BRISTOL, Va. – The Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College IHSA Team captured its fifth-straight regional championship on Saturday with a first-place finish at home. Additionally, the Wasps qualified seven riders for individual competition at regionals. The Wasps won all but one competition over the season, taking reserve honors in that class.

The Basics
TEAM PLACE – 1st/9
LOCATION – Bristol, Virginia
VENUE - Emory & Henry College Equestrian Center

The Results
- Open competition saw sophomore Sara Bender (Camp Hill, Pa.) pick up back-to-back wins in her section of fences and flat; she rode Gigi and Will respectively. Junior Emma Pell (Winchester, Va.) also won over fences with her draw Nobel and on the flat aboard Disco.
- In the Intermediate competition, senior Kendall Madison (Westtown, N.Y.), riding Kato, won the first over fences section. Additionally, junior Ava Harry (Wake Forest, N.C.) won her section aboard Archie over fences. The flat portion saw both junior Liv Abbruzzi (Irmo, S.C.) and freshman Olivia Del Pinal (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.) pick up second-place finishes riding Dove and Archie, respectively.
- Limit Competition started with the over fences portion with sophomore Alexa Zorbas (Purcellville, Va.) winning aboard Ozzy and freshman Natalie Ross (Buckhead, Ga.) riding Seal to fifth place. The flat portion saw junior Sierra Smith (Olathe, Kan.) add another win to the Wasps' daily total with her mount Sunny. Junior Madison Couperthwait (Otego, N.Y. ) won her section aboard Trane.
- The Novice division saw freshman Hannah Rosen (Falls Church, Va.) ride Leo to a win at Pre-Novice. While senior Sam Belcher (Glen Allen, Va.) rode Imani to a second-place finish.
- Intro Hailey Thomas (Meadowview, Va.) rode Talisman to a fifth-place finish.

The Awards
- The Wasps were the High-Point Team of the day, with 47 out of 49 possible points. Western Carolina University was the Reserve High-Point Team.
- Bender was named High-Point Rider of the Day, after winning the test to determine the tie between her and Pell.
- Pell was the Reserve High-Point Rider of the Day.

Regional Qualifiers
- By virtue of its regular-season championship, E&H advances to the Zone 4 Championships in April which will be hosted by Sweet Briar College.
- The following individuals have qualified for the Zone 4-Region 5 Championship:

• Emma Pell: Open Fences & Open Flat

• Sierra Smith: Limit Fences

• Kendall Madison: Limit Flat

• Reme Sharp: Limit Flat

• Maddie Whitley: Novice Flat

• Skyler Shaw: Novice Flat

• Alex Osborne: Novice Flat

Up Next
- Emory & Henry will host the Zone 4-Region 5 Championship on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.