Feb. 8, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas--Texas A&M senior Brooke Coleman (Houston) will represent the Aggies this weekend at the second annual Winter Equestrian Festival Collegiate Equitation Challenge in south Florida.
Coleman will join 15 other riders in a single-elimination, bracket format competition that will take place this Friday evening at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida. The event will be run in the Varsity Equestrian head-to-head format over an equitation course and will be formatted similar to postseason team tournaments in sports such as college basketball, volleyball and soccer.
She will meet Sacred Heart's Abbie Britton in the first round, and with a win faces either Fresno State's Kimberly Budnik or Miami's Nellie Foosaner in the quarterfinals. Last season, A&M's Maggie Earle advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural event.
"This was a great event last season and we're excited that it's back in 2011," A&M associate head coach Linzy Woolf said. "The WEF is one of the most prestigious and visible competitions in our sport. As equestrian continues to grow on the collegiate level, it's a great opportunity for us to expose the varsity format to both the national and international equestrian community."
The 16 competitors were chosen from collegiate equestrian programs across the country, with selections based upon individual national rankings. No more than one rider was selected from each school.
Coleman is off to a strong start this season, posting a 5-2 record over fences and an average score of 81.9 per ride. She has totaled 22 career victories and three MVP honors in the discipline. A two-time Texas A&M Athletics Scholar Award winner and an agricultural leadership major, Brooke is the daughter of Brandon and Cindi Coleman of Houston.
WEF COLLEGIATE EQUITATION CHALLENGE
Friday, February 11 - Palm Beach Int'l Equestrian Ctr - Wellington, Fla.
FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS:
Abbie Britton, Sacred Heart vs Brooke Coleman, Texas A&M
Kimberly Budnik, Fresno State vs Nellie Foosaner, Miami
Laura Bostwick, New Mexico State vs Kendra Vicary, Baylor
Kim McCormack, South Carolina vs Megan Violand, South Dakota State
Jordyn Pettersen, SMU vs Kacy Jenkins, Georgia
Samantha Elser, Oklahoma State vs Maggie McAlary, Auburn
Catherine Avolese, Kansas State vs Victoria Lee, TCU
Kayla Blair, Delaware State vs Caroline Cramer, Tennessee-Martin