Hunt Seat equestrian team claims third Region 4 regular season title by slimmest of margins

Saturday, February 14

Lynchburg, VA

10:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

LU IHSA Show

Liberty senior Anna Pemble rode to a first-place finish at Saturday's regular season-ending Region 4 show at the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center. (Photos by Emily Cuthrell)

Hunt Seat equestrian team claims third Region 4 regular season title by slimmest of margins

2/16/2026 2:40:00 PM | Equestrian

Photo Gallery

The Lady Flames won Saturday’s final regular season show in their home arena by seven points to pull even with Sweet Briar College in the final standings and clinch the crown by tiebreaker.

Gallery: (2-16-2026) Hunt Seat Equestrian Region 4 show

After Saturday's regular season finale at the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center, a second-level tiebreaker was required to determine the IHSA Region 4 regular-season champion. Liberty University's Hunt Seat team emerged with that distinction by the slimmest of margins after winning High Point Champion honors with 42 points over Reserve Champions Sweet Briar College and Randolph-Macon College, which both totaled 35 points.

Christopher Newport University landed in third place with 29 points, followed by Longwood University (24), the University of Richmond (20), the College of William & Mary (16), and the University of Mary Washington (13).

"This is the third time we've won the region title and the second time in three seasons," Lady Flames Assistant Coach Kimi Counts said.

Individually, senior Anna Pemble finished first in Open Flat while sophomore Juliana Klapper won the Intermediate Flat division and placed second in Limit Fences, and junior Sophia Battin captured first place in Limit Flat to qualify for next Saturday's Region 4 Championships.

Meanwhile, sophomore Kate Love claimed a blue ribbon in Novice Flat, junior Alex Dixon placed first in Pre-Novice Flat, freshman Anna Talmadge won the Introductory division, senior captain Aliyah Hardesty finished runner-up in Limit Flat, and sophomore Abby Griffith — a Region 4 Championship qualifier in Intermediate Fences — finished third in Intermediate Flat.

Following eight shows, Liberty and Sweet Briar tied with 286 points in High Point Regional Team Champion totals.Per the IHSA rulebook, the tiebreaker gives the Team Champion award to the program with the highest score from its best five shows, with the other designated Reserve Team Champion. Both the Lady Flames' and Vixens' top five show scores totaled 199 points, so the second tiebreaker gave the team with the highest single-show point total the Champion title.

"Because our highest single show score was 47 points (Nov. 15 at Randolph-Macon College) and Sweet Briar College's was 43, Liberty won the tiebreak and we are Zone 4 Region 4 Champions," Counts said.

The regular season team championship qualifies the Lady Flames to compete as a team in the Zone 4 Finals at Goucher College on April 4, when the top two teams will advance to the IHSA National Championships from May 1-3 at Tryon International in Mill Spring, N.C.

This Saturday, Sweet Briar will host the Region 4 Championships in nearby Amherst, Va., where individual Zone 4 qualifiers will be determined and the Region 4 High Point Team Champion awarded.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer