March 26, 2016
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (SMU) - Senior Schaefer Raposa won the United Equestrian Conference Equitation over Fences Rider of the Year award, and was one of six members of the SMU equestrian team to earn UEC accolades, after the UEC Championships Saturday. Raposa is the second-straight Mustang to win the award, following teammate Sylvia de Toledo.
Standout freshman, Nora Gray and Madison Steed claimed three of four UEC Freshman of the Year awards. Gray, who now has the most wins by a freshman in program history (20), won both the Equitation on the Flat and Equitation over Fences honors. The Owen Sound, Ontario, native has a 20-9-1 combined record this season, passing Kristen Collins who set the previous record during the 2006-07 season. Steed, a Cochrane, Alberta, native, boasts an 8-6-1 record this season.
SMU hunt seat riders nearly swept the All-UEC hunt seat teams, earning five of eight possible spots. Raposa and de Toledo earned spots on the All-UEC Equitation on the Flat team, while Raposa, de Toledo and Alex Butterworth claimed All-UEC Equitation over Fences praises.
Junior Jaclyn White won the UEC Championship reining MOP after recording two victories. The Argyle, Texas, native posted a 132-130.5 victory over UT Martin's Megan Aiosa on the first day of competition, before topping Delaware State's Elizabeth Koons, 137.5-130.5, on day two. White now has three straight reining victories and improves to 6-6-2 on the year.
Results: DSU 9, SMU 7 
Coming down to the last point of the day, the SMU equestrian team fell to DSU, 9-7, in the consolation meet of the UEC Championship Saturday.
For the second day in a row, the reiners led the Mustangs, claiming the discipline, 3-1. Along with White's win, Keagan Snively won her third-straight event, knocking off Alexis Gratowski, 137.5-134.5. Steed added to the Mustang's success with a 134-131.5 win over the Hornets' Brooke Moore. Over the two-day event, the reiners won six of eight possible points.
In Equitation over Fences, de Toledo, Raposa and Gray all earned victories. de Toledo won 151-145, before Raposa easily knocked off Alex Gill, 159-146. Both riders have 51 career victories and share the SMU all-time career victories record. Gray rounded off the discipline with a 149-148 edge over Sofia Zingale.
Michaela Dinger picked up SMU's lone horsemanship point with a 142.5-136.5 rout over Abigail Buckwalter. Dinger won both of her events during the championships and is now 7-6 on the season.
"We had a great regular season and I am very proud of all of our girls," SMU head coach Carol Gwin said. "It is disappointing to not have come out successful, but we will move forward, do a good deal of video review, and focus on nationals."
The Mustangs will travel to Waco, Texas, to compete in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Championships, April 14-16. The Championship will feature 12 of the best collegiate equestrian teams from the SEC, Big 12 and UEC conferences. For more information on the NCEA National Championships, visit SMUMustangs.com or follow the equestrian team on twitter at @SMUEquestrian.
--SMUMustangs.com--
