TCU
Fresno State
No. 3 TCU Punches Ticket to Big 12 Championship in Stillwater
3/24/2023 7:24:00 PM | Equestrian
STILLWATER, Okla. – Third time was indeed the charm for TCU, as the Horned Frogs notched victory No. 3 of the 2022-2023 spring season to punch their ticket to the Big 12 Championship. The semifinal matchup against Fresno State concluded with a score of 15-5, with TCU winning each respective event of the meet.
Jumping seat and western arenas were shared in conjunction with the second semifinal between No. 1 seed Oklahoma State and No. 4 seed Baylor. The concurrent schedules meant no events overlap. As such, TCU commenced the action in Horsemanship, transitioned to Flat and Fences and concluded with Reining.
Horsemanship
A positive omen arrived at the arena for TCU even before Friday's contest got underway when it was announced the Horned Frogs would begin with their most successful event in 2022-2023.
TCU went 12-1 in Horsemanship during the regular season and twice shutout the Bulldogs 5-0.
Friday's finale between the teams spun a near-identical meeting as the prequels.
The Horned Frogs built a 4-1 meet lead behind victories from Mattie Dukes, Giorgia Medows, Shea Graham and Jessica McAllister. TCU edged the Bulldogs on cumulative points 1,096.5-1,092.5.
Dukes delivered the Horned Frogs' first point of the afternoon. She garnered a meet-high score of 228.5 to better Fresno State's top performer in Ella Storch, whose ride was awarded a score of 224.
Fresno State briefly evened the scoreboard at 1-1 after Emily Maul defeated Payton Boutelle 218-207.5.
TCU's All-American trio of Medows, Graham and McAllister then rattled off three straight wins.
Medows bettered Alex Krebbs 217-215 to notch her 10th Horsemanship victory of the season.
Graham rode to a score of 224.5 to cruise past Hannah Buijs by a six-and-a-half-point margin and clinch the event.
McAllister closed the show by picking up her team-leading 12th Horsemanship triumph via a 219-217.5 victory at the expense of Kenna Lee.
Flat
The discipline and event changed, yet the end result remained the same as the meet transitioned to Flat.
TCU claimed its second 4-1 cumulative victory to take an 8-2 lead into the intermission and effectively clinch the match.
Wynne Weatherly and Laurel Smith finished with the top-two overall scores to account for half of TCU's points.
Weatherly downed Ana Bertozzi 245-220. Smith's score was not far behind Weatherly's, as the sophomore scored TCU's final point on the strength of a 240-225 win over Jillian Spencer.
Ashleigh Scully was the first rider to enter the winner's circle. She scored 207 points to Elle Martin's 190 to earn her team-best 11th victory in the event of the season.
The Horned Frogs polished off the event victory courtesy of Sydney Berube, who rolled past Olivia Ferro 219-182 to earn TCU's third point. Berube, who specializes in Fences, got the starting nod in the event for the first time in the spring portion of the season. The win was her 13th.
The Horned Frogs finished with 1,124 cumulative points to the Bulldogs' 1,035.
TCU is now 12-2 collectively in Flat in 2022-2023.
Reining
TCU's third consecutive 4-1 event victory propelled the Horned Frogs into Saturday's finale vs. the Cowgirls.
Dukes, Medows, Graham and McAllister came out on top in the first four head-to-heads to swell TCU's lead to 12-2.
The quartet combined to post an 8-0 record in Western.
Dukes extended her unbeaten streak in Reining to 11 meets to stake TCU to its first point. She was awarded a score of 210.5 opposite Sarah Semrau, who did not receive a score.
Graham followed suit with a meet-high score of 212.5 to better Brogan Hill's ride of 208.5.
Medows did the honors of clinching the match and punching TCU's ticket to Saturday's finale. She snared a one-point victory over Shelby Robinette, 211.5-201.5.
McAllister made the end result in the event with a 209.5-197 triumph against Hannah Hieber.
TCU's performance in Reining boosted its season record in western to 12-1.
Fences
Bostwick secured the team's first point by a wide margin, riding Simba for a score of 255 to her opponent's 215.
Scelsa brought in the next point, outriding Fresno State's Elle Martin on Calvi, 241-230.
Scully's impressive ride of 254 on Donny fell just short of Ana Bertozzi's 264.
The final TCU point of the meet came from Baxter, who rode Kent for a 201 to Olivia Ferro's 120.
With the victory already secured, Berube rode Teddy for a 223 to her opponent's 234 to bring the meet to its official end.
The event ended with the Frogs tallying 1,174 points to the Bulldogs' 1,063. This Fences victory increases TCU's record for the event to 12-2 for the 2022-2023 season.
NEXT UP
The No. 3 Horned Frogs are staying in Stillwater to take on No. 5 Oklahoma State tomorrow for the Big 12 Championship. With this meet, the Frogs look not only to clinching the title, but also avenging their narrow loss to the Cowgirls back in February.
Players Mentioned
