Non-Rev Roundup: TCU triathlon places sixth at National Championship meet

Equestrian

The No. 1-ranked Horned Frogs hosted their in-state rival and the No. 8-ranked team in the nation in Baylor this past Friday. TCU remained undefeated on the year with a comfortable 14-6 win over the Bears (no last-second field goal necessary).

Baylor did win the first event of the meet with a 3-2 victory in Fences. Ashleigh Scully scored a point for the Frogs in the event as she tied for the second-best score in Fences from either team with an 87. Sydney Berube picked up the second win of the event for TCU with a solid 85-point ride.

TCU would tie the match with a 3-2 win in Reining. Shea Graham earned MOP honors with a 72.5-point ride that led all riders in the event and earned a point for the Frogs. Giorgia Medows scored a win for TCU thanks to a strong 71-point ride. Mattie Dukes had the last win of the event for the Frogs with a 69.5-point ride to beat her Baylor counterpart by just one point.

TCU took the lead in Flat with a 4-1 win over the Bears thanks, in part, to Lilly Goldstein’s MOP performance. Goldstein earned a point for the Frogs behind an excellent 92-point ride which was ten points higher than the next highest score in the event. Scully was the rider who earned that 82-point ride, winning her second point of the day for the Frogs. Ella Bostwick won her matchup for TCU thanks to a good 81-point ride. Laurel Smith was the final winner of the event for the Frogs with an 80-point ride.

The Frogs closed with a clean 5-0 sweep in Horsemanship with Medows picking up MOP honors thanks to a very good 76.5-point ride. Payton Boutelle won her first matchup of the day thanks to a great 75.5-point ride. Dukes won her second point of the day for the Frogs behind a 75-point ride. Shea Graham and Jessica McAllister completed the sweep both winning their matchups thanks to rides of 74 points and 73 points respectively.

This was the last meet of the fall for the Frogs who will kick off their spring season on Jan. 25 against Delaware State at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

Cross Country

TCU competed at the NCAA South Central Regional this past Friday in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The women’s team had a strong meet, finishing in ninth place out of 24 teams.

Gracie Morris had an outstanding race for the Frogs, finishing in eighth place overall, earning an invite to the National Championship meet in the process thanks to a time of 20:33.7 in the 6K. London Culbreath and Tabitha Kalunde Ngao joined Morris in the top fifty, finishing in 43rd and 44th with times of 21:50.3 and 21:51.2 respectively. Payton McQuillan and Olivia Andrews wrapped up the top five runners for the Frogs, finishing 71st and 75th behind solid times of 22:23.6 and 22:29.5 respectively.

The men’s team had a solid meet as well, finishing in 13th place out of 25 teams. Graydon Morris was the top finisher on the men’s side for the Frogs with a time of 31:02.5 in the 10k that landed him in 39th place individually. Stone Burke and CJ Meyer were the next two finishers for the Frogs in 58th and 63rd with times of 31:31.8 and 31:35.2 respectively. Noah Winters and Finn Reilly rounded out the top five finishers for TCU, finishing in 87th and 114th with times of 32:10.9 and 32:54.9 respectively.

Gracie Morris will compete in the National Championship for the second consecutive year in Charlottesville, Virginia this Saturday, Nov. 18. The women’s 6K will begin at 9:30 a.m. central time and will be aired on ESPNU.

Triathlon

TCU Triathlon wrapped up an incredible inaugural year as a program with a sixth-place finish at nationals this past Saturday in Tempe, Arizona. The Frogs were led by Maria Coral who finished in 12th place individually thanks to a great time of 1:05:10.90. Coral was joined in the top 15 by Sara Gimena who finished in 15th place behind a time of 1:05:24.50.

Amanda Moro was the third Frog to finish in the top 30 as she finished with a good time of 1:06:07.60. Ani Veltcheva and Jenna Buchanan rounded out the top five finishers for the Frogs as they finished in 33rd and 35th place thanks to times of 1:06:36.60 and 1:07:36.20 respectively. The first year for TCU Triathlon was very successful as they won both of their regular season meets before placing third in the USA Triathlon West Regional.

Rifle

TCU Rifle finished their fall season on a high note with a victory on the road over UTEP this past Sunday by a team score of 4,740 to 4,621. The top six overall shooters in the meet were Horned Frogs with Mikole Hogan taking the top spot with an aggregate score of 1,188. Hogan fired the top score in smallbore with a 592 in the event and the third-best score in air rifle with a 596 in the event.

Stephanie Grundsoe was responsible for the second-best score in air rifle with a 597. Grundsoe had the second-best score in smallbore, firing a 589, good for an aggregate score of 1186, right behind Hogan for second place individually. Beating out both Hogan and Grundsoe in air rifle was Stephanie Allan who fired a 599 in air rifle, paired with a 584 in smallbore for the third-best overall aggregate score of 1183.

Nina Schuett had the fourth-best aggregate score on the day of 1181, thanks to solid scores of 588 in smallbore and 593 in air rifle. Katie Zaun rounded out the top five with the fifth-best aggregate score individually of 1178 behind scores of 583 and 595 in smallbore and air rifle respectively. Jeanne Haverhill finished with the sixth-best aggregate score on the day of 1175 with a 579 in smallbore and a 596 in air rifle.

TCU Rifle will kick off its spring season with a duel meet with Ohio State and Air Force on Sunday, Jan. 14 in Fort Worth.