The 2022-23 season was Head Coach Lori Rakoczy's 25th as Head Coach of the Sarah Lawrence College equestrian program, having taken the helm in 1994-95.
Rakoczy is a two-time IHSA Region Coach of the Year, receiving recognition in 2012 and '17.
While at SLC, Rakoczy has qualified at least one rider for IHSA Regional Championships in nearly every season as coach. Nineteen of those riders have also advanced to the Zone Championships level, most recently Ashley Spector-Townsend in 2023.Â
Three of Rakoczy’s Gryphons have won the IHSA Senior Athletic Academic Achievement Essay contest, a $500 award presented to one rider in the nation each year: Sarah Kauffmann ’06, Emma Mullaney ’07 and Liz Stitzel ’09.
Under Rakoczy’s tutelage, Liz Stitzel ’09 became SLC’s first four-time Regional qualifier and was also a four-time Zone Championships qualifier. In her rookie year, Stitzel was named Reserve Regional Champion and Reserve Zone Champion, earning her first trip to the IHSA National Championship. Stitzel returned to the national level as a sophomore, representing the entire region in the Cacchione Cup, where she finished as one of the nation’s top 20 riders. Stitzel became SLC’s first national champion when she became IHSA National Champion in the Alumni Equitation on the Flat class in 2013. Another pupil of Rakoczy, Jennifer Nadeau ’98 has also competed in the IHSA Alumni Division.
In 2011, Rakoczy’s Gryphons beat out reigning national-champion Centenary College at an IHSA All-Region Show. The feat marked the Cyclones’ only regular-season defeat in a three-year period.
In 2014, Emma Nogami was one of 23 riders in the nation to receive an IEF Scholarship for her accomplishments in the sport.
Rakoczy came to SLC with over 25 years of experience in the equestrian industry. She attended Pace University, where she was a three-year captain of the equestrian team while studying marketing and equine studies. A four-time Region 1 Championship qualifier, Rakoczy advanced to national competition twice—once as an individual qualifier in Open over Fences and once in team competition as the Setters’ open rider.
Rakoczy also competed as the Region 1 representative in the IHSA’s special Jumper Class for the nation’s elite riders.
Rakoczy began her coaching career at age 18. In her career, she has coached numerous local, state and national qualifiers, and many of her students have gone on to have careers in the profession.
