HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Sweet Briar IHSA team rode to its best finish at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championship this past weekend, finishing third as a team.
 
First-year Marran Vansickle (Powhatan, Va.) got the competition started for the Vixens on Thursday, riding to a fourth-place finish in collegiate cup limit fences.
 
Fellow first-year Ella Peterson (Ashland, Va.) also had a great performance on the first day of competition, earning a seventh-place finish in collegiate cup limit flat.
 
Sweet Briar also saw its first-ever individual champion at nationals when sophomore Emmy Longest (Hanover, Va.) bested all of her competitors in the individual open flat competition.
 
An extremely successful first day in Pennsylvania was capped by junior Sita Moses' (Dublin, N.H.) third place in the collegiate cup intermediate flat.
 
On day two, the Vixens saw two more third-place finishes from sophomores Nina Hugi (Chicago, Ill.) and Sarah Southard (Culpeper, Va.) in collegiate cup intermediate fences and novice flat, respectively. First-year Julianna McIntyre (Englewood, Fla.) was the final rider to compete on Friday, earning an honorable mention in collegiate cup introductory flat.
 
The National Championship wrapped up on today with sophomore Paige Kennedy (Purcellville, Va.) earning honorable mention in collegiate cup open fences followed by Longest's fifth-place finish in collegiate cup open flat.
 
Highlights

• Sweet Briar finished only two points behind LIU Post and Miami of Ohio who finished tied for second.
• Longest finished the season with eight first-place finishes in open flat competition.
• The team moved up five spots from its eighth-place finish in 2019.  

What's Next
The IHSA team will now begin to look ahead to the 2022-23 season.
 
Results
Nina Hugi - 3rd Collegiate Cup Intermediate Fences
Paige Kennedy - Honorable Mention Collegiate Cup Open Fences
Emmy Longest - Champion Individual Open Flat, 5th Place Collegiate Cup Open Flat
Julianna McIntyre - Honorable Mention Collegiate Cup Introductory Flat
Sita Moses - 3rd Collegiate Cup Intermediate Flat
Ella Peterson - 7th Collegiate Cup Limit Flat
Sarah Southard - 3rd Collegiate Cup Novice Flat
Marran Vansickle - 4th Collegiate Cup Limit Fences