Oct. 2, 2008
COLLEGE STATION - The fourth-ranked Texas A&M equestrian team will take on Big 12 rival Kansas State on Friday at 9 a.m. at Fox Creek Farm.
The Aggies are coming off a 15-5 opening day win over No. 8 Fresno State in which they unveiled their new home, the Brazos County Expo Complex.
Kansas State enters the weekend ranked No. 7 in the brand new national coaches poll. The Wildcats opened the season on the road 13 days ago against No. 3 South Carolina, losing 13-4, then fell to top-ranked Georgia in Athens, 14-6, the following day.
A&M holds a 3-2 overall record against the Wildcats since going solely to the varsity format two years ago. Last year, the Aggies won a 12-8 decision over KSU in Manhattan on Nov. 9 and a 14-8 victory in College Station on Feb. 23. The Wildcats won the last meeting between the two, an 11-5 win in the third-place match at the Central Championships on Mar. 30 in Manhattan.
"This is kind of an exciting road trip in that we are taking quite a few new riders that we have a lot of confidence in to do well," A&M hunter seat coach Linzy Woolf said. "I'm excited to see how they handle a non-familiar environment. For the others, I feel like we learned a lot from last year and took away some lessons from our last trip here and definitely are more mentally prepared as a group in our approach to this show and this year."
The Aggies hold head-to-head advantages over Kansas State in both disciplines over the past three years of varsity showing. The hunter seat team boasts a 5-2 all-time record against KSU while the western team is 4-3.
Kansas State does own a 2-1 record over A&M in Manhattan, with the Aggies' lone win coming on Nov. 9 of last year.