DALLAS, Texas The South Dakota State equestrian team dropped a pair of head-to-head competitions to ranked opponents in weekend action at the Dallas Equestrian Center. The Jackrabbits were edged by eighth-ranked Delaware State, 8-7, while dropping a 17-1 decision to No. 3 Southern Methodist.
The Jackrabbits fell to 2-5 in head-to-head competitions this season. The weekends events marked the first of the spring season for SDSU.
#8 Delaware State 8, SDSU 7
In an ECAC competition that began Friday and concluded Saturday morning, Delaware State rallied for the one-point victory.
SDSU led 4-3 after the flat and reining events on Friday and maintained a 6-5 advantage entering the final round of riders Saturday morning. However, the Hornets claimed the final three points and the victory after Paige Wellendorf earned a 72.5-71.5 victory over Aniela Cortina to open the final frame of horsemanship.
Wellendorf (73) and Most Outstanding Performer Shelby Cochran (72) were winners for the Jackrabbits in reining on Friday, while Julia Werkhoven and Sophia Kregoski earned the SDSU points in flat with respective winning scores of 81 and 78.
Cali Karbler paced the Jackrabbits in fences Saturday morning with a winning score of 82 and was joined in the win column by Hannah Steele with a score of 80. Werkhoven shared team-high scoring honors with an 82, but dropped a one-point decision to MOP Oliva Brown.
The Jackrabbits moved to 1-3 against ECAC opponents so far this season.
#3 SMU 17, SDSU 1
The defending NCEA champion Mustangs earned all five available points in both the flat and horsemanship events en route to a sweep of weekend competition.
SMU, which defeated Delaware State 15-4 on Friday, had four of its five riders in flat post scores of 80 or higher. MOP Taylor Madden led the way with a score of 84, followed by Hensley Humprhies with an 83. Werkhoven and Kregoski shared team-high honors for SDSU with scores of 73 in losing efforts.
In horsemanship, MOP Alexa Black and Nya Kearns each turned in scores of 77 for the Mustangs. Kearnes topped Shelby Cochran, 77-75.5, as Cochran recorded the high score in the event for the Jackrabbits.
Werkhoven was the lone Jackrabbit victor, earning a point in fences by outscoring Hannah Hoch, 75-72, in their head-to-head matchup.
Two meetings in reining resulted in ties, including Cochran matching Taylor Zimmermans s ore of 72.5 on Tuni, while the Jackrabbits Paige Butterfield and Maria Richards of SMU battled to a draw with scores of 79.5 on Tberg.
Up next
The Jackrabbits close out the home portion of their schedule with a Feb. 10 head-to-head matchup against Minnesota Crookston. SDSUs senior class will be honored during the competition.
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