Equestrian - SMU vs. Georgia

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

The No. 9 SMU Mustangs face the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs this Friday in a Hunt Seat competition at BuckBranch Farm in Wilmer.

SMU, currently 7-4 overall, comes into this meet with a lot of momentum after starting the spring portion of the schedule with two wins - including a victory over No. 3 Texas A&M and a dominant showing against South Dakota State.

Georgia is currently 10-1 overall, but their Hunt Seat record is less impressive. The Bulldogs are only 6-1-4 in the Hunt Seat portions of their competitions, and in three of the ties they had the lower raw score.

The Bulldogs do feature a couple of absolutely ridiculous riders though.

Carly Anthony is 9-1 with 7 MVPs on the flat!!! Anthony is also 8-3 with 3 MVPs over fences for good measure. Michelle Morris is 7-3 (1 MVP) on the flat and 8-2-1 (2 MVPs) over fences.

Other than Abby O'Mara who is 5-2 with 2 MVPs over fences the rest of the Hunt Seat riders for the Bulldogs are decent but none of them have much more than .500 records in any significant amount of rides.

SMU continues to find its strength over fences, where Emma Roberts leads the team with a 9-0 record and 2 MVPs. All-American Jordyn Pettersen is having another strong season with a record of 8-3 and 2 MVPs. Julianna Fischer has also contributed a nice 8-3 record and 1 MVP over fences. All three riders have an Adjusted VERS over 90 so far this season.

While SMU has posted better numbers on the flat this year, no rider has really been able to put together a dominant season so far. Courtney Line has the most points, with a 6-4 record. Renick Townshend is 5-4 with 1 MVP and Julianna FIscher is 4-2. Although Rachel Reid only has two rides so far this year, she is 2-0 with 1 MVP so possibly she can become a big part of the SMU effort on the flat.

This meet has the potential be competitive despite the high ranking of Georgia. SMU will certainly need to be on their game though.

The fences competition could be an epic battle between two very strong teams. The Mustangs definitely have the strength and depth to match up with Georgia. It will obviously be imperative for Roberts, Pettersen, and Fischer to each get their point. If one of the other SMU riders gets matched up against Anthony or Morris and can find a way to nick a point from them, SMU will be in a great position to win that half of the competition - possibly even handily.

The flat could be troublesome though. It will be difficult for SMU to stop Anthony or Morris - but hopefully a couple of the other flat riders will step up for SMU - possibly Greer Hindle (3-4-1, 1 MVP).

As exciting as it would be for SMU to get a big win over the No. 1 team, this meet has the feel of one of those where the score will end up something like 9-3 even though the raw score is very close. Hopefully, SMU will come through and steal a couple of unexpected points and win this one!

Go Ponies!

Note - the next few days look like they could be wet which means the flat competition could be a bit muddy. I have no idea which team that will help or hurt more, but the weather definitely could affect the outcome.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Georgia announced their lineup today. We will be facing Anthony and Morris in both disciplines as expected.

http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/w-equest/spec-rel/030812aab.html

Equitation Over Fences
Carly Anthony, Junior
Olivia Dorey, Sophomore
Michelle Morris, Senior
Megan Southam, Freshman
Emily van der Walde, Freshman
Kylee Arbuckle, Freshman

Equitation on the Flat
Carly Anthony, Junior
Kylee Arbuckle, Freshman
Caitlyn Francis, Sophomore
Michelle Morris, Senior
Grace Rogers, Junior
Olivia Dorey, Sophomore

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Updated with records.

Fences
Carly Anthony (8-3, 3 MVP, 93.64 Adjusted VERS)
Olivia Dorey (5-3, 0, 87.00)
Michelle Morris (8-2-1, 2, 93.64)
Megan Southam (2-0, 1 98.50)
Emily van der Walde (1-0, 0 86.00)
Kylee Arbuckle (4-3, 0, 78.86)

Flat
Carly Anthony (9-1, 7 MVP, 107.20 Adjusted VERS) [absolutely amazing - DFFH]
Kylee Arbuckle (4-0-1, 1, 90.20)
Caitlyn Francis (2-3, 0, 73.20)
Michelle Morris (7-3, 1, 90.45)
Grace Rogers (4-3, 0, 78.19)
Olivia Dorey (2-2, 0, 83.50)

Georgia is obviously impressive, but SMU has a good chance in this one if things fall the right way. Hopefully the young Mustangs won't be intimidated if they get matched up against one of the big UGA riders. No matter what happens, this meet will provide some tremendous experience for the SMU team.

