Nov. 3, 2017
COLLEGE STATION, Texas ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The No. 3 Auburn equestrian team hit the road for the first Southeastern Conference meet of the season and rode to a 9-9 tie at No. 2 Texas A&M Friday afternoon at the Hildebrand Equine Complex. The Aggies came away with the tiebreak victory, 1520-1335.
"I'm proud of the way we pulled together and pulled for each other to get back in it today," head coach Greg Williams said. "We opened the door for them early and you can't do that with a good team like Texas A&M. They ran a great meet and rode well and we were not good in the first half.
"This group is extremely talented and we'll be ready to go next week against Georgia," Williams added.
Auburn fell to 2-1 on the season and 0-1 in the conference, while TAMU moved to 6-1 and 1-1. It was the fourth time in five years that the two squads battled to a tie.
After falling behind 7-3 at the conclusion of the first half, the Equitation on the Flat and Reining crews put together solid performances to pull off the comeback and force a tiebreak.
The Reining group had a solid day for the Tigers, going 3-1 over the Aggies. Freshman Terri-June Granger was awarded her third-straight MOP honor of the year as she edged Madison Bohman, 69.5-69. Junior Blair McFarlin defeated Courtney Yohee, 68-67, and freshman Savannah Ostner tied the meet up at 9-9 with her 67-66.5 victory over Kalee McCann.
Senior Alexa Rivard had a great ride to score a 70.5 and finished the day tied with Darby Gardner.
In Flat, sophomore Becky Kozma edged Brianna Peddicord, 78-77, to kick off the second half of the day. Junior Hayley Iannotti scored 71 points in her win over Alex Desiderio before classmate Caitlin Boyle defeated Maddie Swem, 74-73. Boyle picked up her second MOP in the event this season for her effort.
Junior Ashton Alexander tied Rachael Hake in their match, 79-79, on the Flat.
A pair of Tigers picked up wins in Equitation Over Fences as Iannotti led the way with an 83-82 win over Rebebah Chenelle. Freshman Carly Hoft earned her first-career victory as a Tiger, defeating Rhian Murphy, 78-72.
Redshirt junior Kelsey Jung picked up a point in Horsemanship, scoring a 73 to beat Kyra Bouma's 70.
Auburn returns to the Auburn University Equestrian Center for a big SEC meet, hosting No. 1 Georgia Friday, Nov. 10. The 3 p.m. CT contest will be the team's All Auburn, All Orange meet and admission is free.
#2 TEXAS A&M 9 (1520), #3 AUBURN 9 (1335)
Equitation on the Flat
Becky Kozma (AU) def. Brianna Peddicord (TAMU), 78-77
Hayley Iannotti (AU) def. Alex Desiderio (TAMU), 71-65
Rebekah Chenelle (TAMU) def. Caitlin Creel (AU), 74-65
Ashton Alexander (AU) tied Rachael Hake (TAMU), 79-79
Caitlin Boyle (AU)* def. Maddie Swem (TAMU), 74-73
Equitation Over Fences
Hayley Iannotti (AU) def. Rebekah Chenelle (TAMU), 83-82
Carly Hoft (AU) def. Rhian Murphy (TAMU), 78-72
Caroline Dance (TAMU)* def. Alex Ladove (AU), 84-77
Rachael Hake (TAMU) def. Ashton Alexander (AU), 82-81
Alex Desiderio (TAMU) def. Caitlin Boyle (AU), 77-72
Horsemanship
Kelsey Jung (AU) def. Kyra Bouma (TAMU), 73-70
Alex Albright (TAMU) def. Lauren Diaz (AU), 71.5-70.5
Bailey Cook (TAMU)* def. Kara Kaufmann (AU), 75-74.5
Sarah Orsak (TAMU) def. Deanna Green (AU), 72-71
Avery Ellis (TAMU) def. Taylor Searles (AU), 74-67
Reining
Haley Franc (TAMU) def. Betsy Brown (AU), 66.5-0
Terri-June Granger (AU)* def. Madison Bohman (TAMU), 69.5-69
Blair McFarlin (AU) def. Courtney Yohee (TAMU), 68-67
Savannah Ostner (AU) def. Kalee McCann (TAMU), 67-66.5
Alexa Rivard (AU) tied Darby Gardner (TAMU), 70.5-70.5
* - Denotes Most Outstanding Performer