Horned Frog Sports Roundup: March 30, 2023

Swimming and Diving: Three Frogs competed at the NCAA National Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota last week to wrap up the 2022-2023 season for TCU Swim and Dive.

David Ekdahl competed in the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter diving events for TCU. Ekdahl, unfortunately, did not advance to the finals in either event but had strong performances in the prelims with a score of 298.10 in the 1-meter and 272.20 in the 3-meter. Jadon Wulliez represented the Frogs well in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 52.59 but was also unable to reach the finals. Alec Hubbard was the final competitor for the Frogs as he competed in the platform diving event and finished in the top half of the prelims with a score of 328.10.

All three Frogs that made it to the NCAA Championships are only sophomores and have bright futures ahead of them, building off of a very successful 2022-2023 campaign from TCU Swim and Dive.

Equestrian: TCU Equestrian competed in the Big 12 Championship Tournament and advanced to the Championship Meet for the fourth straight season.

In the semifinals, the Frogs faced off against Fresno State which competes in the Big 12 for equestrian. TCU won easily by a score of 15-5 as they started off with a 4-1 lead in Horsemanship and never looked back. Giorgia Medows, Mattie Dukes, Jessica McAllister, and Shea Graham all collected victories for TCU in that event. Next was Flat, where the Frogs earned another 4-1 win thanks to points from Ashleigh Scully, Wynne Weatherly, Sydney Berube, and Laurel Smith. The score in Reining was yet another 4-1 event again in favor of the Frogs behind wins from Medows, Dukes, McAllister, and Graham yet again. Medows secured the match-clinching point in Reining for TCU with a 211.5-point ride. TCU completed the event sweep in Fences with a 3-2 victory as Ella Bostwick, Jordyn Scelsa, and Isabella Baxter all won their matchups in the event for the Frogs.

Oklahoma State waited for TCU in the championship after the Cowgirls defeated Baylor in the semifinals. The Frogs fell in a heartbreaker by a score of 12-8 in a meet that had an abundance of score reviews that more often than not went Oklahoma State’s way. OSU took Fences by a score of 4-1 to start with the only TCU point coming from Ashleigh Scully who had a solid 247-point ride in the event. TCU tied it up with their own 4-1 win in Horsemanship thanks to wins from Medows, Dukes, Graham, and McAllister yet again as Medows and Dukes both scored 226 on their rides to lead the event. Oklahoma State started fast in the second half as well with a 4-1 win in Flat where Weatherly was the only winner for TCU with a score of 249 which was second overall in the event. The meet would come down to reining where the Frogs were unable to mount a comeback and fell by a score of 3-2 despite valiant efforts from Mattie Dukes and Jessica McAllister.

Although the championship did not go the way of the Frogs, TCU came 1 spot away from sweeping the riders and coach of the year awards for the Big 12. Coach Haley Schoolfield won Big 12 coach of the year while Isabella Baxter was named Fences Rider of the Year, Jessica McAllister won Horsemanship Rider of the Year, and Mattie Dukes won Reining Rider of the Year. Ashleigh Scully came in second for Flat Rider of the Year as the Frogs narrowly missed the clean sweep of the awards. Giorga Medows along with Dukes and McAllister made up the top 3 finishers in both Reining and Horsemanship Rider of the year for TCU. Sydney Berube made an appearance on the Fences finalists in 4th behind Scully who finished 3rd. Wynne Weatherly also picked up All-Conference honors as the 3rd place finisher in Flat Rider of the Year.

The postseason will continue for the Frogs as they were selected for the NCEA Championship as the number 4 overall seed and will face off against the 5 seed Texas A&M. This continues the streak of the Frogs making the Championship Tournament every year since the program was founded in 2006. This will be the third meeting between the Aggies and Frogs this season with TCU taking both matchups in the regular season. The tournament will take place from April 13th-15th in Ocala, Florida.

Track and Field: TCU Outdoor Track and Field competed at the Clyde Hart Classic in Waco this past Friday and Saturday and had great showings on both days.

Gracie Morris stole the show on day one as she put up the best time of the season so far in the NCAA in the women’s 1500-meter and won the event with an outstanding time of 4:17.93. London Culbreath took home second place in the event for the Frogs as well with a very good time of 4:34.65. TCU had the second-place finisher on the men’s side of the 1500 meter with Ryan Martin and a time of 3:49.96. Rachel Hall got on the podium in the women’s 200-meter with a third-place finish behind a time of 23.87. Patrick Sylla was the last podium finisher for TCU on the day with a third-place finish in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.19 meters.

Morris picked up her second win of the weekend on day two in the women’s 800-meter while Jasmin Muhammad-Graham finished right behind her in second place. Martin secured a win in the men’s 800-meter with a time of 1:50.52. The podium of the women’s 3000-meter was all Frogs as Mariana Martinez, Peyton McQuillan, and London Culbreath took first, second, and third respectively. Iyana Gray won the women’s 100-meter dash with a great time of 11.38. The TCU men’s 4x400 relay team took home the win for that event while the women’s 4x100 team secured a win for TCU as well.

Jade Ferrell broke a school record in the high jump with a leap of 1.73 meters, good for a win in the event for the Frogs. Gavin Champ was the last winner of the weekend for TCU as he came in first in the triple jump behind a leap of 15.66 meters. TCU Track and Field will next compete in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays this weekend in Austin, Texas.

Women’s Tennis: TCU women’s tennis had 3 home matches this past weekend against Kansas State, SMU, and Kansas. The Frogs started off strong with a 4-0 win over the Wildcats, easily taking the doubles point and never looking back.

Mercedes Aristegui and Jade Otway bageled the second pairing from Kansas State, picking up the win by a score of 6-0. Helena Narmont and Yu-Chin Tsai clinched the doubles point for TCU with a 6-1 win over the top pairing from K-State while Destinee Martins and Tiphanie Lematrie were up 5-1 before the point was clinched. Aristegui, Martins, and Tsai all picked up wins in singles in straight sets to clinch the match and the sweep for the Frogs as TCU took 5 of 6 first sets in singles.

Next up was SMU where the Frogs took another relatively easy win by a score of 4-1. Martins and Lematrie got TCU started off with a win in doubles by a score of 6-2 before Otway and Aristegui clinched the point with a win over the Mustangs’ second pairing by a score of 6-3. Oway, Martins, and Narmont were the winners in singles for TCU, all in straight sets yet again as the Frogs took 4 of 6 first singles sets against SMU.

Kansas presented a much tougher challenge for the Frogs as the Jayhawks came in as the number 20 ranked team in the nation and TCU fell by a score of 4-1. The top two pairings in doubles for TCU fell to their Kansas counterparts as the Jayhawks took the doubles point despite a dominant performance from Martins and Lemaitre against the third pairing from Kansas as they won 6-0. The Frogs took 3 of 6 first sets in singles but were only able to convert on one of those advantages as Tsai picked up the only point of the day for the Frogs in a straight sets singles win. However, TCU did not go down without a fight, as 4 singles matches were pushed to all three sets as the match was much closer than the total 4-1 score indicates.

Next up for the Frogs is an opportunity for a season-defining win as number 9 ranked Texas comes to Fort Worth this Friday at 2:30 pm. This Sunday, TCU will also face off against a top 40-ranked Baylor team at home as Frog fans have multiple chances this weekend to watch some big-time tennis matches in Fort Worth.