UT Martin defeats SDSU equestrian

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South Dakota State’s Margaret Franke earned Most Outstanding Performer honors in both jumping seat categories to lead the Jackrabbit equestrian team in head-to-head competition against UT Martin Friday at the DeHaan Equestrian Center. UT Martin carried an advantage in equitation on the flat to come away with a 10-8 victory.

Franke, a sophomore from Northridge, California, shared MOP honors in fences with the Skyhawks’ Kelby Kane with respective scores of 85.

The two squads split the fences competition, 2-2, with Franke earning an 85-70 victory over Elizabeth Becker on Dezi. Cali Karbler picked up the other point for the Jackrabbits in fences by scoring a 75 in her matchup with Tyler Anderson (72) on Joey, while Julia Werkhoven tied in her matchup on Elliot with a score of 82 against Julia Gilman.

In flat competition, Franke picked up the lone point for SDSU, opening the event with a high score of 85.5 points on Sootar. UT Martin, however, claimed each of the next four head-to-head matchups to provide what would be the winning margin.

SDSU held a 5-4 advantage in Western competition, winning three of the five horsemanship matchups and halving the reining competition.

Annika Hanson (68.5), Kodi O’Boyle (67) and Grace Blake (63.5) were winners in horsemanship, with Hanson sharing MOP recognition with UTM’s Keely Seiter.

Natalie Gydesen shared MOP honors in reining while winning her head-to-head matchup on Lucy with a score of 69. Cassandra Townsend added a winning score of 66.5 on Bunny for the final Jackrabbit point of the day, with Amelia Nelson tying on Snoop with a score of 62.5.

UP NEXT

The Jackrabbits resume competition with a two-day meet Oct. 28-29, when they host Minnesota-Crookston and TCU.