No. 2 Texas A&M equestrian dropped its regular season finale with a 13-5 loss to No. 6 Auburn at the Auburn University Equestrian Center on Saturday, March 9.
Despite a tightly contested first half of the meet, the Tigers’ dominance in the Horsemanship and Fences events led to the Tigers winning 8 of the last 9 points and was enough to seal the victory for Auburn.
Auburn junior Mary-Grace Segars was the star of the show, capturing two points for the Tigers. Segars had the best score of the day with an impressive 91 on Fences to beat the 87.5 from A&M freshman Ali Treuting.
Segars also had the best score from anyone in the Flat event with an 89 to win a point over senior Devan Thomas’ 79 score.
Early on, the Aggies quieted a fiery crowd with junior Brooke Brombach scoring 76.5 and senior Maggie Nealon scoring a huge 86.5 to earn A&M 2 points in the Flat event. Auburn managed to stay a step ahead though, winning 3 points from the same event.
After the Flat and Reining events, A&M hung around and was only down by 1 with a score of 5-4. It was during the Horsemanship event when Auburn truly took over and cemented its victory.
Four straight wins by sophomore Alexia Tordoff, freshman Sydney Swallom, senior Madison Parduhn and freshman Alexis Potts gave the Tigers a commanding lead over the Maroon and White. Aggie graduate Cori Cansdale’s 68.25 score was equalled by sophomore Caroline Fredenburg to prevent a point and clinch victory for the Tigers.
Auburn thrived in the Fences event down the stretch. Tiger freshman Avery Glynn, senior Ellie Ferrigno, graduate Ava Stearns and the aforementioned Segars win earned Auburn 4 points in the second half of the meet.
The Aggies will return to action for the SEC Championships March 29-30 at home in College Station.
