MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE DRESSAGE CLUB TEAM
CAPTURES NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Mount Holyoke riders defeated seven of the best collegiate dressage teams from around the country to capture the title of 2002 Intercollegiate National Champions on April 27 through 28 at Johnson & Wales University Equine Center in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

The team—captain Amelia Chappelle, a junior; Elana Alexandria Bertram, a sophomore; Nicole Mazzeo, a first-year student; and Nina Akerley, a sophomore—came into the competition as undefeated Northeast Regional Champions. They defeated teams representing Cazenovia, Centenary, Lake Erie, Otterbein, St. Andrews Presbyterian, and Virginia Intermont colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to win the competition, sponsored by the Intercollegiate-Interscholastic Dressage Association. Chappelle, Bertram, and Mazzeo finished first in their respective levels in the team event.

Mount Holyoke riders scored several more victories during the individual competition. At first level, Chappelle took first place and sophomore Hilary Moore placed eighth; at upper training level, Bertram placed first and sophomore Elizabeth Goodridge fourth; and at lower training level, first-year student Annika Blumenthal won while Mazzeo took second place. In addition to the schools listed above, the University of Findlay, Johnson & Wales University, North Carolina University, Skidmore College, and the State University of New York at Cobleskill were represented in the individual competition.

Points in dressage are awarded for the execution of precision movements by a horse in response to barely perceptible signals from its rider. The sport has been likened to compulsory figures in ice skating, or movements in dance. MHC Dressage Club coach Rebecca Schurink congratulated the riders on their excellent performance. "I was very pleased we won and received the scores that we did," she said.

Michelle Hoffman, a 1998 graduate of Mount Holyoke, was instrumental in the creation of the Intercollegiate-Interscholastic Dressage Association in 1995.