SMU equestrian team can’t overtake Texas A&M at national championships

by PegNews wire

The No. 12 seed SMU Equestrian team fell 6-2 to No. 5 seed Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of Varsity National Championships at Waco's Heart O' Texas Fair and Rodeo Complex in the Dodge Show Pavilion on Wednesday.

Megan Davenport

The Mustangs trailed 3-1 after the fences portion, but were nearly deadlocked. Lauren O'Neil won 126-109 in her matchup and Kristen Collins fell one-point shy in a 131-130 loss. In the fences portion, Kathryn Garvie scored a 142-141 win as SMU fell 3-1. Lauren Hester's ride in fences garnered the Mustangs' highest score of the day, but her opponent, Lindsay Smith, had the best ride of the match in the 165-156 decision.

This was the fourth consecutive invitation to the National Championships for the Mustangs in just the program's fourth season. Coach Jenny Passow has been at the helm for every trip. This group will be mostly intact for next season with only O'Neil graduating. Collins, Garvie, and Megan Davenport are freshmen and Hester is a sophomore.

"I was really impressed with how our team competed today, especially considering our youth," stated Passow. "This group is only going to get better. We had a couple close scores today that could have gone the other way, so we are excited about the future of the program."

Waco is hosting the championships again in 2008 and is the closest location for the championships in SMU's four years of participation. It was New Mexico in 2005 and 2006 and in Georgia in 2004.

This is the second consecutive year the Mustangs have run into the Aggies in the opening round. Last year, the Mustangs were the No. 11 seed and fell 803-779 in the first round to the sixth-seeded Aggies. In 2004 and 2005, the Mustangs finished 11th in scoring before the championships were changed to a tournament format in 2006.

Complete information on all participants as well as championship brackets and schedules are available at www.varsityequestrian.com.

Total - TAMU 6 (1108), SMU 2 (972.5)

Equitation on the Flat - TAMU 3 (511), SMU 1 (491) Christina Matz (TAMU) def. Kathryn Garvie (SMU), 127-106 Ashlie Soderstrom (TAMU def. Kristen Collins (SMU), 131-130 Courtney Brooks (TAMU) def. Megan Davenport (SMU), 144-129 Lauren O'Neil (SMU) def. Viviana Cordero, 129-109

Equitation over Fences - TAMU 3 (597), SMU 1 (481.5) Kathryn Garvie (SMU) def. Erin Ivy (TAMU), 142-141 Kristi Waldal (TAMU) def. Megan Davenport (SMU), 158-83 Katie Henion (TAMU) def. Kristen Collins (SMU), 133-100.5 Lindsay Smith (TAMU) def. Lauren Hester (SMU), 165-156

Source: SMU