TCU Equestrian Hosts Big 12 Championship Tomorrow With Baylor, OSU, and Kansas State
TCU Equestrian
FORT WORTH, Texas – No. 7 TCU opens post-season play Friday, hosting the 2015 Big 12 Championship at Turning Point Ranch. The Horned Frogs will begin competition against No. 3 Baylor at 10:00 a.m. in Springtown.
“It is an honor to host the Big 12 Championship at Turning Point Ranch. It promises to be a great competition between four talented and well coached teams,” said TCU Director of Equestrian Haley Schoolfield. “We would love to have as many TCU fans as possible come out to Springtown and cheer us on.”
The Horned Frogs, who are 5-6 overall, head into this weekend as the No. 4 seed after finishing the regular-season with a 2-4 conference record. With a victory, the Frogs will play the winner between No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 3 Kansas State at 10:00 a.m. CT on Saturday in Springtown, with the two losing sides meeting to determine third and fourth-place honors.
“Post-season competition is always exciting,” said Hunt Seat Head Coach Logan Fiorentino. “It’s what we prepare for all season long and the team is looking forward to competing at Big 12’s with a great home environment. I know that our great fans will give our team the edge we need to come out on top.”
Follow The Horned Frogs
A full recap and final results will be made available following both day’s of competition on GoFrogs.com. During the meets, live results will be made available on the official TCU equestrian twitter page. Fans are encouraged to follow @TCUWEquestrian.
The All-Time Series
TCU will battle the Bears for the 16th time in program history Friday and the third time this season. The Frogs will look to improve to 7-8 all-time against Baylor after falling last month, 11-9, in Springtown.
Championship History
TCU will take on Baylor in the opening round for a second-straight year Friday. The Horned Frogs fell last spring to the Bears, 11-9. TCU will look to capture its first win in program history at the Big 12 Championships Friday.
“The Big 12 Championship is a very exciting time for our team,” said Western Head Coach Kindel Walter. “We work hard all year to compete against the best competition in our sport. We are even more thrilled to be hosting it this year.”
Scouting TCU
TCU comes into this Friday’s showdown looking to move to 6-6 on the season. The Horned Frogs, who stayed put at No. 7 in the NCEA rankings this week, fell to nationally ranked Georgia in their last outing, 10-5.
Individually, several student-athletes have shined during the 2014-15 campaign on the Hunt Seat side, including sophomore Kari Hancock who has captured five MOP honors in Equitation on the Flat. The Alaska native has now posted six MOP awards during her young career and is 8-3-0 on the season in Equitation on the Flat. Finally, senior Kaitlin Perry has recorded a 14-6-2 mark with three MOP’s between the two disciplines.
On the Western side, Megan McMullen has been victorious, riding to a 7-1-1 record in Horsemanship with three MOP’s. In Reining, Katelyn Gray, who is 7-5-0 in Horsemanship, leads the way for TCU with an 8-3 mark and two MOP’s. Chantz Stewart has been just as productive, going a perfect 6-0 in competition during conference play in Reining with two MOP’s.
Scouting Baylor
Baylor heads into post-season boasting an 11-4 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in league play. The Bears, who are the No. 1 seed this weekend, closed the regular-season only claiming one victory in their last five outings, with the win coming at TCU. For the season, Baylor had 21 student-athletes named to the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 Equestrian Team this week.
Notables include Samantha Schaefer who is 10-1 on the season in Equitation over Fences. The returning All-America honoree has also posted 10 victories in Equitation on the Flat. On the Western side, senior Parris Rice brings an 8-2 mark into Friday’s showdown in Horsemanship.
TCU Excels In The Classroom
The TCU equestrian program had nine student-athletes named to the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 Equestrian Team Tuesday afternoon.
Earning first-team accolades were senior’s Alexi Child and Katelyn Gray, while junior Erin Gillette and sophomore Kari Hancock rounded out the Horned Frogs’ first-team recognition. Hancock was one of only four student-athletes in the conference to post a 4.00 grade point average.
Picking up second-team accolades were Brooke Boyle (So.), Megan McMullen (So.), Kaitlin Perry (Sr.), Colby Plott (Jr.) and Chantz Stewart (Jr.).
Child Awarded NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
Senior equestrian student-athlete Alexi Child was recently named a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
Child, an Oregon native, is a two-time NCEA All-America honoree and was named the 2014 Big 12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while also being nominated for the prestigious 2014 NCEA Elite Equestrian Student-Athlete Award. A multiple time NCEA Academic All-American selection, Child is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree. She has been a member of the NCEA Academic Honor Roll the last two seasons and closed out her junior campaign boasting a 4.00 GPA in movement science.
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically, and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
Up Next
TCU will next be in action at the 2015 NCEA Championships in Waco, beginning on Thursday, April 16. Brackets for nationals will be released following competition this weekend.
