Texas A&M Equestrian’s Reining squad advanced to the event final at the NCEA Championships with wins over SMU and South Carolina Friday at the Extraco Events Center.
The final is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday as the Aggies square off against the Auburn Tigers.
The squad defeated SMU, 3-1, in the second round, before blanking South Carolina, 3-0, to advance to the final.
Against the Mustangs, Kalee McCann outscored Keagan Snively, 140-137. Madison Bohman topped Oliva Pakula, 144.5-141, prior to Darby Gardner bettering Madison Steed, 143.5-140.5.
In the semifinals, Ashton Dunkel tallied the first point against the Gamecocks with a 132.5-127.5 victory over Jordan Scott. Bohman edged out Paisley Roberts, 136.5-135.5, before Gardner concluded the sweep with a 141 to defeat Caroline Gute’s 132.5.
Texas A&M advanced to the semifinals in Equitation Over Fences after defeating UT Martin, 4-0, but fell to Oklahoma State in a 2-2 tiebreaker.
Alex Desiderio dominated UTM’s Abbie Hopkins, 168-0, to open the event. Caroline Dance bettered Monika Zoromski, 151-0, before Rebekah Chenelle clinched the win by dropping Brooke Pheiffer, 170-136. Rachael Hake concluded the sweep with a 170-148 victory over Lindsay Anderson.
In the semifinals, the Maroon & White fell in a tiebreaker to the Cowgirls. Desiderio dropped Katie Schell, 170-159, before Hake secured her second point of the day after a 173-171 win over Abigail Brayman.
A&M faced Georgia in the semifinals of Equitation on the Flat after winning a 2-2 tiebreaker against SMU in the second round. Desiderio outscored Vivian Yowan, 157-154, for the first point. Heading into the final ride down 2-1, Hake dominated Kristen Ostling, 169-148, to force a tiebreaker. The Aggies dropped a 3-1 decision to the Bulldogs in the third round. Hake secured the sole victory for the Maroon & White after toppling Madison Newman, 167-163.
The Aggies fell to Baylor, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of Horsemanship.
