Equestrian: NCEA national runners-up
Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:56 pmFrom SMUMustangs.com:
Mustangs Earn NCEA National Runner-Up Title
WACO, Texas (SMU) – SMU made program history on Saturday, earning the NCEA Reserve National Champion title after falling, 9-7, in a hard-fought meet to Georgia at teh Extraco Events Center.
"Today was just the most fun day for my team we've ever had. It was really awesome," head coach Carol Gwin said. "Georgia are amazing competitors and what a quality team to get to play and I congratulate them. We had a lot of firsts this year. We were three-time conference champions, we had the best season record we've ever had in the history of the program, had never made it to Saturday as a team to play, so you know, I'm just so proud of my team and it was really awesome for them to get to experience what they experienced today - win or lose."
The Mustangs (10-2) fell behind in the first event of the day after the Bulldogs (8-3) earned a 3-1 win in Flat. Freshman Taylor Madden won SMU's point with a 254, earning the highest score of the event for the third time this week to remain undefeated in Waco.
SMU responded with a 3-1 win in Horsemanship. Mallory Vroegh won the first point of the event with a 220, which defeated her opponent's 209. Aubrey Alderman won her third Horsemanship point of the week with an event-high of 234.5. SMU's third point came from Megan Waldron's 230, which beat out Georgia's 229.5.
Both teams entered the halfway point with four points apiece. Fences and Reining remained and would determine the national champion.
In Fences, Olivia Woodson earned the lone point for the Mustangs with an impressive run that earned her a score of 271. The score from the junior was the highest Fences score of the week.
The Mustangs wrapped up the day winning two points in Reining. Dani Latimer scored an event-high 223.5 to defeat her opponent by four and senior Aubrey Alderman finished her undefeated run in Waco with a 218.5.
The runner-up finish is the highest in SMU Equestrian history and caps off a season that saw the Mustangs finish 10-2, the best record in program history, and earn a third consecutive conference championship.
Mustangs Earn NCEA National Runner-Up Title
WACO, Texas (SMU) – SMU made program history on Saturday, earning the NCEA Reserve National Champion title after falling, 9-7, in a hard-fought meet to Georgia at teh Extraco Events Center.
"Today was just the most fun day for my team we've ever had. It was really awesome," head coach Carol Gwin said. "Georgia are amazing competitors and what a quality team to get to play and I congratulate them. We had a lot of firsts this year. We were three-time conference champions, we had the best season record we've ever had in the history of the program, had never made it to Saturday as a team to play, so you know, I'm just so proud of my team and it was really awesome for them to get to experience what they experienced today - win or lose."
The Mustangs (10-2) fell behind in the first event of the day after the Bulldogs (8-3) earned a 3-1 win in Flat. Freshman Taylor Madden won SMU's point with a 254, earning the highest score of the event for the third time this week to remain undefeated in Waco.
SMU responded with a 3-1 win in Horsemanship. Mallory Vroegh won the first point of the event with a 220, which defeated her opponent's 209. Aubrey Alderman won her third Horsemanship point of the week with an event-high of 234.5. SMU's third point came from Megan Waldron's 230, which beat out Georgia's 229.5.
Both teams entered the halfway point with four points apiece. Fences and Reining remained and would determine the national champion.
In Fences, Olivia Woodson earned the lone point for the Mustangs with an impressive run that earned her a score of 271. The score from the junior was the highest Fences score of the week.
The Mustangs wrapped up the day winning two points in Reining. Dani Latimer scored an event-high 223.5 to defeat her opponent by four and senior Aubrey Alderman finished her undefeated run in Waco with a 218.5.
The runner-up finish is the highest in SMU Equestrian history and caps off a season that saw the Mustangs finish 10-2, the best record in program history, and earn a third consecutive conference championship.