Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Equestrian's Hunter Team Captured Zone Seven Championship Title
April 03, 2003 | Cowgirl Equestrian
The Western team earned their berth to nationals after placing second and finishing ahead of New Mexico State.
"The end result was really good," head coach Larry Sanchez said. "We knew ahead of time that we were taking the Hunter team to nationals with our automatic berth from regionals. It's just extra sweet to take both teams.
"We did come in second behind Texas A&M again by one point, but we believe that the difference between that one point can be fixed," Sanchez said. "We are by no means disappointed by our performance today. I think the grills rode really well and stepped up to the pressure."
Individually, three riders qualified for nationals. Emily Hoaglan qualified for nationals after winning the Walk Trot division en route to her first Zone Championship. Crissy Meeks and Chandy Hale each placed second in Open Horsemanship and Intermediate, respectively, to qualify for nationals. To qualify for nationals, a rider must place in the top two of their division.
In the head-to-head competition against OSU and CSU, the Cowgirls jumped to an early 14-10 lead after Corrie Janssen and Emily Harrison captured victories in Open Fences and Intermediate Fences, respectively.
Colorado State then cut the lead to 19-17 after CSU's Annie Curry captured the victory in Novice Fences. The Cowgirls then used wins from Kelli Combs and Chandy Hale to notch a 38-34 lead with two divisions remaining.
CSU cut the lead to 43-41 after Danielle Baker captured the victory in Novice Flat, but fell short when OSU's Lindsay Pounds clinched the victory for the Cowgirls after winning the Open Flat division.
"We have a great group of kids this year," assistant coach Suzanne Flaig said. "We even made some mistakes today and we still came out on top. I have to give Colorado State credit. They did a great job and they will be a good representation from our zone. Both us and Colorado State will go to nationals, even though we were the zone champions." In the race to zone champions on the western side, Texas A&M edged out OSU, 29-28, to give the Aggies their second zone championship title.
The Cowgirls used won three straight disciplines to take a 23-22 lead heading into the final division, Reining, but fell short after Texas A&M's Quincy Cahill edged out Kayla Elmenhorst to give the Aggies the victory.
The Cowgirls will return to action next weekend as they travel to Gainesville, Fla., to compete at the Varsity Nationals, hosted by the University of Florida.
Results
English
1. Oklahoma State 50 2. Colorado State 46
Western
1. Texas A&M 29 2. Oklahoma State 28 3. Colorado State 21 4. New Mexico St. 17