Go Ponies!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU scoring well but still down 3-1 so far over fences.

Emma Roberts won the SMU point with a score of 81.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Fences finished 4-1 to Georgia. The Bulldogs are just so consistent. They posted five scores between 74 and 79.

On to the flat...

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Emma Roberts gets things started off with a nice score of 79 on the flat for SMU.

Carly Anthony from Georgia only scored a 69 - so there might be hope for SMU to make the final result close!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU down 2-1 on the flat (and 6-2 overall) with two riders left.

We had a chance today - but we just had too many low scores to be able to compete with a top team like Georgia.

The bright spot for SMU today is Emma Roberts, who won a point in both competitions and looks like she might be in the position to be a dual-MVP today!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Final score: Georgia wins 7-3. (4-1 fences, 3-2 flat, 717-669 raw)

Individual scores (will confirm when the official scoresheet comes out):

Fences

Carly Anthony (UGA) def. Renick Townsend 74-72
Megan Southam (UGA) def. Julianna Fischer 74-55
Olivia Dorey (UGA) def. Mallory Olson 79-75
Emma Roberts (SMU) def. Michelle Morris 81-79
Emily van der Walde (UGA) def. Jordyn Pettersen 77-65

Flat

Caitlyn Francis (UGA) def. Julianna Fischer 70-62
Emma Roberts (SMU) def. Kylee Arbuckle 79-69
Carly Anthony (UGA) def. Courtney Line 69-57
Grace Rogers (UGA) def. Renick Townsend 62-57
Rachel Reid (SMU) def. Michelle Morris 66-65

You never know how they are going to figure the MVPs, but it sure seems like Emma Roberts will get both.

Overall, the final result is probably a bit disappointing today. If you told SMU they would take two points from Michelle Morris and that Carly Anthony would only score 69 on the flat you would like your chances.

Pettersen had a re-ride, but she is good enough you wouldn't think it would matter - but I guess there is the chance she was a bit flustered. That point would have been huge.

You also obviously can't post three scores in the 50s and expect to have a chance against the top team in the country. We still need to strive for more consistency.

There are still some positives today. You have to be excited about the improvement on the flat this season and being able to take two points against the top team in the country. The continued emergence of Roberts is also exciting for the program.

Go Ponies!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Emma Roberts did indeed get both MVPs today!

http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/w-equest/recaps/030912aac.html

What an impressive freshman season. She finishes the regular season 10-0 with 3 MVPs over fences. I imagine she will be in the running to be named All-American over fences. I can't wait to calculate her Adjusted VERS after today!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

It looks like Emma Roberts should be named All-American over fences by the NCEA - they take the top four scores nationally in each discipline. After yesterday Roberts has an Adjusted VERS of 100.50 (by my calculation).

Going into this weekend's competitions there was only one other eligible rider in the country with a score over 100 (Maggie McAlary of Auburn who was 9-0 with 5 MVPs and an Adjusted VERS of 109.00).

Jordyn Pettersen and Julianna Fischer were both in position to be named honorable mention All-American over fences but unfortunately it looks like their scores yesterday knocked them out of contention (you have to have an Adjusted VERS over 90).

Obviously the other big thing to keep our eye on is if SMU gets an invitation to the NCEA National Championship in the hunt seat bracket this season. I honestly don't see any way we don't but we will have to wait and see. The championships are in Waco from April 12-14 so the brackets should be out in late March sometime.

Go Ponies!

[Digetydog]

Not to be a smart [deleted], but what the heck is Equestrian? Is it like Polo or jumping or cutting horses? Why do we have an Equestrian team? Given the cost of buying, taking care of horses and traveling with horses, I would think it is an expensive sport relative to other women's sports.

[Lancelot28]

The Bulldogs do feature a couple of absolutely ridiculous riders though.