Hunt Seat equestrian qualifies as a team for Zone 4 finals, also advancing six individual riders

Saturday, February 21

Sweet Briar, VA

10:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Sweet Briar College

Madeleine Hammond Region 4 Championships

Junior Madeleine Hammond, who won the Intermediate Flat division at Saturday's Region 4 Championships at Sweet Briar College, is the only rider of the six individuals who qualified for the April 4 Zone 4 Championships who will be competing for the second time.

Hunt Seat equestrian qualifies as a team for Zone 4 finals, also advancing six individual riders

2/24/2026 11:32:00 AM | Equestrian

Photo Gallery

The Lady Flames won half of the eight divisions of competition at Saturday’s Region 4 Championships at Sweet Briar with two Reserve Champions.

Gallery: (2-24-2026) Equestrian at Region 4 Championships

Liberty University's Hunt Seat equestrian team, which won a tiebreaker with Sweet Briar College for the Zone 4, Region 4 regular-season crown, showcased its individual talent in Saturday's Region 4 Championships at Sweet Briar, in nearby Amherst, Va.

The Lady Flames, who qualified seven individual riders in nine events, will send six of them onto the April 4 Zone 4 Championships at Goucher (Md.) College near Baltimore, where they can qualify for the IHSA National Championships at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Springs, N.C., with top-two showings.

Sophomore Abby Griffith was deemed champion of the Intermediate Fences division while Madeleine Hammond, Liberty's only repeat Zone 4 qualifier, was the champion rider in Intermediate Flat, and fellow junior Sophie Battin won the Limit Flat division. Team captain Aliyah Hardesty captured a blue ribbon in Novice Flat while fellow senior Anna Pemble was named Reserve Champion for her runner-up showing in Open Flat, and sophomore Juliana Klapper qualified as the Reserve Champion in Limit Flat.

Suzanne Flaig Liberty equestrian head coach — Head Coach Suzanne Flaig was named Region 4 Coach of the Year for the third time.

"We will have a strong presence at Zones," said Liberty Head Coach Suzanne Flaig, who was named the Region 4 Coach of the Year while the Lady Flames were awarded their Region 4 Champion High Point Team trophy at Sweet Briar. "There were eight divisions, and we won half of them and had an additional two riders qualify as Reserve Champions."

Flaig is optimistic about those six riders' chances of advancing to nationals.

"I feel good about it, especially after their performances on Saturday," she said. "We seem to be doing some of our best riding of the year now and are continuing to trend up, so it's a good time to be doing that."

Liberty will also represent Region 4 as one of five complete teams at the Zone 4 show vying for two national qualifications. The Lady Flames previously won regular-season team titles in 2017 — Flaig's first season at the helm, when they finished fifth — and in 2024, when they placed third, narrowly missing the cut.

She said Liberty definitely has the depth of talent to challenge for a team bid to nationals.

"You have to have depth in all of your divisions, from open down to intermediate and flat riders," Flaig said. "We are fortunate to have a competitive team and competitive individuals. Our consistency and depth will carry the day as a team as we seek to qualify for nationals."

With continued development over the next five weeks, the Lady Flames will be prepared to shine in their Zone competition, both as individuals and as a team.

"They definitely have the talent to be strong contenders," Flaig said. "We have a lot of work to do before then, and there are a lot of quality competitors, but we are really excited about the opportunity. We have a couple seniors and a few others that are years in the making. Some are first-timers, and some have been working with this ultimate goal in mind."

On March 7, Liberty's Western equestrian team will compete in its final regular-season show hosted by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., before the Lady Flames stay overnight for the Region 4 Championships at the same venue on March 8.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer