Thursday, April 13
Ocala, Fla.
7:30 AM
Texas A&M
vs
TCU
Photo by: Rachel Mahan/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 5 Aggies Battle No. 4 TCU in NCEA Quarterfinals
Apr 12, 2023 | Equestrian
OCALA, Fla. –The No. 5 Texas A&M equestrian team opens play in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Championship quarterfinals against fourth-seeded TCU on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. CT inside the World Equestrian Center.
Nationals History
The Aggies are looking to secure the program's 10th NCEA national championship and 13th overall national title. It would be their first national championship since 2017. The Maroon & White finished last season as the reserve champion, which marked the fifth runner-up finish in program history after falling to Oklahoma State, 11-9.
The Field
The Southeastern Conference champion, Auburn, enter the competition as the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive year, behind No. 1 SMU. Oklahoma State enters the championship at No. 3 after claiming the Big 12 Conference title, just ahead of the runner-up, TCU. SEC foes Georgia and South Carolina are No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, while Baylor rounds out the eight-team field.
The Series
The Aggies dropped both meetings with the Horned Frogs this season. The last time these two teams met at the NCEA championships, Texas A&M shut out TCU, 16-0. The winner of Thursday's contest will square off against the winner of No. 1 SMU and No. 8 Baylor on Friday in the semifinals at 1 p.m. CT.
Yearly Awards
Texas A&M standouts Cori Cansdale (Second Team Horsemanship), Alexis Robinson (Honorable Mention Horsemanship), Lisa Bricker (First Team Reining), Ariana Gray (First Team Reining), Keesa Luers (First Team Reining) and Lauren Hanson (Honorable Mention Reining) earned NCEA Ariat All-American honors. Cansdale led the way in Horsemanship with 10 wins, including three Most Outstanding Performer honors. Ariana Gray highlighted Reining registering an 11-2-2 record, compiling a pair of MOP accolades.
Eight Aggies earned a collective 11 SEC postseason honors. Gray was tabbed the SEC Reining Rider of the Year and was a unanimous selection on the All-SEC Reining Team, accompanied by Bricker, Luers and Hanson. Cansdale picked up All-SEC Horsemanship honors while Alexa Leong and Devan Thomas earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors in Fences and Flat, respectively. Thomas was also named the SEC Co-Freshman Flat Rider of the Year. Alexis Ortiz earned a spot on the SEC Community Service Team for her efforts serving the Bryan-College Station Community and Ellie Gerbrandt took home the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
How To Follow
A live stream of the NCEA Championship can be seen on Horse and Country, with a paid membership here. Use code: NCEA15 for 15% off. Live scoring can be found here. Fans can also follow @AggieEquestian on Twitter for up-to-date results.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head coach Tana McKay
On what it means to be part of the top eight…
"Any team's goal is to make it to the national championship, so you fight all year long to try to get to that point. It's a relief. We can breathe. We are in the top eight, and we got our work cut out for us, but that's always our goal."
On what you're looking forward to…
"We didn't have the best SEC Championship. We had a great day and then we had a really rough day. We did not ride to our capabilities, so we need some redemption there. I didn't like ending on that note on one side and on the other side, I hope it lit a fire under us. I'm looking forward to seeing what we did in these short two weeks to prepare."
On the team cohesion…
"This team has been one of the most cohesive groups that we've had. Everyone has gone out and done their job. There's things that haven't gone our way and we wish they would have gone differently, but there is always learning lessons from that. This is a great group and they're ready to go forward arm and arm. Our hashtag is 'we are one' and they have definitely lived up to that."
To learn more about Texas A&M equestrian, log on to 12thMan.com or follow @AggieEquestrian on Twitter and Instagram.
Nationals History
The Aggies are looking to secure the program's 10th NCEA national championship and 13th overall national title. It would be their first national championship since 2017. The Maroon & White finished last season as the reserve champion, which marked the fifth runner-up finish in program history after falling to Oklahoma State, 11-9.
The Field
The Southeastern Conference champion, Auburn, enter the competition as the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive year, behind No. 1 SMU. Oklahoma State enters the championship at No. 3 after claiming the Big 12 Conference title, just ahead of the runner-up, TCU. SEC foes Georgia and South Carolina are No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, while Baylor rounds out the eight-team field.
The Series
The Aggies dropped both meetings with the Horned Frogs this season. The last time these two teams met at the NCEA championships, Texas A&M shut out TCU, 16-0. The winner of Thursday's contest will square off against the winner of No. 1 SMU and No. 8 Baylor on Friday in the semifinals at 1 p.m. CT.
Yearly Awards
Texas A&M standouts Cori Cansdale (Second Team Horsemanship), Alexis Robinson (Honorable Mention Horsemanship), Lisa Bricker (First Team Reining), Ariana Gray (First Team Reining), Keesa Luers (First Team Reining) and Lauren Hanson (Honorable Mention Reining) earned NCEA Ariat All-American honors. Cansdale led the way in Horsemanship with 10 wins, including three Most Outstanding Performer honors. Ariana Gray highlighted Reining registering an 11-2-2 record, compiling a pair of MOP accolades.
Eight Aggies earned a collective 11 SEC postseason honors. Gray was tabbed the SEC Reining Rider of the Year and was a unanimous selection on the All-SEC Reining Team, accompanied by Bricker, Luers and Hanson. Cansdale picked up All-SEC Horsemanship honors while Alexa Leong and Devan Thomas earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors in Fences and Flat, respectively. Thomas was also named the SEC Co-Freshman Flat Rider of the Year. Alexis Ortiz earned a spot on the SEC Community Service Team for her efforts serving the Bryan-College Station Community and Ellie Gerbrandt took home the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
How To Follow
A live stream of the NCEA Championship can be seen on Horse and Country, with a paid membership here. Use code: NCEA15 for 15% off. Live scoring can be found here. Fans can also follow @AggieEquestian on Twitter for up-to-date results.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head coach Tana McKay
On what it means to be part of the top eight…
"Any team's goal is to make it to the national championship, so you fight all year long to try to get to that point. It's a relief. We can breathe. We are in the top eight, and we got our work cut out for us, but that's always our goal."
On what you're looking forward to…
"We didn't have the best SEC Championship. We had a great day and then we had a really rough day. We did not ride to our capabilities, so we need some redemption there. I didn't like ending on that note on one side and on the other side, I hope it lit a fire under us. I'm looking forward to seeing what we did in these short two weeks to prepare."
On the team cohesion…
"This team has been one of the most cohesive groups that we've had. Everyone has gone out and done their job. There's things that haven't gone our way and we wish they would have gone differently, but there is always learning lessons from that. This is a great group and they're ready to go forward arm and arm. Our hashtag is 'we are one' and they have definitely lived up to that."
To learn more about Texas A&M equestrian, log on to 12thMan.com or follow @AggieEquestrian on Twitter and Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
Reining
/ Equestrian
Horsemanship
/ Equestrian
Horsemanship
/ Equestrian
Reining
/ Equestrian
Reining
/ Equestrian
Jumping Seat
/ Equestrian
Reining
/ Equestrian
Jumping Seat
/ Equestrian
Horsemanship
/ Equestrian
Jumping Seat
/ EquestrianNCEA Championships Preview: Tana McKay
Wednesday, April 10
Mic'd Up: Cori Cansdale
Thursday, April 06
Mic'd Up: Devon Thomas
Tuesday, April 04
Mic'd Up: Alexis Robinson
Friday, March 31
