TCU Athletics 2021/2022 Recap: Equestrian

The next team up in our recap series is the TCU Equestrian team who had a great season, capped off by a run to the NCEA tournament semifinals and an appearance in the Big 12 tournament championship meet. The Frogs finished with a 12-7 record overall and 3-3 record in Big 12 competition in a very successful season that resulted in the number 4 overall seed in the NCEA postseason tournament.

Fall Season Overview: The Frogs had a gauntlet of a schedule to work through in the regular season starting with a neutral site meet in California against number 9 ranked South Carolina that resulted in a thrilling 8-7 TCU victory. TCU came into the final event down 5-7 but swept the Reining points 3-0 to take the meet. A matchup at number 7 Fresno State was next where the Frogs lost 10-9 despite a strong showing in Horsemanship taking 3 of 4 points in that event. The California road trip was wrapped up with an 11-9 win at UC Davis. The Frogs then returned to Texas and lost their first home meet of the season at Bear Creek Farms to the third top ten team in 4 meets, number 3 ranked SMU. TCU was unable to overcome an early 4-1 loss in Fences despite strong performances and wins in both Horsemanship and Reining. The Frogs then traveled up to Stillwater for their first matchup of the season with the eventual NCEA champs and then the number 4 ranked Oklahoma State. TCU would lose this meet 12-6 and then fall in a heartbreaking raw score loss at South Dakota State. They bounced back with a dominating 15-1 win over University of Minnesota at Crookston. Their final match of the fall season would be a 14-6 loss in Fort Worth to yet another top ten team in number 3 Baylor.

Spring Season Overview: Sitting at 3-5 after battling through a tough fall schedule the Frogs needed to string together solid victories to have a shot at getting into the postseason. They did just that in the spring season, going on an incredible 7 meet win streak, all against top ten teams. The first was a 14-5 win over number 7 Delaware State in Fort Worth followed by a commanding 15-3 home win over number 9 UT Martin. The Frogs then traveled across the metroplex and got their revenge over number 6 SMU with a very close raw score victory of 1528.5-1503. The revenge tour continued as TCU won their second straight raw score meet over number 4 Baylor for their first win in Waco in program history. Their next win would tie the longest win streak in program history as the Frogs defeated number 8 Fresno State in impressive fashion with a final score of 15-5. The win also marked the first time in program history TCU had won 5 straight over ranked teams. The signature win of the regular season, however, came against number 1 ranked Oklahoma State in Fort Worth where the Frogs would win by a final tally of 16-4 to break the program record with a 6 game win streak. This was an all around great performance with a 3-2 win in Fences, 4-1 victories in both Flat and Reining, and a 5-0 sweep in Horsemanship. To finish off the regular season, TCU would take on the number 1 ranked single discipline team in Sweet Briar in a jumping seat only meet. The win streak would continue in a 9-1 victory in Fort Worth.

Post Season Recap: Next up for TCU was the Big 12 championship which was hosted by the Frogs at Bear Creek Farms. TCU came into the tournament as the 2 seed with a first round rematch with 3 seed Fresno State (Fresno State competes in the Big 12 for equestrian). With a 13-7 win, the Frogs advanced to the championship to face Oklahoma State. The win streak would unfortunately stop in the Big 12 championship as the Frogs would lose 11-9 in a meet that came down to the final event. As mentioned earlier, TCU earned the 4 seed in the NCEA championship and was given a chance to get revenge on 5 seed Georgia who knocked the Frogs out of the tournament in the 2021 NCEA championship and then went on to win it all. This was the 15th appearance in the NCEA tournament for the Frogs and it continued the streak TCU has had of making every NCEA tournament since its start in the 2006-2007 season. The Frogs secured the first round victory and advanced to the semifinals with a thrilling 12-8 comeback victory. After losing both Fences and Horsemanship 3-2, TCU stormed back winning both Flat and Reining 4-1. Yet another matchup with number 1 seed Oklahoma State awaited the Frogs in the semifinals and unfortunately OSU would get the better of the Frogs and end their season with the final score being 23-6. The Frogs were hoping for more but a trip to the semifinals in the NCEA championship and the number 4 overall seed are two great accomplishments that wrapped up a great season for TCU equestrian.

Awards and Honors: Big 12 Coach of the Year: Haley Schoolfield

NCEA All American First Team: Isabella Baxter (Fences) Jessica McAllister (Horsemanship)

NCEA All American Second Team: Mattie Dukes (Horsemanship)

NCEA All American Honorable Mention: Giorgia Medows (Horsemanship) Shea Graham (Horsemanship and Reining)

Big 12 Rider of the Year: Isabella Baxter (Fences) Jessica McAllister (Horsemanship)

All Big 12 First Team: Isabella Baxter (Fences) Jessica McAllister (Horsemanship)

Raegan Rast (Fences) Sydney Berube (Flat) Mattie Dukes (Horsemanship)

NCEA All-Academic First Team: Jacey Albaugh, Mattie Dukes, Giorgia Medows, Raegan Rast, Wynne Weatherly

NCEA All-Academic Second Team: Isabella Baxter, Sydney Berube, Madyson Buchanan, Jessica McAllister

NCEA All-Academic Honorable Mention: Ashleigh Scully, Sydnie Young

NCEA All-Academic Honor Roll: Makenzy Barnes, Nikki Barnes, Alexis Cook, Cammi Giesman, Bri Gonzalez, Jordan Bullmart, Olivia Parr, Zoe Schiefer, Catherine Shurtleff, Kaitlyn Smith, Skylar Smith

Academic All-Big 12 First Team: Jacey Albaugh, Isabella Baxter, Sydney Berube, Emma Brown, Madyson Buchanan, Mattie Dukes, Cammi Giesman, Bri Gonzalez, Jessica McAllister, Giorgia Medows, Raegan Rast, Ashleigh Scully, Skylar Smith, Wynne Weatherly, Sydnie Young

Academic All-Big 12 Second Team: Nikki Barnes, Payton Boutelle, Shea Graham

A Look Ahead: TCU will face many familiar opponents from last year in the 2022-23 season including UT-Davis, South Dakota State, UC Davis, and Delaware State as well as Big 12 foes OSU, Fresno State, and Baylor. The Frogs will have a home and home series with Texas A&M and have home meets with Tarleton State and Auburn to complete their non-conference schedule. The Frogs are returning almost all of their top riders from last season and should look to make another run in the postseason next year after a record breaking 2021-22 campaign.