Baylor Equestrian and TCU Equestrian Rack Up Weekend Wins

Frogs Defeat No. 6 Fresno State 

SPRINGTOWN, Texas – The No. 7 TCU equestrian team downed the No. 6 Fresno State Bulldogs in a 15-5 decision at Turning Point Ranch on Friday.

TCU (4-5) lengthened its winning streak to four against the Bulldogs (3-4) and backed up last week’s big win over No. 3 Texas A&M with another victory.

The Rundown

TCU took a 4-1 lead after Fences, with seniors Carley Barnett and Marisa Malevitis along with newcomers Alex Beneson and Elizabeth McKim all winning their respective points. Beneson had the highest score of the day in an 89-point ride on Callisto, winning against Alex Dirickson’s score of 85. This is the first MOP of her young career as well as her first collegiate win.

In Reining, the Frogs had a strong showing with sophomores Elena Hurd and Claire Dittrich and newcomers Adrianna Adams and Mackenzie Preston earning their points for TCU. Elena Hurd’s 71.5-point ride on Cash earned her the first MOP title of her career and was one of only three scores in the 70s; one other belonging to Dittrich. Her 71.5-point score is her career high in NCEA play. At the half, TCU led 8-2.

In Horsemanship, senior Elizabeth Bohn, junior Jamie Cook, and sophomores Laska Anderson and Cydney Benes scored four points, with Anderson earning the MOP for her 77-point ride on Flash. This is her second MOP of the season and the fourth of her career. The win brings her season record to 8-1. Benes also had a high scoring ride on Bob, riding to a 76.5-point decision against Julia Kelly’s 72.5. That score of 76.5 ties her career-high, which she earned while at Auburn.

Rounding out the meet was Equitation on the Flat, where seniors Mady Fithian, Carley Barnett and Jayme Omand collected their respective points for the Frogs. It seemed Alex Beneson had earned her point, but fell by one to Sierra Swaffar on Flash, 81-80. Carley Barnett outscored Dirickson 76-69 on Pim, and Fithian edged Kylina Chalack to a 70-69 decision. Jayme Omand earned her second MOP on the Flat and tallied her seventh win of the season with her 85-point ride on Charon, downing Fresno State’s Brooke Nelson’s score of 75.

Notes

• This is Elizabeth McKim’s first collegiate meet.
• Half of the MOPs earned the first MOP of their career.
• TCU improves to 12-8 all-time against Fresno State.

Anderson, Beneson, Bohn, and Hurd all had a career-high score.

Up Next

TCU will travel to Waco, Texas to take on conference foe Baylor on Feb. 10.

  

Baylor Equestrian Rallies Late to Defeat Auburn, 9-8

WACO, Texas – No. 8 Baylor equestrian (3-3, 1-1 Big 12) grinded out a 9-8 win over No. 5 Auburn on Friday afternoon at the Willis Family Equestrian Center, the first meet of the spring schedule for the Bears.

The meet got off to a rocky start in fences, with the Bears held scoreless, but both Abby Jorgensen’s 78 and Brittney Mirkov’s solid 82 tying their opponents’ scores. Those points would prove crucial to limit AU’s lead after fences to 3-0.

The teams transitioned into reining, where Kaylynn DeBernard was the first to put BU on the scoreboard with a solid 71. Abbi Demel and Carly Salter both snagged a point, solidifying a 3-2 event win and cutting the lead for the Tigers down to 5-3 at the break.

In horsemanship, Elizabeth Forney, Abbi Demel, and Charlotte Green each put the Bears on the board, bringing BU’s score to 3-1 in the discipline and a 6-3 win in the western side of competition. Forney’s 76-71 win earned the Most Outstanding Performance (MOP) honors.

Tied up at 6-6 with flat closing out the meet, the teams traded points through the bracket, coming down to AU’s Hayley Iannotti facing BU’s Grace Thiel’s score of 85 with the meet tied at 8-8 and the result hinging on the final ride. Iannotti’s score of 77 clinched the point and the win for BU, with Thiel’s score holding to give the Bears a 9-8 win over the Tigers. Rachael Davis and Rachel Van Allen secured BU’s two other points, with Van Allen taking MOP honors with a 78-62 win.

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Freshman Elizabeth Forney, earned her first collegiate MOP.
• The win is the first home victory over a ranked opponent at Baylor for first-year head coach Casie Maxwell.
• Senior Rachel Van Allen earned her first MOP award of the season.

TOP QUOTES

“This was a huge win for us today. We have been practicing hard in preparation for today and it’s an amazing feeling to see it all pay off. This win is a big confidence booster and gives us momentum going into TCU and the rest of the season. After today we know what we need to tweak in practice to come out even stronger against TCU next Saturday.” – Rachel Van Allen, JR, Hunt Seat

“Today was a great win for our team and a great start to the spring season. I am really proud of how our team rallied and finished the day with such great momentum. We had strong rides across the board which we needed entering this segment of our season. We’re looking forward to cleaning a few things up and preparing for TCU next week.” – Baylor head coach Casie Maxwell 

STAT OF THE DAY 
3 – the number of tied rides in today’s competition, proving to be a crucial difference maker down the stretch to allow the Bears to mount a comeback.

WHAT’S NEXT 

The Bears will face Big 12 rival, No. 7 TCU, on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Springtown, Texas.