Travis Kriens

The SDSU equestrian team completed a home weekend sweep of Sacred Heart (Conn.) 13-3 and 6-1 in the first competition of 2010.

On Jan. 30, sophomore Meredith Sauer scored an 87 in equitation on the flat for MVP honors. Junior Ashley Marrin was the MVP for SDSU with an equitation over fences score of 80.

Leading the Western riders was freshman Kelsey Champagne, as she earned MVP honors by tying with teammate Kaylee Mundwiler for high-point rider honors in horsemanship with a score of 74.5. In reining, Lydia Placzek had 72.5 points to earn scoring honors. The Western side (horsemanship and reining) rode to a shutout with an 8-0 win, while the English side won 5-3.

On Jan. 31, it was Western only as Champagne repeated her horsemanship performance by earning MVP honors with a score of 78. Junior Angela Gebhart also earned a point for SDSU with her score of 75, and Britta Barta had a solid performance, posting a 73.5 in horsemanship for the third SDSU point.

Gebhart was the reining MVP with a score of 72.5, and fellow junior Placzek scored the Jacks’ other point in reining with a score of 71. Barta also posted a reining score of 69.5 to score a point in both events.

Head coach Megan McGee thought the weekend against the Pioneers was a success. Prior to this weekend, Sacred Heart was 2-0 against SDSU in the English division, and they have been a dominant team for many years in those events.

“Our riders turned in strong performances in every event, and we are looking forward to having more riders qualify for postseason competition during the next few weeks,” McGee said.

The SDSU Western team will travel to Fargo next weekend for a two-day competition against rival North Dakota State on Feb. 6 and 7.

The SDSU English riders will return to action in two weekends on Feb. 13 to 14, as they travel to Wisconsin-River Falls.