The eighth-ranked SMU equestrian team heads to Brookings, S.D., to take on South Dakota State in its final regular season meet of the year. The meet is slated for
Saturday at 9 a.m. CT at the DeHaan Equestrian Center. Fans can follow the meet via
live video and
live scoring or by following @SMUEquestrian on Twitter.
ABOUT SMU: The Mustangs are 5-5 overall and 3-1 in the United Equestrian Conference (UEC). SMU is ranked No. 8 in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) poll. Freshman
Vivian Yowan (equitation over fences) and junior
Keagan Snively (reining) were named February's NCEA National and the United Equestrian Conference Riders of the Month. Yowan leads the team with a 14-5-1 record, while senior
Sylvia de Toledo and sophomore
Nora Gray boast 13 and 12 wins, respectively. In the western arena, Snively leads the way with a 7-3 mark, while
Hannah McCain holds a 6-4 record.
SMU's BY THE NUMBERS: In the English arena, the hunters are 7-2-1 overall, with 12 MOP honors, and have outscored opponents, 58-34. In equitation over fences, SMU has held opponents to 16 points (39-16), en route to an 8-2 mark. Freshman
Vivian Yowan leads the jumpers with an 8-2 record, while senior
Sylvia de Toledo and
Nora Gray each have seven wins. Five Mustangs have four or more wins in equitation on the flat, led by Yowan (6-3-1) and de Toledo (6-2-2).
Nora Gray has five wins (5-4-1), with
Haley Zimmerman and
Leina King at four apiece.
In the Western arena,
Keagan Snively leads the team with a 7-3 record, with senior
Hannah McCain boasting a 6-4 mark.
Madison Steed has five wins, while
Ashley Mauney and
Michaela Dinger each have four. The western team has won nine MOP honors, with
Keagan Snively leading the team with three.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: The Jackrabbits are 3-7 overall. South Dakota State is coming off an 8-8 win over then- No. 10 New Mexico State. The Jacks won in raw score, 1,228-1,204.25.
ALL-TIME AGAINST JACKRABBITS: This is the seventh meeting between the two programs. SMU holds a 3-1 all-time lead, with a 2-0 record in hunt seat only meets. The last time the two teams met was October 30, 2015, where SMU won 13-5 in Dallas.
A full recap and final results will be made available following the competition on SMUMustangs.com. During the meet, live results can be found on SMUMustangs.com or the SMU equestrian twitter page. Fans are encouraged to follow @SMUEquestrian.
LAST TIME OUT: Senior
Jaclyn White won the reining Most Outstanding Player (MOP) honor, as the seventh-ranked SMU equestrian team fell, 14-5, at No. 8 South Carolina Saturday. SMU and South Carolina split the reining discipline, 2-2. White bested Kara Guertin, 70.5-70, to win her third-career MOP and pick up her fourth win of the season. Sophomore
Madison Steed knocked off Bridgett White, 67-65.5, for her fifth win of the year. In equitation on the flat,
Sylvia de Toledo won SMU's first point with an 84-76 win over Lizzie van der Walde. The senior now has 65 career wins and expanded her lead as SMU's all-time career wins leader to 13. She is now 13-4-3 overall on the season. Freshman
Vivian Yowan knocked off Madison Sellman, 88-78, to win her team-leading 14th victory. Sophomore
Nora Gray earned her 12th win of the year with an 83-82 edge over Chloe Schmidt. She is now 12-7-1 this season.
SMU EARNS HIGHEST RANKING IN PROGRAM HISTORY: The SMU equestrian team earned its highest ranking in program history, being ranked No. 4 in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) poll, after beating then-No. 9 Oklahoma State. SMU surpassed its previous high of fifth after wins at then-No. 3 TCU and most recently then-No. 9 Oklahoma State. SMU's previous high ranking of fifth came in November of 2014, after the Mustangs topped three consecutive top-10 teams, including No. 1 Georgia, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 10 New Mexico State.
NCEA RIDER OF THE MONTH HONORS: Freshman
Vivian Yowan and junior
Keagan Snively were named the February NCEA National Riders of the Month. Yowan snagged the EquiFit Equitation Over Fences Rider of the Month honor, while Snively earned the Shorty's Reining Rider of the Month. Both Yowan and Snively went 5-0, with two MOPs in their respective disciplines. The national recognition is the first for both riders, and the first for any Mustang this season.
UEC RIDER OF THE MONTH: SMU has snagged five UEC Rider of the Month awards this season.
Vivian Yowan has won second consecutive equitation over fences award (Nov., Feb.), while Snively picked up the February reining rider of the Month award for her second career honor. In November,
Michaela Dinger was the Horsemanship Rider of the Month. In October,
Sylvia de Toledo was named the equitation over fences Rider of the Month.
SMU CAREER WINS LEADERS: Senior
Sylvia de Toledo became SMU's all-time career wins leader after a 79-77 Equitation Over Fences win over TCU's Patty Gill on Sept. 23, 2016. She passed former teammate
Schaefer Raposa. With one win versus South Carolina, she now has 65 wins in her tenure on the Hilltop.
WIN 'EM BOTH: Sophomore
Nora Gray won both of the hunt seat MOP honors against Fresno State on Feb. 10, to become the third rider in SMU history to manage the feat. Emma Roberts (2011-14) managed the achievement as a freshman against top-ranked Georgia on March 9, 2012, before
Schaefer Raposa earned both honors last season against TCU on Sept. 24, 2015.
ROLLING IN MOPS: Through 10 meets, SMU has won 21 Most Outstand Player honors, 12 in the hunt seat arena and nine in the western ring. Sophomore
Nora Gray and freshman
Vivian Yowan are tied for the lead with four apiece, while
Keagan Snively boasts three.
Sylvia de Toledo and
Madison Steed each have two, with six different Mustangs have one.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: For the remainder of the season, the Mustangs will be competing on the road. SMU will travel nearly 10,000 miles over the course of two months, going to four different states for six competitions. After four meets on the road to wrap up the regular season, the Mustangs head to Dover, Delaware, for the UEC Championship. Following the conference championship, the Mustangs will await a bid to the NCEA National Championship in Waco, Texas.
HOME SWEET HOME: The SMU equestrian team has moved to the Dallas Equestrian Center (DEC), which will serve as its official stables and training facility. SMU finished its home slate with a 4-1 record at the DEC.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS: Last season, 14 members of the SMU equestrian team earned NCEA academic honors. Six riders earned spots on the Beval Saddlery Academic All-America team, while 13 were named to the La Hacienda Academic Honor Roll.
Schaefer Raposa,
Sylvia de Toledo and
Keagan Snively achieved first-team status, which is awarded to student-athletes who competed in a minimum of 70 percent of meets during the 2015-16 season, and earned a cumulative 3.5 GPA while maintaining full-time enrollment in the 2015 spring and fall semesters. de Toledo achieved a team-high 3.97 GPA, Raposa boasted a 3.70 and Snively maintained a 3.54.
2015-16 SEASON RECAP: The Mustangs posted a 7-10 record and finished tied for first (4-2) in the United Equestrian Conference. SMU advanced to the NCEA National Championship quarterfinals after a 10-6 upset over the defending-champion and No. 7 seed South Carolina. During the regular season, SMU topped three ranked-opponents: No. 6 South Carolina, No. 7 Fresno State and No. 3 Texas A&M. SMU was ranked as high as No. 6, and spent 10 of 13 weeks in the polls.
