EQ Opens Season at No. 8 South Carolina
9/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Equestrian
Baylor Bear Foundation
Typically, losing a pair of All-Americans in any sport means you're in a rebuilding year. Not so for Ellen White and the fifth-ranked Baylor equestrian team.
Mary Brown and Paige Parker are gone after earning All-American nods in a year that saw the Bears go 13-5 overall and an unblemished 7-0 at home.
But returning are first-team All-Americans Savannah Jenkins and Alicia Gasser (both in flat), along with second-teamers Rachel Van Allen and Jenkins (both fences) and Charlotte Green (horsemanship) and honorable mention All-American Ginger Chant (reining).
"It hurts to lose (Brown and Parker), but we still have more returning All-Americans than any other team," White said.
Kicking off the season, Baylor will face eighth-ranked and 2015 national champion South Carolina at 1 p.m. CDT Friday in Columbia, S.C. After a championship season that saw the Gamecocks beat second-seeded Baylor, 10-6, in the semifinals, they fell off to 5-11 last year and winless in SEC competition. With three returning All-Americans and sophomore Samantha Howell competing for the Bears in the two Hunt seat disciplines - flat and fences - this will be one of Baylor's best ever Hunt seat squads.
"Sam and Rachel really stepped up over the summer. If we have those two going strong, and then we have Savannah and Alicia Gasser back, good luck against us on the Hunt Seat side," White said. The Bears fell to SMU, 11-9, in an exhibition match last weekend, but White uses the exhibitions as a chance to evaluate her freshman "and maybe some of the sophomores who haven't shown, and just kind of see where they are."
That group included freshman Georgia Smith, who will compete in reining at South Carolina. "She's been pretty phenomenal," White said. "She was one of our big recruits, so she's not a surprise."
Other than Smith, though, White said she is "taking the tried and true to travel on the road this early." Baylor will return to host New Mexico State, South Dakota State and No. 9 Fresno State in the ninth annual Willis Invitational next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, at the Willis Family Equestrian Center. The Bears have won the previous eight meets, including a sweep of New Mexico State, Fresno and UT-Martin last year.
"With the Willis, I can put in more people because there's three individual meets," White said. "That gives me the opportunity to ride at least eight and see how deep we are and where we are."
WACO, Texas -- No. 5 Baylor equestrian will open its 2016-17 season on Friday, Sep. 23, facing the South Carolina Gamecocks at 2 p.m. ET in Columbia, S.C.
Coming off a 2015-16 season that saw the Bears finish runner-up in the Big 12 Championship and a quarterfinal exit in the NCEA Championship, Baylor looks to build to a championship season, returning five All-Americans, six All-Big 12 selections, and the Big 12 equitation on the flat rider of the year, Alicia Gasser.
Baylor will host the Willis Invitational for its home opener, with the three-meet tournament running Sep. 30-Oct. 1 at the Willis Family Equestrian Center.
Fans can keep up with Baylor's equestrian team on Twitter by following the handle @BaylorEQ, and coach Ellen White, @BUEQCoachWhite.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, Sep. 23, 2016, 2 p.m. ET start
BAYLOR BEARS
2015 Record: (13-5, 7-2 Big 12)
Head Coach: Ellen White (12th season)
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
2015 Record: (5-11, 0-6 SEC)
Head Coach: Boo Major (20th season)
#SicEm
Players Mentioned
