No. 7 Baylor Equestrian Opens Season With Pair of Top-10 Road Matchups

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Sept. 28, 2022

No. 7 Baylor Equestrian Opens Season With Pair of Top-10 Road Matchups
Bears heading east to face No. 10 South Carolina, No. 5 Georgia away from home
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – No. 7 Baylor equestrian (0-0) is set to open its 2022-23 season on the road at No. 10 South Carolina (2-0) and No. 5 Georgia (0-0) this week.

The Bears will square off with the Gamecocks on Thursday at 11 a.m. CT at One Wood Farm in Columbia, S.C., and follow it up with a matchup against the Bulldogs on Friday at 9 a.m. CT at Georgia Equestrian Complex in Athens, Ga.

Sixth-year head coach Casie Maxwell leads a squad of 61 student-athletes that includes four 2022 All-Americans in Shelby Clausen (Reining), Marley Mainwaring (Horsemanship), Jenna Meimerstorf (Reining) and NCEA Co-Rider of the Year Andie Pratt (Reining). Additionally, 17 of BU’s 19 point-winners from the 2021-22 campaign are returning to this year’s roster.

Baylor is coming off its fourth-consecutive trip to the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) quarterfinals under Maxwell, excluding the 2019-20 postseason which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a 7-8 campaign and a third-place finish at the 2022 Big 12 Championship, BU was ranked seventh in the NCEA preseason dual discipline poll and held that position following the first week of this season, in which the Bears were idle. Baylor has been ranked in all 141 editions of the NCEA rankings, including 14 weeks at No. 1, dating back to the 2012-13 season.

The Bears are 3-2 in season openers during the Maxwell era and will begin the year on the road for the fourth-consecutive season. Baylor has outscored its opponents 59-33 across its last four season-opening competitions.

South Carolina holds a slight advantage in the all-time series against Baylor, 8-7. The two sides have split the last six matchups, as BU claimed a 13-5 home victory last season in the most recent meeting. Live scoring will be provided by SC and is available here<https://gamecocksonline.com/equestrian-live-scoring-baylor-220929/>.

Though the two haven’t met since 2019, UGA leads the all-time series 11-3 over the Bears. The Bulldogs have won each of the last two meetings, having snapped Baylor’s three-meet win streak from 2014-2019. Georgia will also provide live scoring, found here<https://static.georgiadogs.com/custompages/sports/w-equest/live/22EQ_livescore_baylor.html?xd_co_f=NjFlODc3ZjUtNjhjOC00NWM5LTg4ODctZWIzNjM2ODc2Mzgy>.

Friday’s meet will mark assistant coach Grace Bridges’ return to her alma mater for the first time since joining the Baylor staff. Bridges was a two-time All-SEC First Team selection in Flat and was part of two SEC Championship squads during her time at Georgia. In her collegiate career, she won five Most Outstanding Performer honors and also holds the NCEA record for individual Flat score in a single meet with a 99.

Following this week’s season openers, BU will head to No. 1 Oklahoma State on Oct. 15, before returning to Waco on Oct. 21 to open the home slate against No. 2 TCU. Fans are encouraged to wear gold as part of Baylor’s “Go Gold” campaign at the Bears’ first home conference meet.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor equestrian, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorEQ.

-BaylorBears.com-



__________________________________

Max Calderone | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (BSB, FB, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_608723362]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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