EQ Hosts Ninth-Annual Willis Invitational
9/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Equestrian
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
After opening with a 12-6 loss on the road at South Carolina, the fifth-ranked Baylor equestrian team will be back at home and back on its own horses for this weekend's ninth annual Wills Invitational.
"There is a definite home advantage, because you know those horses and you're riding them all the time," Baylor coach Ellen White said. "So, I think between we don't know those horses, we're trying to figure them out, and then just not quite being in that groove of we've only got four minutes to ride them and figure it out, just caught our girls a little cold. This time, I think they're going to be more ready to go. We've kind of lit a little fire under them."
The Bears (0-1) will have to get their fire going early, facing South Dakota State (0-0) at 10 a.m. Friday at the Willis Family Equestrian Center. No. 9 Fresno State (0-0) takes on 10th-ranked New Mexico State (0-0) at the same time, with Baylor squaring off against NMSU and Fresno facing South Dakota State in flat and reining beginning at 2 p.m.
On Saturday, the completion of the second matchup will have competition in fences and horsemanship beginning at 10 a.m. The meet wraps up with Baylor-Fresno and NMSU-South Dakota State at noon.
With the three matches in one weekend, White said she will "pull in a few, some that have not traditionally been competing for us . . This just gives a couple more people a chance to show."
Baylor puts its Willis Invitational dominance on the line after winning the previous eight titles and sweeping Fresno, New Mexico State and Tennessee-Martin a year ago.
With a home meet like this, White said, "it's like putting on a play."
"You have your actors that are going to be on stage," she said, "but somebody's painting the set and someone's playing in the orchestra pit and someone's pulling the curtain. . . . It's a lot of work, so it's hard to be excited at the same time. It's like putting on a big party. You're like, `Yay, that's so exciting, they're all coming to the party.' But yet, you've got this, this, this . . . oh, shoot, flowers, I've got to do that today. All these things you have to do to get ready."
Saturday will have a circus-like atmosphere with pony rides and bounce houses for children.
"The great thing about this team is everybody knows their role," White said. "I can assign the tasks and not look at it again and trust that it will get done."
Baylor will have live scoring updates of unofficial scores at baylorbears.com, and you can also get Twitter updates by following @BaylorEQ and @BUEQCoachWhite.
After the Willis Invitational, Baylor will have the next two weekends off before opening Big 12 competition with a matchup on the road at No. 7 Oklahoma State on Oct. 22.
WACO, Texas - No. 5 Baylor equestrian (1-0) will host the ninth-annual Willis Invitational tournament this weekend, running Friday, Sep. 30, through Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Willis Family Equestrian Center.
The tournament consists of three individual head-to-head meets, featuring matchups with No. 9 Fresno State (0-0), No. 10 New Mexico State (0-0), and South Dakota State (0-0).
The Baylor squad has won all eight previous Willis titles, including a 3-0 sweep of last season's tournament field of Tennessee-Martin, NMSU, and FSU.
For the second season, Baylor will host live scoring updates of unofficial scores on BaylorBears.com.
Keep up with the team all season long by following Baylor Equestrian's official accounts on Twitter (@BaylorEQ), Facebook (Baylor Equestrian), Instagram (@BaylorEquestrian), and head coach Ellen White's Twitter (@BUEQCoachWhite).
TOURNAMENT INFO:
2016 Willis Invitational
Willis Family Equestrian Center
Waco, Texas
Sep. 30-Oct. 1, 2016
Live Scoring: BaylorBears.com
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, Sep. 30
Round 1
Baylor vs. SDSU 10 a.m.
FSU vs. NMSU 10 a.m.
Round 2 (Flat and Reining)
Baylor vs. NMSU 2 p.m.
FSU vs. SDSU 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 1
Round 2 (Fences and Horsemanship)
Baylor vs. NMSU 10 a.m.
FSU vs. SDSU 10 a.m.
Round 3
Baylor vs. FSU 12 p.m.
NMSU vs. SDSU 12 p.m.
BAYLOR BEARS
2016 Record: 0-1
Head Coach: Ellen White (12th season)
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS
2016 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Eric Hubbard (4th season)
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES
2016 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Robin Morris-Walters (2nd season)
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS
2016 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Ellie Wilkins (1st season)
#SicEm
