Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State loses to Georgia in Equestrian Dual
2/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Equestrian
Feb. 11, 2006
FRESNO, Calif. - There is no shame in losing to the nation's premier equestrian program, but head coach Becky Malmo knows her team could have performed better.
The Dogs dropped a dual meet with the University of Georgia Saturday by a combined score of 2,064-1,924 in an NCAA-style format. It featured 34 different rides in the English and Western disciplines. Georgia used its strength in the English Equitation over Flat event to gain edge in the meet, outscoring Fresno State by 100 points, 708-608.
"Georgia is an outstanding program and they proved that today," said Malmo. "We didn't perform as well in the English events as I would have liked, but you have to give Georgia credit. Our Western riders were right there with them. All in all, it was a good day. I'm very pleased that we got a lot of young ladies some valuable experience against great competition. I'd prefer to compete against the best teams any day. The experience we got today will really be a big benefit for us down the line."
In the match format, a rider from each team competed on the same horse against a member of the opposing team.
One of the top performances by the Bulldog was turned in by Sara Barnes who won both of her matches, edging Kate Stewart 71-61 in Reining and Carly Veldman 77-73 in Western Horsemanship.
Jessica Miller tied Georgia's Kelley Mundrick for the highest overall score in seed two Western Horsemanship.
Sierra Daniels had the second-best score in seed one Western Horsemanship with a 79.
Heidi Smith rode a horse named Ellie to the highest score of the day in reining with a 75.
"I thought our entire team stepped it up today," said Malmo. "It takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice to put on an event like this and to come out and work as hard and compete as hard as we did is great to see. It was a long day but a successful day. I'm very pleased about the effort the young ladies put into today. I'm also very appreciative of the community support we had today and especially the parental support for these young ladies."
The Bulldogs host the Fresno State Invitational, an English and Western Show, next Saturday at the Student Horse Center on campus.
Georgia 2,064, Fresno State 1,924
Equitation over the Flat
Georgia 708, Fresno State 608
Seed Two
Lindsay Blair (FS) lost to Vanessa Sanson (UGA), 67-66
Noelle Dukes FS) lost to Cherie Rector (UGA), 80-67
Kasey MacFarlane (FS) lost of Amber Smith-Sims (UGA), 65-50
Seed One
Katey Sellers (FS) lost to Byerly Vaugh (UGA), 81-70
Shannon Ragsdale (FS) lost to Caroline Gardner (UGA), 71-65
Tasha Lodwig (FS) lost to Megan Richardson (UGA), 80-69
Katie Nennneker (FS) lost to Michelle Blair (UGA), 79-68
Morgan McDonald (FS) lost to Jennifer Gebhardt (UGA), 55-48
Becky Legris (FS) lost to Kelly Bonau (UGA), 76-56
Cambria Kissell (FS) lost to Rachel Berkowitz (UGA), 88-71
Amy Simmons (FS) lost to Jamie Barge (UGA), 86-76
Equitation of Fences
Georgia 376, Fresno State 359
Katey Sellers (FS) lost to Kelly Bonau (UGA), 60-56
Cambria Kissell (FS) tied Lauren Hemmingway (UGA), 50-50
Amy Simmons (FS) lost to Jessy Campbell (UGA), 59-53
Tasha Lodwig (FS) defeated Rachel Berkowitz (UGA), 72-70
Morgan McDonald (FS) lost to Leigh Harper (UGA), 54-53
Larah Connell (FS) defeated Lauren Kulwicki (UGA), 55-53
Shannon Ragsdale (FS) lost to Megan Richardson (UGA), 58-37
Western Horsemanship Seed Two
Georgia 382, Fresno State 361
Seed Two
Rebecca Flood (FS) lost to Sarah Ashcraft (UGA), 71-59
Brenda Donat (FS) lost to Catherine Pennington (UGA), 70-68
Jordan Sulier (FS) defeated Kara Preston (UGA), 63-62
Kristin Marchesi (FS) lost to Kelly McDonald (UGA), 80-76
Erin Buffington (FS) lost to Sarah Dunsmore (UGA), 79-72
Jessica Miller (FS) tied Kelley Mundrick (UGA), 82-82
Western Horsemanship Seed Two
Georgia 311, Fresno State 311
Seed One
Sierra Daniels (FS) lost to Kari Ellingson (UGA), 80-79
Heidi Smith (FS) defeated Ashley Slocomb (UGA), 78-76
Elise Kolp (FS) lost to Sarah Meier (UGA), 76-55
Sara Barnes (FS) defeated Carly Veldman (UGA), 77-73
Jenna Hyde (FS) lost to Dana Kennedy (UGA), 79-77
Reining
Georgia 287, Fresno State 285
Sierra Daniels (FS) lost to Sarah Meier (UGA), 74-0
Heidi Smith (FS) defeated Megan Darby (UGA), 75-74
Elise Kolp (FS) defeated Carly Veldman (UGA), 70-67
Jenna Hyde (FS) lost to Tricia Fowler (UGA), 72-69
Sara Barnes (FS) defeated Kate Stewart (UGA), 71-61
* - The lowest scores in each event were thrown out.
