Fresno State Athletics
Equestrian Heads to Cal Poly
2/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Equestrian
Feb. 25, 2005
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State will compete in the Cal Poly Invitational Saturday, Feb. 26. The Bulldogs will compete in both English and Western events beginning at 8 a.m. at the Cal Poly Equestrian Center. Fresno State is considered the favorite in the field which includes eight other teams.
Fresno State enters this week's event at Cal Poly having claimed the team High Point championship in every Western show and all but one English show this season. In all, the Bulldogs have won 10 of their 11 shows in either English or Western disciplines. The last time the Bulldogs did not win a Western show was at the IHSA National Championship in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where the Bulldogs were the reserve champions (second place).
Brenna Burris, a junior from Farson, Wyo., continues to be one of the Bulldogs' top western riders. Burris has won three consecutive High Point championships heading into this week's show at Cal Poly. Burris won the IHSA High Point title, plus won two show over the weekend held at Fresno State. She won the Reining event and placed second in Open Rail in the Feb. 20 show. In Monday's show, she placed second in reining and third in Open Rail to earn the High Point title. Burris was selected the Toyota gobulldogs.com Student-Athlete of the Week for her performance.
The Fresno State equestrian team won the high point championships in both the English and Western divisions Sunday at the Fresno State Invitational. The Bulldogs easily outdistanced seven other schools in the Western events, led by junior Brenna Burris, who was the High Point Champion after winning the Reining event and placing second on Open Rail. Bulldog Beth Knapp was the reserve High Point Champion with a third place finish in with the Reining and Open Rail. Also claiming championships were Amy Simmons on Open Fences, Ashleigh Brown in Open Rail, Sierra Daniels in Intermediate 2, and Marybeth Brown in Walk/Jog. The Fresno State equestrian team repeated as high point champions in Western competition on Feb. 21 beating seven schools in Western, with Brenna Burris the high point champ after taking second in Reining and placing third on Open Rail. Also claiming championships were Sara Barnes in Open Reining, Stacey McCalmont in Intermediate 1 and Katie Applin in Walk/Jog. In addition, Jodie Stabbe and Beth Knapp were reserve champions in their respective classes.
The Bulldogs have an English/Western show Feb. 26 at Cal Poly before returning home to host what head coach Becky Malmo called the "highlight of the home season". Fresno State hosts two perennial powers from the Southeastern Conference, the University of South Carolina March 11 and University of Georgia March 12.
The Dogs will host the Region 8 Championships for English and Western on March 13 at the Fresno State Horse Center. Only the top riders from the region who have earned enough points during the regular season will compete in the regional championships. Riders from regional championships will advance to the Zone 8 Finals in Eugene, Ore.., April 9.
