During a back-and-forth battle with No. 5 Southern Methodist, the No. 4 seed Texas A&M equestrian team came out on top, defeating the SMU Mustangs 8-7 in the NCEA team championship quarterfinals. But, A&M was unable to finish the day with another win and fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 13-1 in the team championship semifinals.
The Aggies started off with a 3-1 lead over SMU after the first event of the day. SMU would come back to tie the meet at 6-all after dominating Reining. With advancement to the semifinals in the line, A&M came back win two points in Equitation over Fences to defeat SMU by one.

Horsemanship junior, Sarah Orsak began the meet off with a composite score of 149. Giving her victory over SMU’s Haylee Schoonover. Fellow teammate, Alex Albright breezed past her opponent and came out with a 142.5-141.5 win over Michaela Dinger. The Aggies earned another point by senior, Avery Ellis before moving on the second event.
After dominating Equitation on the Flat, A&M entered the second half of the meet up 6-2. However, this would soon be tested. Reining was controlled by SMU and they swept the event 4-0.
A&M junior, Rebekah Chenelle churred out another point for the Aggies in Equitation on the Fences, putting them ahead yet again. Chenelle defeated her opponent, Nora Gray, 161-158.
Teammates rallied behind Chenelle to bring home a quarterfinal win. Caroline Dance put A&M up by two after topping Brett Burlington by 27-points. Hunt seat senior, Alex Desiderio closed out the meet with a tie against Hayley Banas, securing the Aggies with an 8-7 win over the Mustangs.
Jumping right into the semifinals, A&M continued to fight for a spot in the finals but fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 13-1.
The Bulldogs swept the Horsemanship and Reining events, going 4-0 in both. A&M was able to get one the board during Equitation over Fences when senior, Rachael Hake defeated Georgia’s Emma Mandarino. The 165-164 win by Hake was the only point the Aggies could seem to get out of the meet.
Although their time in the team championship is over, A&M will still be able to compete in the individual event championship.
The Aggies will compete in the individual event quarterfinals on Friday starting at 8:30 a.m. Beginning with Equitation over Fences and Reining, and finishing with Equitation on the Flat and Horsemanship at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.