Cowgirl Equestrian Aims for Four-Straight Big 12 Titles

Friday, March 29

Waco, TX

10 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

Fresno State

March 25, 2024 | Cowgirl Equestrian

Complete Notes (PDF)
Live Scoring (Link)

The Basics
No. 7 Oklahoma State equestrian is set to defend its three consecutive Big 12 titles at Baylor's Willis Family Equestrian Center on March 29-30. The Cowgirls enter the tournament as the second seed and will face third-seeded Fresno State Friday at 10 a.m., with the meet running simultaneously with the TCU-Baylor matchup. Should the Cowgirls beat the Bulldogs, they would then face the winner of the other matchup for a chance at four-straight Big 12 titles, a feat never accomplished by any team. OSU swept the regular season series against Fresno State and have won eight of the last 10 matchups between the teams. This weekend's Big 12 Championship will be streamed on ESPN+ and live scoring will be available during each meet on Baylor's equestrian website.

About the Cowgirls
Head coach Larry Sanchez, in his 25th year at the helm, leads the Cowgirls alongside fifth-year assistant Laura Brainard, second-year assistant Carter Anderson, first-year assistant Alle Durkin and consultant Jody Brainard.

Conference Dominance
OSU's nine Big 12 titles leads all teams in the conference. There have only been five tournaments since 2009 that ended with another team on top. Baylor has accounted for four of those titles, with Texas A&M winning the title as part of the conference in 2011. TCU and Fresno State have never won the tournament, despite TCU facing OSU in the championship meet three years in a row.

National Recognition
Oklahoma State has now had four riders earn monthly awards this season, with six recognitions overall. Grace McReynolds is the most recent of which, taking home the NCEA Fences Rider of the Month for March. She went 2-0 with an MOP. In February, McReynolds and Tristan Bagby earned Big 12 Riders of the month in Fences and Reining, respectively. Claire McDowall swept the conference and national Horsemanship Rider of the Month awards in November, going 3-0 with two MOPs. Emma Filiatreau also earned Co-Reining Rider of the Month for the Big 12 and is the youngest OSU rider to win this season. All four riders picked up either their first or second career recognition.

Cowgirls Making History
Riley Hogan, Bella D'Onofrio and Hannah Dodd have either set or tied an OSU record score in the first three meets of the spring. Hogan started things off against Baylor by shattering OSU's Fences record with a 95-point outing. D'Onofrio followed by scoring a 79.75 in Horsemanship, the best by any OSU freshman and second-highest score by a Cowgirl ever. Against No. 1 TCU, Dodd tied OSU's Flat record with a 92-point display.

An Oklahoma State Win Against Fresno State Would...
- make it eight-straight appearances in the Big 12 Championship round.
- clinch its fifth-straight season with a winning conference record.
- be its ninth win over the Bulldogs in the last 11 meets.
- improve its record against the Bulldogs to 16-3.

An Oklahoma State Win in the Big 12 Title Meet Would...
- make it four consecutive Big 12 titles, a feat never accomplished by any team.
- be its 10th total conferences titles.

Coach's Thoughts
"We are very excited about the Big 12 Championship this weekend," head coach Larry Sanchez said. "Our girls ended the regular season with a lot of success, and we feel very good about our confidence going into postseason."

Cowgirl MOPs
With 4: Riley Hogan and Claire McDowall
With 3: Quincee Clark and Ella Reinauer
With 2: Abby Budd, Maddie Fussell, Grace McReynolds and Sydney North
With 1: Peyton Baxter, Bella Holway and June Roberson

Who to Watch

· Junior Riley Hogan began the spring season with a bang. Her historic 95-point performance in Fences is the highest score in program event history and ties for the third highest in NCEA history. She earned her third MOP of the season for her efforts and highlighted another strong team showing in the Fences event. She followed that with two more wins in OSU's upset over No. 3 SMU. She rounded out the regular season with another MOP in Flat at Fresno State.

· Claire McDowall has proven to be one of the most reliable riders on the Western side. She's 9-3 on the year and has four MOPs, three of which came in consecutive meets. For her efforts, she was named the NCEA and Big 12 Horsemanship Rider of the Month in November after going 3-0 with two MOPs in as many days to conclude the fall season.

· Senior captain Grace McReynolds had a historic spring season for the Cowgirls. She went 5-0 in Fences, highlighted by two MOPs and a career-high 88 at Fresno State. She earned back-to-back monthly honors, including the NCEA's award in March. She became just the second Cowgirl in program history to earn the national award in Fences.

· June Roberson and Maddie Fussell added seven wins each during the regular season, with both going undefeated in the last road trip to California. They have three combined MOPs, with Fussell's coming in consecutive meets during the spring and Roberson's in the regular season finale at UC Davis.

· Hannah Dodd has burst onto the scene in her first semester of starting action. She went 5-0 in Flat during February and tied a program record 92 points against No. 1 TCU.

· Freshman Emma Filiatreau earned Co-Reining Rider of the Month in November after going 3-0 to conclude the fall season. She leads OSU's Reining squad with a 7-3-1 overall record and scored a career-high 73 points against SMU.