Results

OCALA, Florida (SMU) - No. 1 SMU equestrian defeated No. 8 Baylor, 10-8, in the first round of the 2023 NCEA National Championships Thursday afternoon at the World Equestrian Center. It marks the third consecutive year the Mustangs have advanced to the NCEA semifinals.

Trailing by one entering the final event, the Mustangs Horsemanship squad pieced together a dominant performance to propel the Mustangs to victory.

SMU took four out of the five points in the event, starting with all-American Mallory Vroegh's 226-177.5 victory. Megan Waldron won her ride 224.5-214.5.

In a re-ride for the meet deciding point, all-American Nya Kearns outrode her opponent 231-226, to clinch the victory for the Mustangs.

The meet started with Reining and Fences coinciding. Taylor Zimmerman picked up the first point of the contest with a 210-206 victory over Baylor's Shelby Clausen.

After Baylor picked up the next two points, SMU countered with back-to-back points from Dani Latimer and Lily Anderson. Latimer won her ride 209.5-208, and Anderson defeated Baylor's Madaline Callaway 209.5-206.

In Fences, Alex Pielet won SMU's lone point of the contest with a 255-240 victory.

The second half of the meet consisted of Flat and Horsemanship. SMU and Baylor split the Flat contest 2-2. Miranda Seade took down her opponent 230-228, and Madigan Eppink picked up a 232-223 victory.

The top-ranked Mustangs are back in action against No. 4 TCU Friday at 1 p.m. CT.