Davis, Calif. — After picking up points in the last two meets for Davis in Fences, Carly Sweeney started off Friday morning with a bang. This time, earning MOP honors by posting a score of 90 on Fences.
The Aggies would win Fences by a score of 3-2 as Jessie Rechs, and Keely Laughlin also picked up points after Rechs recorded an 84, and Laughlin, an 85. In total, UC Davis held the score advantage 425 to 413 against South Dakota State.
The success would roll throughout the day for the Aggies as two more members would earn MOP honors. Marin Gilliland put together maybe the bets performance of the day for the Aggies when she came through with a 90 on the Flat. The final MOP honor for UC Davis was Natasha Replogle who impressed so much that one judge even said, "easily her, I already know who deserves the MOP without looking at the scores."
UC Davis would win the Flat by the score of 3-1 as Sierra Gundersen added a point after coming through with an 80 riding Cappo, while Margaret Franke kept her hot start going, after she scored a 75 to take down SDSU's Mikaela Haskins while riding a very tough horse in Ovation. Another notable ride for UC Davis was Captain Tasia Anstead and her score of 87 on Stakky that ultimately ended in a tied point, but nonetheless, was one of the better rides of the days for the Ags. The flat score totals were once again in UC. Davis' favor, 403-377.5.
The dominance for UC Davis would continue throughout the Western events also as Horsemanship took the advantage 4-1 while Reining won, 3-1.
In Horsemanship, Ruby Nahum, Malena Palmer, and Katelyn Blake would all follow Replogle's trail, earning much needed points for UC Davis. Nahum's score of 71.5 would be more than enough to defeat SDSU's Shelby Cochran, While Katelyn Blake would beat another Blake as Grace Blake's score from SDSU of 69 would prove not enough to take down the 72.5 Katelyn posted. The meet also made way for another strong ride from Malena Palmer who has earned points in each of the two meets so far with one resulting in MOP honors during the season opener.
Reining was much of the same as Amber Nusser, Lauren Langbaum and Macey Newkirk received points for the Aggies. The discrepancy on the total scores from Reining were due to an SDSU member receiving a 0, and as a result, UC Davis took this miscue and ran with it as they would wind up winning the total score 348.5-275.5.
The Aggies victory Friday marks the 4th matchup between South Dakota State and UC Davis and moves the Aggies to 4-0 all time against the Jackrabbits. The Aggies move to 2-1 on the season under the guidance of first-year head coach Jill Humphrey as the Aggies have also captured the first conference win of the year, competing in the ECAC.
In an effort to keep moving up the rankings, the UC Davis Equestrian team will hope to hold off the power-house No. 4 ranked Georgia Bulldogs in tomorrow's meet that will take place during the second half of the double meet that will follow the remainder of Georgia vs. South Dakota State. Schedule estimates have the Aggies competing around 12:00PM tomorrow.
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