FREDERICKSBURG, Vs. — The equestrian team kicked off the second portion of its schedule Saturday with a seventh-place finish at the Mary Washington Tournament of Champions. The Big Red also finished seventh in its series, which is the highest finish in program history.
 
The field featured 20 of the best teams around the country. Mount Holyoke won with 41 points, followed by Virginia Intermont's two teams (33 and 32, respectively), Virginia Tech (27), Delaware Valley (27), St. Andrew's (21), Cornell (21) and Lynchburg (20).
 
Here is a recap of the weekend from head coach Chris Mitchell:
 
Our day started with freshman Georgina de Rham in Intermediate Flat with a great third-place finish, getting us on the board with four points.
 
Senior Bronwyn Scrivens was next for us in the Open Fences. She went in and started her semester off with a bang as she blew away the competition with a big win, giving us 11 points.
 
Junior co-captain Emily Kowalchik rode well but did not place in the Intermediate Fences. Freshman Katti Horng then rode very well in the Walk Trot and placed sixth, bringing our total up to 12.
 
Freshman Mary Beth Hannon was next up for the Big Red in the walk/trot/canter and did a great job by placing third. Cornell now has 16 points and is still in the hunt with three divisions left.
 
Freshman Maddie Breen rode well in the Novice fences but did not place. Senior co-captain Katie Fink then rode in the Open Flat and did a great job by placing second, bringing us up to 21 points. Nazanin Behzad was our last rider and competing in Novice flat. She rode great, and but did not place.
 
Fink and Scrivens both rode the TOC Medal and both flatted extremely well, but only Katie moved on. She then rode a great jumping round and asked to test, placing fourth.
 
All the girls rode extremely well and when the Zones come by in April, we will be that much stronger. Next up is our home show on Sunday, Feb. 19.