No. 3 SMU equestrian defeats Fresno State, 13-4

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

No. 3 SMU Defeats Fresno State 13-4

DALLAS (SMU) – The third-ranked SMU equestrian team defeated Fresno State 13-4 at the Dallas Equestrian Center on Saturday.

"This team is continuing its strong build towards nationals," said Head Coach Carol Gwin. "I see all four sides coming together for collaborative wins. That is when you know you have a championship level contender."

With the win, SMU moves to 7-2 on the season with Fresno State falling to 1-7.

The Mustangs have now won 11 consecutive meets at the Dallas Equestrian Center.

Three Mustangs – Augusta Iwasaki (Fences), Nya Kearns (Horsemanship) and Taylor Zimmerman (Reining) – earned Most Outstanding Performer (MOP) honors. SMU has now been awarded three or more MOPs in seven consecutive meets.

The meet started with Fences and Horsemanship occurring simultaneously. SMU wasted no time jumping out to its lead, posting 4-1 Fences and 3-1 Horsemanship wins.

Iwasaki scored SMU's first point, defeating Fresno State's Bridey Jones by a margin of 22 (88-66). Iwasaki's 88 marked the highest Fences score of the meet. Elli Yeager and Hannah Hoch followed with scores of 85 and 80 to extend SMU's lead, 3-1. Fences was capped off with Taylor Madden, who defeated Elle Martin 78-60.

Kearns' earned her MOP by scoring SMU's first Horsemanship point over Ella Storch (80-76). The Illinois native's 80 marked a Horsemanship high score of the day. Alexa Black took home the Mustangs' sixth overall point in a 79-72.5 victory over Abby Goddard. Caroline Nielson then defeated Aubrey Gerdes (78-68) to put SMU up 7-2 heading into halftime.

The second half of the meet saw Flat and Reining coincide. The Mustangs picked up where they left off, earning wins both on the Flat (2-1) and Reining (4-1).

Katy Merchant defeated Fresno State's Elle Martin 79-67 for SMU's first point on the Flat. Emma Engel secured the Mustangs' win on the Flat with an 86-79 victory over Autumn Bradbury.

SMU closed the meet with a dominant showing in Reining. Zimmerman's MOP came with a 76-71 win over Fresno State's Brogan Hill, with Maria Richards defeating Shelby Robinette (73-71.5) soon after. Shelby Clausen and Lily Anderson finished off Reining with 76-69 and 77-74 wins.

The Mustangs travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Feb. 17 to take on the Cowgirls of Oklahoma State at the Pedigo-Hull Equestrian Center.