter ’13, as well as two returning veterans from last year’s squad, Emma Rakosky ’12 and Alysha Norbury ’10.
Among the day’s winners were Rakosky, who took first in Walk, Trot, Canter; Koslow who was second in Intermediate over Fences; Belter, who finished second in Novice over Fences; and Hansbrough, who was fifth in Novice on the Flat.
McCartney, who is in his first year teaching at Sweet Briar, said he and his riders were pleased with the results. The team was able to use the show as an opportunity for several new riders to gain experience before the season officially begins, he added.
The first show will be held at Randolph College on Oct. 16.
