No. 2 Texas A&M Drops 12-7 Decision Against No. 4 Auburn

COLLEGE STATION – The No. 2 Texas A&M equestrian team fell to No. 4 Auburn, 12-7, Saturday at the Hildebrand Equine Complex.
 
"Some athletes made some huge improvements from last week, so I am really proud of that," head coach Tana McKay said. "We had some bad mistakes that you just can't make when you are playing a high caliber team like this. We still have some work to do and it will be a tough turn around to compete against another good team in TCU."
 
The Aggies (7-4, 3-3 SEC) fell behind 3-2 after the meet's first event, Equitation over Fences. Junior Rachael Hake scored the first point for the Aggies after an 85-84 victory over Ashton Alexander. Sophomore Rebekah Chenelle outscored Hayley Iannotti, 79-77 to cut the Auburn lead to one.
 
In the Western arena, the Aggies tied 2-2 in Reining to keep them within one point of the Tigers. Sophomore Haley Franc opened up the event with a 72-68.5 victory over Blair McFarlin. Junior Madison Bohman ended the first half of the meet by earning the highest score of the day and a season best as she defeated Ali Fratessa, 74-0. The Morgan, Utah native also tallied her fourth MOP of the season.
 
In Equitation on the Flat, Hake tallied the lone point for the Maroon and White with a tight 80-79 win over Tory Hoft.
 
Heading into the final event trailing 9-5, the Aggies dropped Horsemanship 3-2. Junior Avery Ellis recorded the first point for Texas A&M with her 76-75.5 win over Kelsey Jung prior to senior Kaci Fisher defeating Kara Kaufmann 75-67.5. Both riders tallied their team-best ninth victory of the season.
 
The Aggies return to action March 10 at the Hildebrand Equine Complex against No. 10 TCU at 11 a.m. Admission to the meet is free.
 
To learn more about the Texas A&M equestrian team, log onto www.12thman.com or follow @AggieEquestrian on Twitter.