MARTIN, Tenn. – The South Dakota State equestrian team took a 6-6 tie into the final event, but couldn’t hang on as it dropped its quarterfinal meet of the United Equestrian Conference Championships 9-7.
The Jacks got off to a hot start by sweeping Equitation over Fences and taking an early 4-0 lead. Jacey Chorlton led the way with a combined score of 152 while Claire Garduno scored a 149, Alexa Maiello a 148 and Jessica Martinez a 135.
UTM took Horsemanship 3-1 to cut the Jackrabbit lead to 5-3 as Jordan Gates earned the lone point for SDSU with a combined ride of 143.5.
The score evened at 6-6 after Reining as Rylee Streit’s ride of 132 earned the Jacks their only point of the event. Gates scored a 135 in her ride, but was defeated by the event’s top score of 136.5.
Going into the final event, the two teams were tied in points but the Jackrabbits lead in scoring 1,655-1,562, meaning a tiebreaker likely would have ended in SDSU’s favor. Garduno earned a point with her ride of 139 after a UTM point to even thing back up at 7-7.
Chorlton’s ride of 127 was narrowly bested by her UTM opponent’s score of 128 to put the Skyhawks up 8-7 and Maiello’s final ride of 137 wasn’t enough to outscore her opponent’s 151.
Up Next
The Jackrabbits will now prepare for the NCEA National Championships, taking place April 17-20 in Waco, Texas.
