TCU Equestrian: Cities Of The Plain
No. 2 TCU Equestrian is--unsurprisingly to this writer documenting their adventures this season and last--one of the most exciting teams in our sports program. They are now one victory away from clenching the Big 12 regular season title.
The Horned Frogs faced No. 9 Fresno State in the San Joaquin Valley and gave them a thrashing, 15-4, sealing their third consecutive Big 12 win, and a season sweep of the Bulldogs.
TCU (8-1, 3-1 Big 12) now sits in position to claim the conference regular season crown with a win in its next Big 12 outing, a visit to Oklahoma State on Feb. 25.
TCU triumphed in all four events, starting with Horsemanship, for which Mattie Dukes earned the MOP--first of the season, sixth for her career. She and Jessica McAllister earned the highest scores of the event, with 76 each, beating their competition's respective scores of 74.5 and and 73.5.
Giorgia Medows bested her own opponent 75.5 - 72.5.
Shea Graham followed in fashion, earning a 71-67.5 win against Ella Storch while Payton Boutelle managed a 69.5-66 takedown of Hannah Bujis.
Next was Fences, and the Frogs performed equally well. Isabella Baxter, clenching an MOP, the 14th in her career, earned an 83, easily besting her opponent's score of 76. She is now 43-21 in the event for her career.
Sydney Berube edged out her competition, with a score of 82, beating Taylor Holstead by two points.
Ashleigh Scully was the third in the event to achieve a score over 80--a considerable feat--earning an 81, and defeating her opponent by two two points.
TCU's mastery continued in Reining. The Horned Frogs rode to a 3-1 advantage to clinch the meet.
Dukes swelled the Horned Frogs' lead to 9-2, picking up her second win of the outing on the strength of a 71-70.5 win over Julianne Kelly.
Shortly thereafter, Maddy Buchanan (earning her first MOP for the season) put the Horned Frogs in double figures and within a point of victory. She was awarded 71 points.
Graham garnered the match-clincher, overwhelming Sarah Semrau 61.5-58. McAllister was TCU's top scorer at 71.5 points, but her ride ended in a draw.
Our ladies' dominant performance continued and concluded in Flat. Four of TCU's five competitors received scores of 80-or-better. Wynne Weatherly proved the team's leading scorer, with an 83, on her way to a four-point victory. Laurel Smith closed the meet with a dominant 82-75 win against Jillian Spencer. Sydnie Young, hailing from nearby Loomis, California, easily bested Elle Martin 80-67. Scully's 15th victory arrived in the form of a 68-point ride. Her opponent did not receive a score.
Then came Saturday, in which TCU garnered its sixth consecutive victory, ninth of 10 outings this season. The 9-1 start to a season is the best in the 15-year history of the program.
TCU proved dominant in the morning's first event, Fences. Baxter, Berube, Ella Bostwick, and Scully all received scores of 82-or-higher to give the Horned Frogs a 4-1 lead. Berube picked up TCU's first point of the meet, as she conquered her opponent, 84-77. Scully soon propelled TCU to a 2-0 head start. The junior, whose 2022-2023 overall record now stands at 17-2, scored an 83-80 win over Sierra Gunderson, the Aggies' high scorer. Meanwhile, Baxter proved once again how essential she is to the team. A two-time Fences All-American, Baxter was awarded 85 points on her way to a six-point triumph over Carly Sweeney. Baxter, Berube and Scully have all won four consecutive duals. Bostwick has been in the winner's circle in two of her last three outings. TCU outscored the Aggies 412-395 on its way to its sixth straight Fences win.
The Horned Frogs then took an 8-2 lead via a 4-1 triumph over UC Davis in Horsemanship. The event's final score fell to TCU, though hardly seamless. A total of four re-rides were issued, leaving the end result in doubt and prompting a lengthy delay. Regardless, the Horned Frogs managed yet another stellar victory. UC Davis' Jordan Schween, narrowly beat our own Graham, 77.5-77, to cut the Horned Frogs' overall lead in half. But from there, it was all TCU. Boutelle matched the All-American Graham's score to take down Maddie Gregory 77-70.5. Medows and Dukes each capitalized on re-rides to clinch the event, the former being awarded a score of 76 while the latter earned a score of 74.5 to defeat Kendall Lance and Natasha Repogle, respectively. McAllister managed a 74.5-73.5 win over Gracie Howell to close the event.
UC Davis struck back in Flat, sweeping all five rides to cut the Horned Frogs lead down to one at 8-7. Young received a team-high 79 points. Smith and Weatherly rode to scores of 73 and 72, respectively. Scully was awarded a score of 68 while Victoria Zahorik earned 67 points.
Needing three points to win, TCU's reining quintet delivered.
The Horned Frogs trotted out a lineup featuring Buchanan, Dukes, Graham, McAllister and Meadows.
Tallies for each ride, along with Most Outstanding Performers for all four events, were not available due to the absence of live scoring updates by UC Davis.
Next Up:
Three regular season meets remain for TCU, all against ranked opponents. The Horned Frogs return to Bear Creek Farms for the first time in more than three months to host No. 3 Texas A&M on Feb. 18. TCU then concludes its Big 12 regular season schedule with a visit to Stillwater to take on No. 7 Oklahoma State on Feb. 25 before competing at home one last time against No. 8 Baylor on March 4. The Horned Frogs will host Senior Day as a part of their struggle with the Bores from Waco.
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