Equestrian: SMU vs. LSU/Baylor

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

No. 10 SMU Equestrian starts the spring portion of the schedule this weekend with home events against LSU and Baylor at BuckBranch Farm in Wilmer.

LSU is a non-NCEA team, but they have been one of the better IHSA teams over the past few years.

Baylor is currently ranked No. 7 nationally. SMU faced Baylor in a preseason exhibition which SMU won by the raw score tiebreaker after a 6-6 tie (raw score was a convincing 962-818).

The Baylor meet will also have the fascinating subplot of the potential meeting of SMU's Schaefer Raposa and Baylor's Samantha Schaefer after Raposa defeated Schaefer in the final of this past weekend's Wellington Winter Equestrian Festival.

LSU is Friday at 10am. Baylor is Saturday at 10am.

Go Ponies!

[SMUguy]

Has anyone on here ever been to these things? How much are tickets?

[SMU89]

Not much. Bring an air horn

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Has anyone on here ever been to these things? How much are tickets?

They are free.

Saturday is the SAAC Pack The House for Equestrian so we should have a pretty decent crowd.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU up 5-1 on LSU after fences.

Points from Schaefer Raposa, Emma Roberts, Courtney Line, Alex Butterworth, and Colleen McKenzie.

Go Ponies!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU defeats LSU 11-1 today after sweeping the flat 6-0!

Points on the flat from Julianna Fischer, Lucy Blundon, Mary Abruzzese, Greer Hindle, Erin Nelson, and Paulena Johnson.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

No. 10 SMU faces No. 7 Baylor Saturday morning at BuckBranch Farm in the final home event of the season for the Mustangs. Start time is 10am.

SMU (5-2) will be looking to end the season undefeated at home. The Mustangs are 3-0 at BuckBranch Farm in NCAA competition in 2012-13.

While Saturday will be SMU's first official NCAA show of the spring season, Baylor will be competing in their third spring event. The Bears are 7-4 on the season (7-3-1 in Hunter Seat).

Over fences, Baylor is led by Sophomore Samantha Schaefer, who is 8-1 with 5 MVPs and an astounding Adjusted VERS of 100.78. The other Bears rider with a nice season over fences thus far is Ashley Ann McGehee (6-1, 1 MVP, 91.00).

The Mustangs feature Freshmen Schaefer Raposa (4-1, 3, 93.20) and Alex Butterworth (6-1, 1, 97.57). Sophomore All-American Emma Roberts is also having a strong season (4-3, 1, 84.14) even though she had some pretty rough draws in the fall.

On the flat, the Bears are strong, with Samantha Schaefer once again leading the way (7-1, 3, 97.63). Taylor Brown (5-3, 1, 87.63) and Lindsay Otis (3-2, 1, 82.80) have also provided good seasons for Baylor in equitation.

SMU has continued taking great strides on the flat this season, with strong contributions from Junior Julianna Fischer (4-2, 0, 84.67) and Sophomore Greer Hindle (1-0-1, 1, 89.50).

After last weekend's thrilling final at the Wellington Winter Equestrian Festival, I'm sure the fans will all be hoping for Schaefer Raposa and Samantha Schaefer to be drawn together over fences.

However the draw ends up, this show should be pretty close, with two deep and solid Hunter Seat teams facing off. Hopefully, the Mustangs will come out on top!

Don't forget even though it will be a bit on the cold side, it's SAAC Pack The House Day - so there should be a good crowd and it promises be a great time for all!

Go Ponies!

[Hilltopper]

I hate everything about Baylor.
Good luck, Mustangs!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU recap from LSU yesterday. Colleen McKenzie took MVP over fences and Greer Hindle took MVP on the flat:

http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/w-equest/spec-rel/021513aab.html

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU up 3-2 after fences.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Baylor wins the flat 3-2.

Overall score ends 5-5. Baylor wins the raw score tiebreaker.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Overall, a nice performance from SMU. After only being up 3-2 after fences the Mustangs really put on a good performance on the flat to get to the 5-5 final. The raw score tiebreaker ended up only being 11 points.

Baylor's Sam Schaefer was as good as advertised, winning both MVPs today.

It was great to see Rick Hart at BuckBranch Farm as well!

SMU is back in action next weekend in a dual meet against Sacred Heart (Saturday) and South Dakota State (Sunday) in Brookings, SD.

Go Ponies!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU release:

http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/w-equest/spec-rel/021613aac.html

The No. 10 SMU equestrian team was defeated by No. 6 Baylor with a raw score of 727-738 on Saturday morning at BuckBranch Farm. The teams tied 5-5 in point totals but the Mustangs fell to the Bears when the raw score was taken into consideration. With the loss, SMU moves to 6-3 on the season.

"We had some brilliant rides today and we had some mistakes," head coach Haley Schoolfield said. "Those little mistakes left the door open for an excellent Baylor team to get an edge on us. That being said, we will be hard at work next week as we prepare for SDSU and SHU."

The competition began with a 3-2 Mustang win in equitation over fences, taking the raw score of 367-366. Sophomore Courtney Line had a dominant 76-63 ride over Jenny Mitchell, while sophomore Emma Roberts edged Lindsey Otis 74-73. Freshman Colleen McKenzie also had a strong performance with a 78-74 victory over Paige Parker.

Baylor won the flat competition, 3-2, taking the raw score 372-360. Freshman Mary Abruzzese earned a point for SMU with a 78-71 win over Kim Woodsum. Junior Lucy Blundon edged Melanie Appel 68-67.

Senior day was celebrated during the intermission between equitation over fences and equitation on flat competitions. Both seniors and competing riders were cheered on by a number of fans that attended the meet as a part of the SMU Student Athletic Advisory Committee's annual "Pack the House" event.

"We are overjoyed at the turnout today for the Pack the House Event put on by our Life Skills coordinator," Coach Schoolfield added. "It was a great show of support from our SMU Athletics family and we were thrilled to host them at BuckBranch Farm. We are proud to be a part of the Mustang Nation."

[Hey June]

Overall, a nice performance from SMU. After only being up 3-2 after fences the Mustangs really put on a good performance on the flat to get to the 5-5 final. The raw score tiebreaker ended up only being 11 points.

Baylor's Sam Schaefer was as good as advertised, winning both MVPs today.

It was great to see Rick Hart at BuckBranch Farm as well!

SMU is back in action next weekend in a dual meet against Sacred Heart (Saturday) and South Dakota State (Sunday) in Brookings, SD.

Go Ponies!

That has to give him an attendance edge over Orsini already.

[PonySnob]

Do the females on the team have to provide their own horses or are they provided by SMU?