Hunt Seat equestrian team Reserve Champion at home show before placing third at Sweet Briar

Saturday, November 1

Lynchburg, VA

10:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

LU Hunt Seat IHSA Show

Freshman Anna Talmadge earned a blue ribbon for her first-place finish in Introductory riding Sunday at Sweet Briar College.

Hunt Seat equestrian team Reserve Champion at home show before placing third at Sweet Briar

11/4/2025 2:36:00 PM | Equestrian

The Lady Flames had multiple riders earn blue, red, and white ribbons at the events hosted Saturday at the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center and Sunday by the Region 4-leading Vixens.

Over Homecoming weekend, Liberty University's Hunt Seat equestrian program put on a good show in its home arena at the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center on Saturday, finishing as Reserve Team Champion in its second IHSA Region 4 show of the season.

The Lady Flames scored 33 points to place behind only Randolph-Macon College (35) and ahead of Christopher Newport University (30), Sweet Briar College (28), Longwood University (23), Mary Washington University (21), the College of William & Mary (10), and the University of Richmond (8).

However, just 24 hours later, at a third show hosted by Sweet Briar in nearby Amherst, Va., the Vixens dominated the competition, racking up 43 points to capture their second team championship and pad their one-point lead to 12 points in the Region 4 team standings.

CNU was the Reserve Team Champion with 32 points Sunday, followed by the Lady Flames (30) in third with Randolph-Macon (26), and Mary Washington (24) rounding out the top five.

Liberty is now tied with Randolph-Macon for third place in the Region 4 standings with 91 points, right on the heels of CNU (92) but well behind Sweet Briar's 103-point total after three shows.

On Saturday, senior Anna Pemble finished first in Open Flat, and junior Madeleine Hammond also captured a blue ribbon in Intermediate Flat and a red ribbon for second place in Limit Fences to tie for Reserve High Point Rider honors.

Senior team captain Aliyah Hardesty qualified for the Region 4 Championships with her blue-ribbon performance in Novice Flat, sharing first place honors with freshman Kelley Berlin. Senior Leah Hoffman finished second in Intermediate Fences, while juniors Sophie Battin and Jessica Berger both placed third in Limit Flat and Novice Flat, respectively.

At Sweet Briar on Sunday, Hammond rode to another blue ribbon in Intermediate Flat while sophomore Juliana Klapper finished first in Limit Flat and freshman Anna Talmadge won the Introductory division. Sophomore Kate Love placed second in Novice Flat, while Pemble and senior Anna Rotter placed third in Open Flat and Novice Flat, respectively.

The Lady Flames have two more Region 4 shows scheduled this month, at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., on Nov. 15, and William & Mary in Toano, Va., on Nov. 16. That same weekend, Liberty's Western team will compete in its third and fourth shows of the semester at Virginia Tech before concluding its fall schedule with two more competitions at North Carolina State on Nov. 22.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer