Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Equestrian Notches Second Place
April 03, 2003 | Cowgirl Equestrian
"The girls performed really well," head coach Larry Sanchez said. "I thought we handled the horses as good as we could have. We have to come out tomorrow like we did today and see what the outcome will be."
The Cowgirls entered the show three points behind Texas A&M with 72 and 75 points, respectively. The Cowgirls cut the margin to one point after using three first-place finishes and two second-place showings to boost their season total to 92 points.
West Texas A&M entered the show in third place, but after recording 25 team points the Buffaloes left the show in a tie for first with in-state rival Texas A&M with 93 points. Kansas State rounded out the top-four with 17 points, boosting its season total to 81 points.
"You always like good competition," Sanchez said. "It keeps everybody on their toes and keeps them working hard. If it was too easy then the girls wouldn't work as hard as they do right now and I like to see that. You can see a lot of fire in their eyes when it is so close and I think if they were running away with it you wouldn't see that.
"I don't like to be this close but it does keep the girls working hard and it shows how tough this region really is," Sanchez said. "We are really proud of everybody in this region and to be able to compete at the level as well as everyone is to eventually send a team to represent the region at Nationals."
The Cowgirls were led by freshmen Cheryl Adamson and April Peck and junior Amber Higgins, each recording first-place victories. Adamson and Peck won Beginning, while Higgins captured the victory in Open Horsemanship.
Peck's first-place finish gave her 29 of the 35 points needed to qualify for Regionals with three shows remaining.
Junior Natalie Hoefler and freshman Amy Scott each are within six points of qualifying for Regionals by recording second-place showings in Intermediate and Reining, respectively.
"I think all schools are representing very good riders and they are going to continue to perform at the top level," Sanchez said. "Those that make the fewest mistakes are going to end up on top. We need to work on some things so that we won't make those mistakes that will hurt us."
The race for regional leader will continue tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Animal Science Arena as the Cowgirls will look to come away with sole possession of first place.
Results
West Texas A&M-25 Oklahoma State-20 Texas A&M-18 Kansas State-17 Sul Ross State-3 Texas Tech-1 Tarleton State-1 SEOSU-0 UT-Austin-0
Season Totals
Texas A&M-93 West Texas A&M-93 Oklahoma State-92 Kansas State-81 Sul Ross State-20 Texas Tech-13 Tarleton State-5 SEOSU-2 UT-Austin-0
