LAURINBURG, N.C. – Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College got its first taste of national championship competition over the weekend at the Affiliated National Riding Commission Collegiate Championship on the campus of St. Andrews University. The Wasps fielded two teams in the show as the National Division team finished third while the Novice Division squad was fourth.
E&H's third-place finish in the National Division was led by junior Bailey Halverson (Concord, N.C.) and junior Emily McBee (Cartersville, Ga.), who finished third and seventh, respectively as individuals.
Halverson was second in the Program Ride, third in the Derby Phase and 10th in the Medal Phase while McBee finished seventh in both the Program Ride and Derby Phase with an eighth-place finish in the Medal Phase. Senior Morgan Sollenberger (Concord, N.C.) also had a top-10 individual finish, placing sixth in in the Derby Phase.
As a team, E&H was second in the Program Ride, third in the Derby Phase, fourth in the Medal Phase and sixth in the Written Phase.
Savannah College of Art and Design took National-Champion honors while Centenary (N.J.) College was the Reserve Champion. Sweet Briar College rounded out the top four.
The Novice Division saw the Wasps take the fourth spot highlighted by sophomore Nick Martino's (Bel Air, Md.) fourth overall finish. Junior Karissa Donohue (Benson, N.C.) notched a 10th-place finish in the division as well for E&H.
Martino led the way with a first-place finish in the Program Ride and was fourth in the Derby Phase. Donohue was seventh in the Program Ride which resulted in Emory & Henry finishing second as a team in the test.
The Derby Phase saw a third-place finish while the Wasps were seventh in the Written Phase and eighth in the Medal Phase.
In the team results, SCAD made it a clean sweep with a Novice Division Championship while the University of Virginia and Averett University were second and third, respectively.
Intermont Equestrian won the ANRC Collegiate Championship in 2004 and was the Reserve Champion in 2014. The program has won 18 national championships across four different governing bodies since 2001 including the 2015 Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) National Championship, its first under the patronage of Emory & Henry College.
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-photo courtesy of Lynlee Dutton