Campus Equestrian: Zone 1, Region 3 Home Page

IHSA ZONE 1 - REGION 3

On December 7th Mount Holyoke College placed seventh out of 16 teams (15 schools) at the annual Holiday Tournament of Champions invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Lyons' final ride of the day resulted in a blue ribbon for Megan Bilamptis (on right, with assistant coach Morgan Lynch). A senior from Lexington, Massachusetts, Bilamptis was a winner in introductory equitation to raise the Mount Holyoke team total to 22 points. Earlier in the day Cate Bates was a winner in open flat, which kept the senior from Montclair, New Jersey undefeated in that division over the course of two Tournament of Champions events in 2024-25. Mount Holyoke was third at the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions in Westerville, Ohio on September 21st, only a point behind runner-up Savannah College of Art & Design and three points behind host and high point team Otterbein University.

From Danvers, Massachusetts, Milena Aggelikas (on left) gets her boots polished prior to competing in the individual introductory equitation class at 2024 IHSA Nationals in Mill Spring, North Carolina last May 4th. Aggelikas was the only member of the Minutemen to advance through Zones to Nationals last season. Aggelikas closed out her junior year by placing ninth in the division.

Seen here at the October 29, 2022 Mount Holyoke College show, Olivia Johnson of Williams College trained with Bennington College coach Tara Lowary while in middle school. In 2024-25 the junior from Bennington, Vermont has qualified for Regionals in novice equitation. This appears to make Johnson the first Williams rider since the covid-19-shortened 2019-20 season to qualify for the annual post-season event.

After having been left out of the show program due to a computer glitch, Springfield College had a good day at the October 22nd, 2023 UMass-Amherst show. The Pride scored 30 points, trailing only Mount Holyoke (with 47) and host UMass (with 35). Springfield head coach Jen Wilda (center) posed for this photo that day with Maggie Cyr (on left, from South Hadley, Massachusetts) and Kaitlyn Kupiec (on right, Pittsfield, Massachusetts). In 2024-25 Cyr and Kupiec are both seniors and both are inside the top ten of the Region 3 hunter seat open rider standings through November 3rd. Kupiec was tied for second in the region with Mount Holyoke's Bates with 32 points each.

A trip down Memory Lane: Way back on October 30, 2022 Abigail Ayotte of Bentley University (on right) posed with then-Bentley coach Liz Kleinfeld at a Zone 1, Region 4 show which Bentley coincidentally hosted. At that time the news was that Ayotte had pointed out of limit fences two weeks earlier. Fast-forward to 2024-25 and Bentley is in their second season in Region 3 while Ayotte (now a senior from Bolton, Massachusetts) was technically in fifth place in the hunter seat open rider standings after five shows.

Another year, another new team for Region 3. Trinity College was previously in Zone 1, Region 5 which was dissolved after the 2023-24 season and its' members were re-distributed into four other regions. Norah McCutcheon (pictured), a sophomore from Chatham, Massachusetts, is the first Trinity rider to qualify for Regionals since joining Region 3. Though Novmeber 3rd McCutcheon is one of seven Region 3 riders qualified in limit fences.

So far the first six photos on this page at the moment come from six different horse shows. The seventh is from the same show as the UMass photo of Aggelikas. However it is from a different day of 2024 IHSA Nationals. Seen here on May 3rd are Lili Evans of Mount Holyoke College (center) with Lyons Western head coach Kelli Wainscott (on left) and assistant coach Amanda Golembeski (a former UMass-Amherst rider). Team open reining was the last class on the first day of IHSA Nationals, and Evans was sixth in the division. This season the junior from Groton, Massachusetts is trying to make it two years in a row as the Region 3 high point open western rider which automatically means a trip to Nationals to compete for the individual high point open rider championship. Through the first five Western shows we have learned that Evans has opened up a double-digit lead in the Region 3 western open rider standings and is qualified for Regionals in open reining.

