By Nate Maki | Sports Writer
With an off week under its belt, Baylor equestrian looks ahead to a road matchup against Oklahoma State at noon Friday at the Pedigo-Hull Equestrian Center in Stillwater, Okla.
Head coach Casie Maxwell could only describe her team with one word: excitement.
“The team’s in a really great place,” Maxwell said. “Everyone’s motivated, they’re hungry for a win. It’s an exciting time. We’re just looking for the results come and for everyone’s hard work to finally pay off.”
The Cowgirls (2-1-0, 0-1-0 Big 12) are already in the heat of competition as they’ve competed in two more meets than the Bears (0-1-0, 0-1-0 Big 12). However, Friday will mark their first home match of the season.
Baylor has not defeated the Cowgirls since 2019, and it has never secured a victory on Oklahoma State’s home turf.
“I think [Oklahoma State] is a strong team,” Maxwell said. “They’re well ranked, they’ve got a veteran group with a lot of experience, and they’ve done really well. We know they’re looking to win the Big 12, so they’re going to bring their A-game and we’re going to meet them up there.”
This fall marks Maxwell’s eighth season as head coach. Last season, she led the Bears to a 3-11 record, but found highlights in a victory over No. 5 Georgia and three Big 12 Rider of the Month awards.
“Last year was tough, statistically; we were really young,” Maxwell said. “It was all about the process and trusting the process, but we had to get through that to get to where we are now. We got our feet wet with a tough schedule, and now we have a higher standard. For the rest of the season, we need to get better with every single meet.”
The Bears started their season on Oct. 10, with a meet against No. 3 TCU. Despite a strong comeback effort in the Flat event, with standout performances provided by fifth-year senior Madison Mitchell and senior Lauren Stebbins, the green and gold were unable to overcome TCU’s lead, opening their season with a 12-8 loss.
“We went up against a really tough TCU team and held our own,” Maxwell said. “We came back strong in the second half. Right now, we just want them to play hard and get some wins under out belt. That way we keep building our confidence.”
Oklahoma State’s equestrian program is currently working on getting Snoop Dogg to attend one of their meets, alongside Martha Stewart. What began as a joke on TikTok has gained traction, and the prospect of his appearance at the meet has become increasingly likely with efforts from University President Kayse Shrum.
“This is day 10 of asking Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart to come to an OSU Equestrian,” Shrum said on the OSU Equestrian Instagram page.
The trend has since gone up to day 38, where they announced it before a football game.
“We’ve had about a week and a half to prepare for Oklahoma State,” Maxwell said. “We’re getting prepared for the course they’ve sent us, but with that extra time we’ve also gotten to go back and work on some fundamentals. It’s nice to get off the tedious pattern work and work on the things we can apply to all tests.”
The Bears will go up against Oklahoma State on Friday at noon at the Pedigo-Hull Equestrian Center in Stillwater, Okla.
