Equestrian - SMU vs. Georgia
Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:43 pmThe No. 9 SMU Mustangs face the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs this Friday in a Hunt Seat competition at BuckBranch Farm in Wilmer.
SMU, currently 7-4 overall, comes into this meet with a lot of momentum after starting the spring portion of the schedule with two wins - including a victory over No. 3 Texas A&M and a dominant showing against South Dakota State.
Georgia is currently 10-1 overall, but their Hunt Seat record is less impressive. The Bulldogs are only 6-1-4 in the Hunt Seat portions of their competitions, and in three of the ties they had the lower raw score.
The Bulldogs do feature a couple of absolutely ridiculous riders though.
Carly Anthony is 9-1 with 7 MVPs on the flat!!! Anthony is also 8-3 with 3 MVPs over fences for good measure. Michelle Morris is 7-3 (1 MVP) on the flat and 8-2-1 (2 MVPs) over fences.
Other than Abby O'Mara who is 5-2 with 2 MVPs over fences the rest of the Hunt Seat riders for the Bulldogs are decent but none of them have much more than .500 records in any significant amount of rides.
SMU continues to find its strength over fences, where Emma Roberts leads the team with a 9-0 record and 2 MVPs. All-American Jordyn Pettersen is having another strong season with a record of 8-3 and 2 MVPs. Julianna Fischer has also contributed a nice 8-3 record and 1 MVP over fences. All three riders have an Adjusted VERS over 90 so far this season.
While SMU has posted better numbers on the flat this year, no rider has really been able to put together a dominant season so far. Courtney Line has the most points, with a 6-4 record. Renick Townshend is 5-4 with 1 MVP and Julianna FIscher is 4-2. Although Rachel Reid only has two rides so far this year, she is 2-0 with 1 MVP so possibly she can become a big part of the SMU effort on the flat.
This meet has the potential be competitive despite the high ranking of Georgia. SMU will certainly need to be on their game though.
The fences competition could be an epic battle between two very strong teams. The Mustangs definitely have the strength and depth to match up with Georgia. It will obviously be imperative for Roberts, Pettersen, and Fischer to each get their point. If one of the other SMU riders gets matched up against Anthony or Morris and can find a way to nick a point from them, SMU will be in a great position to win that half of the competition - possibly even handily.
The flat could be troublesome though. It will be difficult for SMU to stop Anthony or Morris - but hopefully a couple of the other flat riders will step up for SMU - possibly Greer Hindle (3-4-1, 1 MVP).
As exciting as it would be for SMU to get a big win over the No. 1 team, this meet has the feel of one of those where the score will end up something like 9-3 even though the raw score is very close. Hopefully, SMU will come through and steal a couple of unexpected points and win this one!
Go Ponies!
Note - the next few days look like they could be wet which means the flat competition could be a bit muddy. I have no idea which team that will help or hurt more, but the weather definitely could affect the outcome.
SMU, currently 7-4 overall, comes into this meet with a lot of momentum after starting the spring portion of the schedule with two wins - including a victory over No. 3 Texas A&M and a dominant showing against South Dakota State.
Georgia is currently 10-1 overall, but their Hunt Seat record is less impressive. The Bulldogs are only 6-1-4 in the Hunt Seat portions of their competitions, and in three of the ties they had the lower raw score.
The Bulldogs do feature a couple of absolutely ridiculous riders though.
Carly Anthony is 9-1 with 7 MVPs on the flat!!! Anthony is also 8-3 with 3 MVPs over fences for good measure. Michelle Morris is 7-3 (1 MVP) on the flat and 8-2-1 (2 MVPs) over fences.
Other than Abby O'Mara who is 5-2 with 2 MVPs over fences the rest of the Hunt Seat riders for the Bulldogs are decent but none of them have much more than .500 records in any significant amount of rides.
SMU continues to find its strength over fences, where Emma Roberts leads the team with a 9-0 record and 2 MVPs. All-American Jordyn Pettersen is having another strong season with a record of 8-3 and 2 MVPs. Julianna Fischer has also contributed a nice 8-3 record and 1 MVP over fences. All three riders have an Adjusted VERS over 90 so far this season.
While SMU has posted better numbers on the flat this year, no rider has really been able to put together a dominant season so far. Courtney Line has the most points, with a 6-4 record. Renick Townshend is 5-4 with 1 MVP and Julianna FIscher is 4-2. Although Rachel Reid only has two rides so far this year, she is 2-0 with 1 MVP so possibly she can become a big part of the SMU effort on the flat.
This meet has the potential be competitive despite the high ranking of Georgia. SMU will certainly need to be on their game though.
The fences competition could be an epic battle between two very strong teams. The Mustangs definitely have the strength and depth to match up with Georgia. It will obviously be imperative for Roberts, Pettersen, and Fischer to each get their point. If one of the other SMU riders gets matched up against Anthony or Morris and can find a way to nick a point from them, SMU will be in a great position to win that half of the competition - possibly even handily.
The flat could be troublesome though. It will be difficult for SMU to stop Anthony or Morris - but hopefully a couple of the other flat riders will step up for SMU - possibly Greer Hindle (3-4-1, 1 MVP).
As exciting as it would be for SMU to get a big win over the No. 1 team, this meet has the feel of one of those where the score will end up something like 9-3 even though the raw score is very close. Hopefully, SMU will come through and steal a couple of unexpected points and win this one!
Go Ponies!
Note - the next few days look like they could be wet which means the flat competition could be a bit muddy. I have no idea which team that will help or hurt more, but the weather definitely could affect the outcome.
The Bulldogs do feature a couple of absolutely ridiculous riders though.