Baylor Equestrian Trio Collects Five Monthly Awards

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 1, 2023

Baylor Equestrian Trio Collects Five Monthly Awards
Bears sweep Big 12 monthly awards, Silvestri garners national praise
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor equestrian Jumping Seat senior Dominika Silvestri, Horsemanship sophomore Alexis Rutledge and Reining senior Jenna Meimerstorf picked up a combined five Rider of the Month honors from the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) and Big 12 Conference, as announced Wednesday afternoon.

Silvestri was named the Flat Rider of the Month at both the national and conference level, while also receiving Fences Rider of the Month recognition from the Big 12. Additionally, Rutledge garnered Horsemanship Rider of the Month praise and Meimerstorf was tabbed the Reining Rider of the Month in the Big 12.

Silvestri shined on the Flat in January, going 2-0 in BU’s only action of the month and extending her win streak to seven in the event. First, she collected a point against No. 9 UT Martin with an 84, earning Most Outstanding Performer honors for the second time this year in Flat. Then, she won her matchup against South Dakota State with an 82, helping the Bears’ Jumping Seat squad cap off a nine-point outing in the 17-3 victory.

Over in Fences, Silvestri also averaged an 83 for the month while picking up two wins to remain unbeaten in each of her last five Fences contests. She scored an 82 against the ninth-ranked Skyhawks to propel Baylor’s Fences squad to the first of its two 5-0 sweeps in January. Then, she tallied her fourth total MOP of the season and eighth of her career with an 84 against the Jackrabbits. By doing so, Silvestri became just the second Bear all-time to earn at least five Fences Most Outstanding Performer honors in a career.

In the Western arena, Rutledge posted two wins with scores of 76 and 78, respectively. She collected her second-career Most Outstanding Performer honor against South Dakota State by tying her career-high. It marked her second MOP in her last three competitions, while she is also riding a four-meet win streak. Rutledge is now tied for the team lead with five Horsemanship wins in 2022-23.

Meimerstorf put together two solid rides and collected a pair of victories against stiff competition. She kicked things off with an MOP-winning 74.5 against UTM, her third of the season, and followed it up with a point-winning 70 against SDSU. Her average margin of victory was just 0.75. With the wins, Meimerstorf improved to 5-2-1 on the year in Reining and now leads the entire team with three MOP’s in a single event this season.

Before the calendar flipped to 2023, Silvestri had only previously earned Big 12 Rider of the Month status once before (Co-Flat, November 2022) and NCEA Rider of the Month praise a single time (Flat, March 2022). With these awards, Silvestri is now up to five career monthly honors from the two outlets. Rutledge and Meimerstorf are both first-time honorees at either the national or conference level.

This is BU’s first NCEA Rider of the Month honor of the 2022-23 season. However, the Bears have received accolades in all four editions of the Big 12’s monthly awards this year, and in seven of the last eight months dating back to the 2021-22 campaign. Six of Baylor’s nine Big 12 honors this season have come on the Jumping Seat side.

No. 8 Baylor improved to 4-4 on the year after its dominating victories over former No. 9 UTM and SDSU. The 32 points were BU’s most in back-to-back meets in program history. The Bears are right back in action this week, as they travel to Fresno, Calif., to face Minnesota Crookston and Fresno State on Feb. 3-4.

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.

2022-23 BAYLOR EQUESTRIAN AWARDS
NCEA Rider of the Month
Jan. – Dominika Silvestri (Flat)

Big 12 Rider of the Month
Sept. – Madaline Callaway (Reining)
Sept. – Annie Vorhies (Fences)
Oct. – Annie Vorhies (Flat)
Nov. – Lauren Reid (Co-Fences)
Nov. – Dominika Silvestri (Co-Flat)
Jan. – Dominika Silvestri (Fences)
Jan. – Dominika Silvestri (Flat)
Jan. – Alexis Rutledge (Horsemanship)
Jan. – Jenna Meimerstorf (Reining)

-BaylorBears.com-



__________________________________

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

[signature_3751498186]<http://baylorbears.com/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20230201/5b0a0a03/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 11693 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20230201/5b0a0a03/attachment-0001.png>