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Aggie equestrian team wins double dual match

Special to the Eagle

FRESNO, Calif. - The Texas A&M equestrian team defeated Fresno State, 14-6, and New Mexico State, 12-4, in a two-day double dual match over the weekend at the Fresno Student Horse Center.

"We had a great weekend," A&M head coach Tana Rawson said. "We had some pressure to make our rides count since one score would be used against both teams, not to mention the new batch of horses that we were competing on for the first time. We had some mental challenges and had to push through some weather conditions but I thought they handled it great."

A&M's western squad rode to a 3-3 draw against New Mexico State on Saturday, while the English team had a 9-1 victory on Sunday.

The western team beat Fresno State, 9-1, on Saturday morning, then the English team split with Fresno State on Sunday.

Junior Katie Henion earned her second fences MVP award of the season with 82-77 and 82-68 victories over Fresno's Lisa Wells and NMSU's Beth Robinson.

Sophomore co-captain Courtney Brooks earned a fences sweep also with defeats of FSU's Morgan McDonald (75-70) and NMSU's Meg Keeley (75-69).

Freshman Lindsay Smith was the third Aggie to sweep her fence matchups, dropping FSU's Katie Sellers, 76-55, while downing NMSU's Krystal Mack, 76-72.

Sophomore Christina Matz remained unbeaten with wins over Kelsey Bullock of FSU (72.4-67.9) and Krystal Mack (72.4-70.7). Fellow soph Ali Mueller beat FSU's Jennifer Jofy, 73.8-67.0, and NMSU's Meg Keeley 73.8-69.7.

Sophomore Tonna Brooks earned her first MVP award of the season with victories in horsemanship while also sweeping both reining matchups. Brooks earned horsemanship wins over Aspen Selby of FSU, 78-71.5, and Rebecca Flood of NMSU, 78-75. Brooks also defeated Rose Hennig of FSU, 67.5-64.5, and Bryn Wells of NMSU, 67.5-65, in reining.

A&M freshmen Maggie Gratny and Caroline Gunn remained unbeaten. Gratny continued her undefeated streak in the reining division with victories over Sara Barnes of FSU, 69.5-69, and Ashley Deitz of NMSU, 69.5-66.5.

Gunn kept her undefeated streak in horsemanship going with a 73-69.5 win over Sierra Daniels of Fresno. Gunn rode to a 73-73 draw with NMSU's Bryn Wells.

The Aggies (6-1) will face TCU at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Freeman Arena. A&M will then face Kansas State at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Admission is free.