Lady Flames Hunt Seat riders third at Zone 4 Final, with three individual national qualifiers

Saturday, April 4

Towson, MD

9:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Zone 4 Championship

Hunt Seat equestrian national qualifiers

Liberty Head Coach Suzanne Flaig (left) and Assistant Coach Kimmie Counts bookend IHSA National Championship qualifiers Sophie Battin, Abby Griffith, and Aliyah Hardesty on Saturday at Goucher (Md.) College..

Lady Flames Hunt Seat riders third at Zone 4 Final, with three individual national qualifiers

4/4/2026 10:54:00 PM | Equestrian

Liberty landed one point behind host Goucher College, nearly advancing as a team for the first time.

Liberty University's Hunt Seat equestrian team placed third at Saturday's Zone 4 Championship finals at Goucher (Md.) College, qualifying three riders for the first time to the May 1-3 IHSA National Championships at Tryon International in Mill Spring, N.C.

The Lady Flames totaled 36 points in the eight events, missing qualifying as a team to nationals for the first time by one point behind host Goucher, the Reserve High Point Champion with 37 points. Cross-town University of Lynchburg was the Team High Point Champion with 43 points.

"The team did an amazing job today and scored a team high for the Zone 4 Championship," Liberty Head Coach Suzanne Flaig said.

Liberty's three national qualifiers are senior captain Aliyah Hardesty, the Reserve High Point Champion in Novice Flat; junior Sophie Battin, the Reserve Champion in Limit Flat; and sophomore Abby Griffith, who finished third in Intermediate Fences, but earned a spot as the first-place finisher declined her nationals bid due to a scheduling conflict.

"None of these riders have been to nationals before or have ever competed at Tryon," Flaig said.

Three other Lady Flames riders competed at the Zone 4 show, with sophomore Juliana Klapper placing third in Limit Flat, senior Anna Pemble finishing ninth in Open Flat, and junior Madeleine Hammond taking 10th in Intermediate Flat.

In the IHSA Western Semi-Finals held March 21-22 in Las Cruces, N.M., senior Angel Lundin finished fifth in Beginner Western Horsemanship and junior Alex Dixon landed in fifth in Open Horsemanship, with both narrowly missing IHSA Nationals bids with top-four showings.
Hunt Seat equestrian