Equestrian falls to Oklahoma State

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

As expected, No. 4 Oklahoma State defeated SMU 7-2.

OSU pretty much dominated the flat, taking 4 points with the 5th matchup a draw.

SMU made up some ground over fences, but OSU still won the jumping portion of the competition 3-2.

On the bright side for SMU, Jordyn Pettersen continued her stellar year with another victory over fences, raising her record over fences to 11-1. Unbelievable.

Today was the last regular season competition for the Mustangs. Up next for SMU are the Varsity Equestrian National Championships in Waco April 14-16.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

I'm looking forward to breaking this one down once the results are officially posted, but overall I really thought SMU did well.

Everybody knew SMU would struggle with OSU because of the depth of the Cowboys (or Cowgirls, or whatever), but in general I really thought the SMU riders did a good job today.

The scores on the flat will probably look bad - but I really didn't see it. I'm not going to blame the judges but I thought SMU did a great job personally.

SMU also caught a bad break over fences, with Jordyn Pettersen ending up with the high score but being matched up against an OSU rider who struggled to a score of 45. If SMU could have picked up another point over fences with a more fortuitous matchup the final score certainly would have looked more competitive.

I still think Coach Schoolfield has this program headed in the right direction. Hopefully SMU will get into the National Championship bracket and have a chance to make some noise in April.

I imagine SMU will get the number 12 seed in the championships - and there is a good chance we will get OSU again (just like last season). While OSU certainly has depth on the flat, hopefully the extra two or three weeks of practice and some more fair judges will allow SMU to be able to exploit our strength over fences and we can spring an upset and make it to the second round this season.

I'm really proud of our riders, and hopefully our season can continue with some more success.

Go Ponies!

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Equestrian Downed By No. 4 Oklahoma State, 7-2

March 27, 2011

DALLAS (SMU) --- The SMU equestrian team lost to No. 4 Oklahoma State, 7-2, today in the hunter seat competition at Buck Branch. Junior Jordyn Pettersen once again earned MVP honors over fences for the Mustangs and improved her overall record to 11-1 this season.

"Morgan Toal, Julianna Fischer and Jordyn Pettersen all had fantastic trips that showed their focus and preparation," said SMU head equestrian coach Haley Schoolfield. "OSU is a seasoned, well-coached team and we have to give them credit for riding well today. We look forward to playing them again next year."

The Mustangs notched both of its points over fences. Jordyn has been focused, prepared and worked extremely hard all year," proclaimed Schoolfield. "We are so pleased and excited for her."

In addition to Pettersen, who posted her sixth MVP honor this season, Julianna Fischer earned a victory with the score of an 80. On the flat, Claire Wenholz and Morgan Toal recorded scores of 83 and 82 respectively.

"Today was a very tough day and not at all how we intended to end the year," said Schoolfield. "Mental mistakes cost us points here and there that really added up in the end."

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

After looking at the results, the 7-2 outcome does seem a bit harsh.

SMU was very competitive on the flat - Julianna Fischer lost 78-77, Jordyn Pettersen lost 80-76 (in only her second ride on the flat this season), Claire Wenholz had the best ride of the day for SMU with 83 points but lost 84-83, and Morgan Toal put up an impressive 82 points but tied.

So, SMU easily could have had 2-3 victories on the flat which would have made the outcome look a lot better.

The scores over fences weren't great but they were still pretty decent. You just have to give OSU credit for their numbers. Wenholz scored 73 but lost 82-73. Fischer won 80-77, and Emily Gardner scored 76 but still lost 83-76. There's not much you can do when the other team continually posts scores like that.

I agree with Coach Schoolfield it is kind of a disappointing way to end the regular season. SMU put up some very impressive scores on the flat this weekend against two tough teams and they deserve to be congratulated for all of the hard work that went into the improvement.

Too bad we couldn't have ended up the season on a high note by taking the fences yesterday.