Equestrian
With a top-five finish in the McDonald Scholarship Challenge, a top-15 performance in the Cacchione Cup class and two reserve championships, the equestrian team had its best-ever national performances at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships this weekend.
On Thursday, co-captains Meg Rauner ’17 and Claire Bick ’18 were the first Big Green riders to be tested. Bick led off with an athletic ride on Banks, a horse provided by Randolph College, and finished second in the 16-rider intermediate flat class. Rauner drew the same horse as Bick, and after consulting with her teammate, rode Banks to a second-place finish in novice flat.
As the high point rider for Zone 1 Region 2, Olivia Champ ’19 competed in the Cacchione Cup, the highest class at Nationals. 38 Cacchione Cup competitors represented each of the 38 IHSA zones. Champ finished 14th in fences and made the cut for the flat portion of competition, where her final placing improved to 12th.
To qualify for the McDonald Scholarship Challenge, Erin McCarthy-Keeler ’19 had one of the top 16 scores in the nation on a written test of horse knowledge. On Sunday, the finalists competed in the practicum phase, where they interacted directly with horses. McCarthy-Keeler, who finished seventh in last season’s McDonald Scholarship Challenge, took fifth in this season’s competition.
The two reserve championships represent the new high-water mark for Big Green equestrian team in national competition.
Track and Field
The men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Yale University to compete at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships on Saturday and Sunday. This championship meet is the culmination of months of preparation for both teams and is arguably the team’s most important meet of the outdoor season. The women’s and men’s teams both finished in fifth overall in the team standings.
The Big Green women put three in the top four in the javelin throw. Olivia Wiener ’19 won the event with a 43.43m/142-6ft throw. Bridget Douglas ’18 was second in 42.45m/138-7ft, while Moriah Morton ’17 was fourth in 41.53m/136-3ft. Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20 emerged as the champion in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking 13.39 seconds in the final. Rothwell was also third in the long jump with a 5.95m/19-6.25ft leap and fifth in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 23.88s. In the hammer throw, Amelia Ali ’19 scored one point with her sixth-place finish in the hammer throw.
On Sunday, reigning Indoor Heps mile champion Helen Schlachtenhaufen ’17 placed second in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:29.97. Maria Garman ’19 and Miranda Lawson ’17 wrapped up the second day of the heptathlon on Sunday to finish fifth (4,828 points) and sixth (4,624 points), respectively. Claire Dougherty ’20 was sixth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:09.53. Olivia Lantz ’19 was fifth in the 5,000-meter run in 16:39.67. The 4x800-meter relay team of Dougherty, Bridget O’Neill ’18, Schlachtenhaufen and Bridget Flynn ’18 was fourth in 8:45.70. The 4x400-meter relay team of Marissa Evans ’18, Kayla Gilding ’19, Abby Livingston ’18 and Katy Sprout ’17 was sixth in 3:50.60.
Harvard ran away with first place, racking up 164 points. With 60 points, the Big Green barely edged Cornell University for fifth, finishing just 0.5 points ahead of the Big Red.
Corey Muggler ’17 placed second with a 7.83m/25-8.25ft leap, smashing the school record in the long jump of 7.66m/25-1.75ft set by Lane Burks ’97. Muggler was also sixth in the triple jump on Sunday with a 15.36m/50-4.75ft leap.
Julian Heninger ’17 was third in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:17.33. Alec Eschholz ’19 placed third in the 400-meter hurdles in 52.91s and Parker Johnson ’19 was sixth in 53.36s. In the men’s hammer throw, the Big Green received points from Colin Minor ’18 and Tim Brennan ’17 with fifth and sixth place finishes, respectively. Minor threw 61.84m/202-11ft, while Brennan threw 60.06m/197-0ft. In the javelin, Ben Colello ’18 placed fourth with a 59.18m/194-2ft throw, while Parker Whims ’19 placed sixth with a 58.71m/192-7ft throw. Lucas Ribeiro ’19 was fourth in the discus throw with a 49.56m/162-7ft throw. Shawn Ohazuruike ’20 and Alex Frye ’17 placed fifth (14.56s) and sixth (14.59s), respectively, in the 110-meter hurdles. Amos Cariati ’18 placed sixth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.39s. The men’s 4x800m relay team of Trevor Colby ’19, Michael Thurston ’20, Reed Horton ’19 and Pat Gregory ’18 was fifth in 7:32.27. The 4x400m relay team of Myles Holt ’20, Zach Plante ’18, Phil Gomez ’17 and Cariati was fifth in 3:13.38. Dartmouth’s best showing came in the decathlon, where Nico Robinson ’17, Ben Ose ’19 and Colello went 1-2-4, contributing 22 points to the team total.
Perennial heavyweight Princeton University scored 156 points to take the Outdoor Heps title back from Cornell, who finished second. Dartmouth finished in fifth with 63 points, a single point ahead of Yale.
