No. 3 SMU equestrian stampedes South Dakota State, 17-1

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

No. 3 SMU Captures 10th Straight Home Win, Defeats South Dakota State 17-1

DALLAS (SMU) – The No. 3 SMU equestrian team captured its second win in two days after its dominant 17-1 showing against South Dakota State at the Dallas Equestrian Center on Saturday.

"It was great to come out with a bang this weekend," said Head Coach Carol Gwin. "The team showed tremendous effort throughout the last two days, and I credit Brad Kearns and Laura Persons for having the entire group so well prepared."

SMU's win marks the Mustangs' largest win margin since last season's 19-1 victory over Delaware State.

The Mustangs improve to 6-2 on the season with the win. SMU has now won ten consecutive meets at the Dallas Equestrian Center.

Augusta Iwasaki (Fences), Taylor Madden (Flat), Alexa Black (Horsemanship) and Lily Anderson (Reining) all earned Most Outstanding Performer honors (MOP).

The meet started with Fences and Horsemanship occurring simultaneously.

The Mustangs jumped out to a dominant start, leading South Dakota State 4-1 after Fences. Iwasaki got SMU on the board first with the event's highest overall score in her 86-70 win over Sophia Kregoski. Elli Yeager responded with a 68-63 win against Kayla Scherer, with Taylor Madden securing the Fences winning point in her 84-73 MOP ride against Hannah Steele. Katelyn VandenBurg then wrapped up Fences with a 78-55 win over Cali Karbler.

SMU continued its scoring barrage with a 5-0 sweep in Horsemanship, beginning with a 76.5-74 win from Lily Anderson over South Dakota State's Grace Gerbus. Caroline Nielson picked up the Mustangs' second event point, defeating Paige Wellendorf, 76-74. Black bested Annika Hanson 77-75 in her MOP ride to score SMU's third Horsemanship point. Nya Kearns (77-75.5) and freshman Jayna Lagace (73.5-68) followed, capping off the sweep with wins over Shelby Cochran and Brighton McBride.

The second half of the meet saw Flat and Reining coincide.

SMU went on to earn a 5-0 sweep on the Flat to kick off the second half. Emma Engel scored first for SMU on the Flat, edging past Virginia Klecker by one (73-72). Katy Merchant earned a 75-70 win over Karbler, with Madden following for her second point scored of the day in an 84-73 victory against Kregoski. Hensley Humphries earned an 83-73 win, and Iwasaki scored her second point of the afternoon with an 80-72 win to finish off the event sweep.

The Mustangs continued to roll through Reining, capturing a 3-0 win in the event. Anderson posted her second win of the day with an MOP ride, defeating McBride, 73-71. Shelby Clausen (72.5-71.5) and Chalyce Head (72-68) went on to score the last two points for SMU.

SMU returns to action on Feb. 3 in a re-match against Fresno State at the Dallas Equestrian Center. Saturday's meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (CT).