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The Zone 1, Region 3 Smorgasbord

Schools competing in Zone 1, Region 3 during the 2024-2025 school year: Amherst College, Bennington College, Bentley University, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Trinity College, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Williams College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Worcester State University.

Winter/Spring 2025 Show Schedule for Zone 1, Region 3:

Sunday, February 9 University of Connecticut (Host) at Horsebarn Hill Arena, Storrs, CT 9:00AM 2 WESTERN ONLY

Saturday, February 15 Mount Holyoke College (Host) at Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center, South Hadley, MA 9:00AM 2 WESTERN ONLY

Saturday, February 22 Worcester State University (Host) at Windstar Farm, Sterling, MA 9:00AM ENGLISH ONLY

Saturday, March 1 Mount Holyoke College (Host) at Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center, South Hadley, MA 9:00AM ENGLISH ONLY

Sunday, March 2 Zone 1, Region 3/4 Western Regionals Hosted by Mount Holyoke College at Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center, South Hadley, MA Time TBA WESTERN ONLY

Saturday, March 8 Zone 1, Region 3 Hunter Seat Regionals at Maplewood Farm, Berlin, MA Time TBA ENGLISH ONLY

Saturday, March 15 WESTERN SEMIFINALS - DAY 1 Hosted by the schools of Zone 3 at the Dream Park, Logan Township, NJ Time TBA WESTERN ONLY

Sunday, March 16 WESTERN SEMIFINALS - DAY 2 Hosted by the schools of Zone 3 at the Dream Park, Logan Township, NJ Time TBA WESTERN ONLY

Sunday, April 6 ZONE 1 ZONES at Mystic Valley Hunt Club, Gales Ferry, CT Time TBA ENGLISH ONLY

Friday through Sunday, May 2 - 4 IHSA NATIONALS at Tryon International Equestrian Center, Mill Spring, NC Time each day TBA ENGLISH AND WESTERN

An additional hunter seat show may be added. The University of Connecticut, which shows hunter seat in Zone 1, Region 4 shows western in Zone 1, Region 3. Show Schedule subject to change.

Recent Region 3 Team Champions

Hunter Seat:

1997 - Mount Holyoke College
1998 - Mount Holyoke College
1999 - Mount Holyoke College
2000 - Mount Holyoke College (1999-2000
IHSA Hunter Seat National Champions)
2001 - Mount Holyoke College
2002 - Mount Holyoke College
2003 - Mount Holyoke College
2004 - Mount Holyoke College
2005 - Mount Holyoke College
2006 - Mount Holyoke College (2005-06
IHSA Hunter Seat National Champions)
2007 - Mount Holyoke College
2008 - University of Massachusetts at Amherst
2009 - Mount Holyoke College
2010 - Mount Holyoke College
2011 - Mount Holyoke College
2012 - Mount Holyoke College
2013 - Mount Holyoke College
2014 - Mount Holyoke College
2015 - Mount Holyoke College
2016 - Mount Holyoke College
2017 - Mount Holyoke College
2018 - Mount Holyoke College
2019 - Mount Holyoke College
2020 - Mount Holyoke College
2022 - Mount Holyoke College
2023 - Mount Holyoke College
2024 - Mount Holyoke College

Western (started in Region 3 Fall 2008):

2009 - University of Massachusetts at Amherst
2010 - University of Massachusetts at Amherst
2011 - Mount Holyoke College
2012 - Mount Holyoke College
2013 - Mount Holyoke College
2014 - Mount Holyoke College
2015 - Sacred Heart University
2016 - Sacred Heart University
2017 - Sacred Heart University
2018 - Mount Holyoke College
2019 - Sacred Heart University
2020 - University of Massachusetts at Amherst
2022 - Mount Holyoke College
2023 - Mount Holyoke College
2024 - Mount Holyoke College

Regional Qualifiers

Open Level Rider Standings

Team Standings

ZONE 1 NEIGHBORS

Region 1 Homepage

Region 2 Homepage

Region 4 Homepage

Region 5 Homepage