By Kamri Alexander | Reporter
No. 8 Baylor equestrian (1-1) suffered a nail-biting 10-9 loss against No. 4 Oklahoma State University (1-0) in Baylor’s Big 12 home opener Friday. Despite the loss, the team was proud of their performance and could see their growth from last season.
“I thought coming off our win from Auburn and competing against OSU last year in Big 12 championships, we weren’t nearly this close to them,” western junior Jenna Meimerstorf said. “It felt good to come back at home, be this close and continue fighting.”
Baylor gained the first point of the day after jumping seat sophomore Emma Fletcher scored a 73 on Bo to beat OSU jumping seat fifth-year senior Abigail Brayman’s 40. Jumping seat senior Caroline Fuller secured the highest score for Baylor in fences with an 84, while jumping seat sophomore Madison Mitchell’s score of 82 was enough for Baylor to claim the win in fences, 3-2.
In Reining, the competition was tight as all but one of the points were decided by one score. Western juniors Daisy Kaufman and Meimerstorf won their points with scores of 71 and 72, respectively. Western senior Madaline Callaway tied her opponent, resulting in the Bears and Cowgirls tying the event 2-2 as Baylor edged out OSU 5-4 heading into halftime.
In the second half, jumping seat junior Dominika Silvestri and Fuller were able to win points in the Flat while western junior Gabrielle Marty and western freshman Nadalee Vasquez earned tallies in Horsemanship. However, Baylor ultimately lost both events 3-2, giving OSU a 10-9 win in the meet.
Meimerstorf in Reigning and Silvestri in Flat each picked up their first career Most Outstanding Performer honors.
Despite the result of the meet, head coach Casie Maxwell hasn’t lost confidence in her team’s ability.
“I think our team rode very hard. We did try not to leave any room to be beaten. We made a few mistakes along the way and we can’t afford those against a team like Oklahoma State,” Maxwell said. “I thought our girls rode every point like they wanted to win it and I love where they’re starting. I think they’re extremely confident and know that they have the ability. There are things within their reach that they can go in and fix quickly. That will be the goal over the next four days — to recoup, to build off this confidence and to clean those little things up.”
Next, Baylor equestrian will face off against No. 5 Texas A&M University (1-0) at 1 p.m. Friday at the Willis Family Equestrian Center.
