Texas A&M
Georgia
Texas A&M Equestrian Falls to Georgia in Tiebreaker
Oct 17, 2009 | Equestrian
Oct. 17, 2009
BISHOP, Ga. - The Texas A&M equestrian team dropped a hard-fought show to No. 4 Georgia in a tiebreaker Saturday afternoon in rainy, cold and very wet conditions at the UGA Equestrian Center.
The final show score was tied at nine, which moved the decision on an overall winner to the raw point total. The Bulldogs held a 50-point edge there, 1364.5-1314.5, and claimed the victory.
"Both teams had to deal with a lot of adversity today with all the rain, cold and sloppy conditions," head coach Tana McKay said. "The ground and weather were definitely a challenge and our girls made some huge adjustments. We came up just a little bit short today."
The defending national champion western squad had a good afternoon, staking claim to both disciplines by a 3-1 score to post a four-point victory.
In the reining discipline, junior Maggie Gratny.
"Once again we were very, very smart with our rides," McKay said. "I have been impressed how intelligently we've ridden these past two days. We made good adjustments to the weather and only gave up one point, and I was very excited about that."
In the horsemanship discipline, Caroline Gunn put A&M on the board with wins. Gunn's 74.5-72 win over UGA's Sarah Gravely tied her for high-point score honors on the western side, while Lisabeth picked up the victory in her first ride of the young season.
"Our scores were pretty strong today," horsemanship coach Beth Bass said. "None of the girls really have any experience riding in the rain, but they were pretty patient and did what they are trained to do and we were able to come out with another win. Today was Katie's first time in the pen this season as well, and I was excited to have her back in the arena."
The Bulldogs forced a tiebreaker with a 7-3 win on the hunter seat side. In equitation over fences, sophomore Lia Chafee and junior Brooke Coleman scored points for Texas A&M. In the equitation on the flat discipline, sophomore Elizabeth Solch posted an impressive 80-72 win over Georgia's Daisy Whelan.
"It was a little bit tricky for us today," hunter seat coach Linzy Woolf said. "We had to ride a little more cautiously because of the footing out there, but I was a lot happier today with the fence riders. We were a lot more consistent, and scored three 80-plus point rides, which was good. On the flat side, Elizabeth had a great ride with a strong 8-point spread."
The Aggies will take next weekend off from competition and will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 31 against Baylor at the Brazos County Expo Complex.
"I think we saw some areas this weekend where we have a lot of strengths, and some where we have weaknesses," McKay said. "To able to compete against tough teams like this so early in the year will give us an edge to know what we need to perfect as we progress through the season."
Players Mentioned
