Senior Day was spoiled for Texas A&M equestrian as the Aggies fell in the final home meet of the season before the SEC and NCEA championships.
After back-and-forth action through the match’s entirety, Texas A&M equestrian (9-4) was not able to outmatch the in-state rival SMU Mustangs (6-5). With an 8-6 score leading into the final event, the Mustangs were able to hold off the Aggies to a 10-9 SMU victory. The Aggies’ only previous home loss of the season was to No. 1 Georgia, but with the loss, A&M now falls to 4-2 at home.
The Aggies fell behind 6-4 at the conclusion of the first half of competition in reining and equitation on the flat. Freshman Rebekah Chenelle’s 89 score on the flat put the Aggies ahead with the first point of the meet followed by senior Marlena Parker’s successful run. However, junior Sarah Kate Grider’s one-point victory in reining was not enough to provide momentum for A&M as SMU began to take each point.
Chenelle and sophomore Rachael Hake were able to gain back momentum, but a tie by Parker placed the Aggies in an 8-6 deficit and all of the attention was put on horsemanship. This is not the first time horsemanship has had major implications to finish out a match; generally horsemanship is the final event and has resulted in eight total matches of the season that were a result of margins of victory of no more than three points. The Aggies finished 4-4 in matches of victory margins of three or less points with one win and one loss from tie-breakers.
A&M finishes the season capped off at a successful 9-4, but a lagging 3-3 conference record may pose a threat to success in the postseason. Two of the conference losses come from No. 1 Georgia while the other loss stems from a road trip to at No. 2 Auburn. However, each loss holds a margin of loss by one point or less.
Equestrian will now have the chance to recoup before taking a trip to Bishop, Georgia for the SEC Championship Friday, Mar. 25. The Georgia-hosted event will conclude on Saturday and will further set the precedent for the NCEA Championship in mid-April. As proven last year by South Carolina, even if a team doesn’t compete well at the SEC Championship, the team could advance and eventually take the national title.
