Nov. 17, 2007
AUBURN---The Auburn equestrian team (4-1) defeated Kansas State 12-6 at the Auburn Equestrian Center Saturday as the Tigers defeated the Wildcats 8-2 in Hunt Seat and lost a 4-4 tiebreaker in the Western.
"What we really wanted to happen was for our Hunt Seat team to dominate because this was the team that knocked us out at Nationals last year," said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. "For our Hunt Seat team to dominate the way they did was really big. The Western was a close, close match. It was really worrisome after the Horsemanship, but the Reiners stepped it up and got it into a tie. By raw score, we lost by one point, but for them to come behind and pull within a tie is going to be big for the selection committee when it comes down to Nationals."
Auburn won Hunt Seat Equitation Over Fences 4-1 behind MVP Ali Loprete, who scored an 86 to defeat Leslie Yates. Other Tiger winners include Elise Fraza over Julie Wolfert 71-50, Jenny Reinhart over Paige Sullivan 85-73, Dottie Grubb over Kendall Marvin 80-47 and Anna Schlerholz over Bridget Doyle 84-75. Kansas State*s Whitney Snyder defeated Jessica Braswell 81-70.
The Tigers took Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat 4-1 behind MVP Katie Breedlove, who defeated Jennifer Giraldin 78-70. For Auburn, Erin McMahon defeated Katie Mellong 68-53, Rebecca Rifkin over Leslie Yates 69-59, Ali Loprete over Julie Wolfert 69-67 and Chelsea Anheuser defeated Kendall Marvin 77-65. Kansas State's Whitney Snyder edged Coburn Park 70-69.
In Western Horsemanship, Auburn fell behind 3-1 as Kansas State's Alyssa Freeman won MVP honors by defeating Kimberly Tidwell 74.5-71.5. Avery Sams notched the Tigers' only win with a 70.5-69.5 victory over Courtney Walters. Other Wildcat winners were Mikaela Sundgren over Shannon Hinton 72-70, Lindsey Salsbury over Kylie Miller 75-73.5 and Laura Browne over Amy Bohan 75.5-69.5. Auburn's Ashley Milton drew with Jana Lechtenburg at 72.5 apiece.
Auburn battled back to tie the Western with a 3-1 edge in Reining behind MVP Kimberly Tidwell's 75.5-75 victory over Alyssa Freeman. For the Tigers, Julie Gibbes downed Morgan Campbell , Paige Monfore over Kaylee Stout 72-69 and Lyndsey Jordan and Alecia Zimbelman drew at 72 apiece. Kansas State won the tiebreaker with a raw score of 650.5 to Auburn*s 649.5.
"Kansas State has been beating a lot of good people, and you look at who is going to be where in the postseason," said Williams. "All these fall meets count just like the spring, and we have a lot of riding to do yet. Right now with all of the big schools we have been against, we have shown that we can ride with anybody."
Auburn returns to action with a home meet against Delaware State Jan. 26 at 1 pm Central.