Baylor
Tennessee-Martin (Reining)
EQ Advances Both Western Squads to Quarterfinals
4/18/2018 12:00:00 AM | Equestrian
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
€‹Before she entered the Extraco Events Center arena for the last ride in Baylor's horsemanship matchup with South Carolina in the NCEA National Championships, Charlotte Green knew it all rested on her.
€‹"Luckily, I can usually handle pressure pretty well and I don't get nervous," said the Baylor senior from Desert Springs, Calif. "When I was sitting there and my horse was kind of dancing around, I was like, `Wow, this really does come down to me and I have to do this thing.'''
€‹Green admits she was not always in control - "I was not the driver on my ride" - but she recorded a 144.5 score on the horse Allen. That was enough for her to edge South Carolina's Megan Overberg (141.5) and give the Bears a 3-1 win over the Gamecocks in Wednesday's first-round matchup of the horsemanship event.
€‹"You don't focus on that. You just tell her to do her thing and just finish the day," Baylor coach Casie Maxwell said. "She puts the pressure on herself, so we just try to be there and be supportive."
€‹On the opening day of the NCEA Championships, Baylor split in the new event competitions, advancing in horsemanship and reining and losing in equitation on the flat and equitation over fences.
€‹"Overall, in all four events, I think the girls rode hard," Maxwell said. "We had a couple errors in the hunt seat pen, but it was nothing that should have kept us from pulling off wins in those events. I'm still definitely proud of those riders in the fences and flat. In the western pen, they just came out swinging. They came out with a lot of energy and kind of set a tone."
€‹Seeded sixth in both western events, Baylor will face No. 3 seed Auburn in reining quarterfinals at 8:30 a.m. Friday and third-seeded Texas A&M in horsemanship at 3 p.m.
€‹Green said the western side "has been really consistent this year, and we have a lot of talent and we believe in ourselves. I think that's really the most important thing."
€‹Baylor's hunt seat riders didn't go down without a fight.
€‹In equitation on the flat, the 11th-seeded Bears got winning rides from Abby Jorgensen and Madison Day to tie the sixth-seeded Gamecocks, 2-2. But, South Carolina advanced with a 637-630 edge in raw scores, the decider being senior Gabby Conte getting outscored 143-121 by Madison Brayman on Lux.
€‹Seeded 12th in flat, Baylor's matchup against fifth-seeded SMU couldn't have been much closer. Rachael Davis (147) and Rachel Van Allen (149) gave the Bears a 1-0 edge through the first two head-to-head rides, with Van Allen tying the Mustangs' Kristen Ostling.
€‹But, SMU's Haley Zimmerman and Vivan Yowan got the clinching points for the Mustangs, edging Brittney Mirkov and Madison Day in the last two rides.
€‹Baylor's reining squad got the day started on a good note with a 2-1 win over 11th-seeded UT Martin. Abbi Demel (141) and Georgia Smith (143) had winning rides for the Bears, while Green (140.5) had a draw with Liana Mohak to clinch it. €‹
Maxwell said Demel, who scored a discipline-high 152 points in horsemanship, was able to shake "some nerves out in the reining. It wasn't her best performance, but it was nice and clean and got the job done."
€‹"The first time you walk through that gate, it's just a way different feeling than it is all season," Demel said. "So, it was nice to get that out of the way and get the win out of it. Like Coach said, it made it easier for the horsemanship."
€‹Junior Kaylee Mellott (146.5) got the other point for the Bears in the 3-1 win over South Carolina in the horsemanship matchup.
€‹"When our first rider went in and made a little mistake, I turned to Kaylee and Abbi and was like, `All right, we have to do this thing. We've got to bring it,''' Green said. "So, when Abbi was able to get that really big score and win her point and Kaylee went in and got a really good score and won her point, I was like, `Oh man, it really comes downs to me. I'm not going to be done right now.'''
€‹Baylor shifts its focus to the team bracket, with the seventh-seeded Bears (5-8) facing No. 2 seed Auburn (10-4) at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the quarterfinal round. The two teams split the season series, each winning at home.
€‹"To still be able to come out with some pretty strong wins and kind of shake some of those nerves and anxiety out is good," Maxwell said. "We know we have to be strong in our competition and really deep tomorrow to pull out a win, but I think this gives us hope that we're capable of doing it."
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas - Baylor equestrian advanced both its horsemanship and reining teams out of the opening round in the inaugural Event Championship rounds of the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) Championship on Wednesday at the Extraco Events Center.
Hosting in partnership with the City of Waco and McLennan County for the 12th-straight season, Baylor split the day, with the fences and flat teams narrowly edged out in their respective competitions.
The reining squad grabbed the morning win for BU, taking a 2-1 edge over UT Martin.
Abbi Demel and Georgia Smith both notched points for the Bears, while Charlotte Green keeping BU in front, working a draw with her opponent.
Moving to the afternoon on the western side, the horsemanship team rolled to a 3-1 win over South Carolina, with Kaylee Mellott, Abbi Demel, and Charlotte Green all riding out tightly contested points to give BU the win.
In the morning's hunt seat competition, the fences team fell on raw scores, drawing 2-2 with South Carolina and 637-630 on the composite scores.
Abby Jorgensen and Madison Day both collected points, but the Gamecocks will advance out of the opening round.
In the afternoon, the equitation on the flat squad fell 2-1 to SMU, with Rachael Davis clinching her point and Rachel Van Allen forcing a tie. The Mustangs picked up both of the final points of the draw, advancing past the Bears into the quarterfinal round.
WHAT'S NEXT Baylor will turn its attention to the team championship bracket, opening on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. with No. 2 seed Auburn. The two western squads will be back in action on Friday in the quarterfinal rounds, with horsemanship set to face Texas A&M and reining paired with Auburn. BU is seeded No. 6 in both brackets, facing No. 3-seeded opponents.
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