By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
In front of a home crowd excited for the beginning of the season, the No. 10 Baylor equestrian delivered a dominating performance over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, winning 14-3 victory Saturday afternoon.
The Jackrabbits (2-6, 2-3 ECAC) entered the Willis Family Equestrian Center after two competitions in the last two days. The matchup against Baylor (2-4, 1-2 Big 12) was their third consecutive ranked opponent after competing against No. 3 TCU on Thursday and No. 7 SMU on Friday. For the Bears, kicking off the 2025 slate with a win was important.
“We know we’ve got a lot to prove,” head coach Casie Maxwell said. “We underperformed in a couple of places in the fall, and so we really just want to take this opportunity to start really, really strong.”
The Bears found themselves down early in Fences as South Dakota State won the first matchup. But the green and gold went on to win four straight points, leading by a score of 88 for junior Lauren Jorgensen, who received the Most Outstanding award for the event. Fifth-year senior Madison Mitchell and junior Lauren Reid each scored 76, and an 82-80 victory for sophomore Juliette Earley finished the job. Mitchell, along with her team, got to see their work pay off in competition.
“It felt really good. We’ve been putting in a lot of hard work,” Mitchell said. “I’m glad that it finally showed up on the scoreboard.”
After the early lead, Baylor never lost their stride. While Flat and Horsemanship events took place at the same time, the Bears stayed on top in both events. They swept Flat, led by Mitchell’s score of 78, which was the second point she contributed to the home squad. They also defeated the Jackrabbits in Horsemanship 4-1 behind sophomore Taylor Smith’s 76 and MOP honors, securing a third event victory for the Bears. Behind their consistent dominance was their desire to start the season off as best as they could.
“We’re coming off of fall, and we were super hungry for a win,” Smith said. “Coming back this spring, we had a complete mindset change and were ready to attack the day.”
Baylor equestrian finished out the day with a 1-1 tie in Reining. The Bears were led by two 70.5 scores from senior Isabella Hehr and sophomore Sadie Peters, while the final three matchups resulted in a tie, with no points awarded.
The green and gold face a gauntlet of a schedule, taking on three ranked conference opponents in their next three competitions. They face No. 6 Fresno State, No. 5 Oklahoman State and No. 3 TCU. Maxwell understands this is just the beginning of a demanding schedule for the Bears.
“I think if we can ride to the caliber we know we’re capable of, we can attack all three of those teams no problem,” Maxwell said. “We try not to prepare for the opponent and just to prepare for the entire season.”
Baylor equestrian’s next meeting will be against Fresno State on Friday, February 7, at the Student Horse Center in Fresno, Calif.
