Equestrian - Emily Gardner Wins Pin Oak Invitational

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

As reported on the SMU athletics web site:

Equestrian's Emily Gardner Wins Pin Oak Invitational

April 5, 2011


KATY, Texas (SMU) --- SMU equestrian junior Emily Gardner won the Collegiate Pin Oak Charity Invitational this past weekend. The Tallahassee, Fla. native defeated three different schools, atop three separate horses, to earn being named champion of the competition.

"Today was a great way to wrap up the year," said SMU equestrian head coach Haley Schoolfield. "We are grateful to the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show and all who made this event possible."

Gardner opened the meet by advancing past Rice's Erin O'Malley by the score, 84-50. In the second round, the junior notched a winning score of 73 over UT-Martin rider, Caroline Cramer, to easily move on to the championship. Matched against LSU's Gabrielle LaBoeuf in the final round, Gardner edged her opponent, 73-71, to earn the tournament title.

"It was wonderful to see all of Emily's hard work throughout the year pay off," said Schoolfield. "She rode three very different horses in a short amount of time and had very good trips on each of them. Emily represented her team well and we are so proud of all of her accomplishments."

The Collegiate Pin Oak Charity Invitational was held in the Great Southwest Equestrian Center. Funds raised were donated to the Step Up & Step Out program.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

First off - thanks to the SMU sports information people for getting this information on the athletics web site so quickly. I spent about 15 minutes googling trying to find the results and lo and behold the pertinent SMU information (which is all I really care about) is already on the web site. Thanks again.

This is really great for Emily. This competition featured riders from Delaware State, South Dakota State, Tennessee-Martin, LSU, SMU, Rice, TCU, and Tech.

Next year could be a great year for the equestrian program with Jordyn Pettersen and Emily Gardner in their senior years. This experience will be huge for Gardner!

Go Ponies!