What’s in a name? For Eliza Hay ’15, it turns out, a lot.
“‘Hay is for horses’: I’ve heard it a million times,” says the equestrian star, who this year won the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association’s highest honor, the Cacchione Cup.
“For Eliza to win this is incredible. She is the best intercollegiate rider in the country,” beams head coach Bob Story. “Her name is on that trophy forever. She is on there with Olympic riders and some of the best riders to ever live. That’s how big of a deal this is.”
This is the third time Hay has competed for the cup, and her prior experience served her well in her senior swan song.
“My four years here at the College could not have been better,” says the business administration major, who also earned a reserve national champion honor in the individual open flat and finished in the top five in both of her team events as well, earning a reserve national champion honor in the team open fences and placing fifth in the team open flat. “Even though the Cacchione Cup is an individual competition, it means a lot to bring it to the College, and I know it means a lot to Coach Story, too.
It’s a huge honor I’ve been working really hard for my entire life, so it’s great to have that pay off.”
After all, she has a name to live up to.
– Photo by Mike Ledford
