On Friday, March 24, the Southeastern Conference equestrian semifinals in Blythewood, South Carolina, saw a match-up between the No. 2 seed Texas A&M Aggies and the No. 3 seed Georgia Bulldogs. The Aggies would be victorious on the day by a score of 10-8. This would earn them a spot in the SEC Championship.
When looking at the history between these two programs, Georgia has been victorious 24 times. This dwarfs the Aggies’ only 14 wins against the Bulldogs. A&M won the last meeting between the two teams on March 4. The Bulldogs would look for revenge on the day so they could have a chance to be named SEC Champions.
The first event of the day was fences. Earning two points for the Aggies were sophomore Brooke Brombach and junior Devon Thomas. However, it is the Bulldogs who would come away from this event with the upper hand as they would earn three points thanks to junior Jordan Toering, freshman Tessa Brown and senior Rachel McMullen. This made the score 3-2 in favor of Georgia, and the two teams would head to the next event.
Flats were next on the schedule and after this event Georgia would maintain their one point lead, each team earning two points a piece. For the Aggies, it was junior Maggie Nealon and freshman Devan Thomas. Then for Georgia, it was junior Sophia Pilla and senior Ceci Bresch. Sophomore Catalina Peralta would draw with Devon to deny either side a point.
The third event would be horsemanship and Georgia would extend its lead. The Bulldogs would win the event 3-2. To score for them would be junior Leah Anderson, fifth-year Sara Lewis and sophomore Jillian Stopperich. The two points for the Aggies would come from sophomore Hanna Olaussen and junior Ella Petak. This would put the Bulldogs up by a total score of 8-6, and the Aggies would need a miracle if they wanted a spot in the Championship.
The Aggies would do just that. Pulling off a clean sweep in the final event, reining, the Aggies would earn four points and there would be one draw. Earning points would be graduate Lisa Bricker, sophomore Lauren Hanson, senior Ariana Gray and senior Emmy-Lu Marsh. The one draw would be between A&M’s junior Keesa Luers and Georgia’s fifth-year Courtney Blumer.
This meant the Aggies would earn the victory by a final score of 10-6. Coach Tana McKay said that despite being down late her team did not give up.
“I couldn’t be happier for our girls,” McKay said. “This is what we have been preparing for all year long, and I’m proud of how they worked together to come away with the win.”
After their efforts in the day’s competition, A&M will face the No. 1 seed Auburn Tigers in the SEC Championship on Saturday, March 25, at 2:30 p.m. Georgia will now face the No. 4 seed South Carolina Gamecocks in the consolation championship for third place earlier in the day at 9 a.m.