No. 3 SMU equestrian defeats No. 6 Auburn, 9-8

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

No. 3 SMU Defeats No. 6 Auburn 9-8

AUBURN, Ala. (SMU) – The No. 3 SMU equestrian team defeated No. 6 Auburn 9-8 at the Auburn University Equestrian Center on Saturday.

With Saturday's win, SMU marks the first team to defeat Auburn at the Auburn University Equestrian Center since 2017.

The Mustangs move to 8-4 on the season, including a 2-0 season sweep over the Tigers.

Two Mustangs – Elli Yeager (Fences) and Nya Kearns (Horsemanship) – earned Most Outstanding Performer (MOP) honors.

The meet started with the Flat and Reining occurring simultaneously, with SMU winning the Flat 3-1.

The Mustangs got out to a quick start on the Flat, taking three points and winning the event. Taylor Madden scored first, posting an 83.5 to defeat Auburn's Mary-Grace Segars. Augusta Iwasaki scored next for SMU with her 79.5-76 victory over Sophee Steckbeck. For the event-winning point, Elli Yeager scored a 79 to beat Avery Glenn.

Taylor Zimmerman captured another SMU point in Reining. The graduate student earned a 68.75-68.25 win against Auburn's Olivia Marino.

The Mustangs entered halftime leading 4-3.

The second half saw Fences and Horsemanship coincide, with SMU taking Horsemanship 3-2.

Hannah Hoch got SMU started in the second half, scoring with an 84.5 in Fences against Segars. Yeager earned her second win of the day and an MOP with her event-high score 91.5 over Ellie Ferrigno's 85.5.

SMU secured the victory by earning three points in Horsemanship. Kearns kicked off the event with an MOP ride of 75.5 to beat against Auburn's Alexia Tordoff, with Alexa Black following with a 72 to defeat Brooke Jolstad. Lily Anderson then capped off the SMU victory with her 74.5-74.25 win over Madison Paraduhn.

SMU returns home for senior day against top-ranked TCU on Friday. The Mustangs' final home meet of the season is set to begin at 10 a.m. at the Dallas Equestrian Center.